Keegan Bradley is very unhappy with one particular rule change to the Tour Championship.
Bradley has actually been in fine form on the PGA Tour this season, with three top eight finishes to his name.
And he got off to a great start at the Memorial Tournament on Thursday with a round of three-under-par 69.
He’s currently 28th in the FedEx Cup standings and could jump inside the top 20 with a top five finish at Muirfield Village.
So there’s every chance he could actually make the Tour Championship at East Lake.
The 38-year-old is an extremely busy man right now, after being given the Ryder Cup captaincy last year.
Bradley is playing so well he could even make his own Ryder Cup team, and if he is at East Lake later this year, there’s every chance that will happen.
Keegan Bradley speaks out against planned Tour Championship change
The Ryder Cup skipper was delighted with his first round 69 at Muirfield Village on Thursday.
He addressed the press and spoke at length about his highly impressive round at Jack’s Place.
However, attention then switched to the Tour Championship at East Lake in August.
The PGA Tour announced that they have got rid of the starting strokes format for the Tour Championship.
That’s a change that most golfers have got behind. However, the PGA Tour have also suggested that the golf course at East Lake will play a lot more difficult going forward.
And Bradley really isn’t happy with the prospect of that.
He said, “Yeah, I think that’s really silly. Any time you have a tournament around par you have to really trick it up. I think the PGA of America does a good job at the PGA. I think 6- to 8-under is a great score for a major. You had Scottie — sometimes you have a generational player go out and do what he did and win by five or six and shoot 10- or 11-. I think if the player does that, that’s what the score should be. But I think the perfect score for a major is 4- to 8- somewhere in there. I think when you, you know, make it — I mean, if it’s deep rough and it’s chip out and like the greens are fair, I can see that, but I really think the right number is 4- to 6- to 8- somewhere in there.
“Yeah, I think it’s really difficult to make the course fair and keep it at even par, but on a course like Oakmont that could be different because I personally, I think it’s the hardest course in the world.“
What Scottie Scheffler said about Tour Championship change
Scottie Scheffler spoke out in support of the changes made by the PGA Tour to the season-ending FedEx Cup finale.
The world number one said, “I think when you’re looking at a golf tournament, I think the best way to identify the best player over the course of a tournament is 72-hole stroke play on a really good golf course. I think when you look at a good test of golf and you got to compete over four days, I think that’s the best way to crown the best winner for that week.
“And looking at the TOUR Championship, I didn’t love the previous format of starting strokes, and I really like the direction where we’re going. I think the TOUR Championship’s going to be difficult to qualify for. Making the TOUR Championship is truly going to be the results from a great body of work over the course of a season, and then you have an opportunity to win the TOUR Championship and the FedExCup.
“Like, you think about the same thing when you think about our best tournaments. You think about the PLAYERS, you think about the major championships, you have to play well at the right time, and that’s just part of being in competitive sports. You look at the Patriots, they won 18 games one year and they lost the 19th and it looks like a failure for a season. Now, they had a great year, and they didn’t win the Super Bowl. At the end of the day you have to perform when it matters the most. I think now with the format we have, we have a great format of a 72-hole golf tournament. If I want to win the FedExCup, I have to play well at the last week of the season, and it’s just simple as that.“
There’s a good chance that Scheffler doesn’t agree with Bradley’s view on the upcoming tougher test at East Lake for the Tour Championship.
The world number one loves to battle his way around tough golf courses, and if it is an ‘even-par’ winning week, there’s every chance that Scheffler will come out on top.
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