FedEx Cup set for an overhaul in 2019 say reports
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The FedEx Cup points system is set for an overhaul in 2019, according to reports
Although yet to be confirmed by the PGA Tour, reports have indicated that starting from 2019 the FedEx Cup points system is set to be replaced by something more simple heading in to the final event of the year.
According to the Associated Press, the PGA Tour are finalising a revamp which would see a new scoring format for the Tour Championship in addition to the leading player from the regular season awarded a cash bonus.
At the moment, points are reset heading in to the final event so that all 30 players who qualified for the Tour Championship had a chance to mathmatically win the FedEx Cup- with any of the top five players being guaranteed the victory if they win at East Lake. It means that throughout the tournament predictions are constantly being adjusted with continuous TV projections of points during the four days of competiton.
The new proposed scoring format for the Tour Championship would see the leader beginning the tournament a 10-under-par, with the rest of the 30-man field staggered based on their position – likely to refocus the attention on the FedEx Cup rather than the attention being split between the title race and Tour Championship, as it was last year with Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas.
“Feels very weird,” Thomas had said after claiming the FedEx Cup last year. “It’s odd getting something so tremendous, one of my best achievements in my career without winning a golf tournament, so it feels different, but it’s still great.”
What is certain is that from 2019 the number of playoff events will be reduced from four to three, rotating The Northern Trust between Liberty National and TPC Boston – therefore removing the Dell Technologies Championship but retaining the venue every second year.
It will be followed by the BMW Championship and then the Tour Championship at East Lake, where the final field will still be reduced to the top 30 players in the FedEx Cup standings.
The other new change could be to the regular season, and more specifically where it ends. What emerged from a Player Advisory Council meeting last week was the possibility of ending the regular season the previous week at the WGC FedEx Invitational in Memphis Tennessee, as the top players in the standings tend to take a week off instead of playing the Wyndham Championship.
While nothing has yet been confirmed by the PGA Tour, we are likely to find out the finalised plan very soon.
