PGA Tour urged to make FedEx Cup playoff change which seems so ‘obvious’

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The PGA Tour has been urged to make a change to the FedEx Cup playoffs after Scottie Scheffler secured a routine victory at East Lake.

The world number one started with a two-stroke advantage and never looked in danger as he added $25 million to his 2024 season earnings.

However, the Tour Championship format has recently been criticized, with some suggesting a match-play event could soon replace the traditional finale.

Smylie Kaufman is the latest to weigh in on the debate, and the American believes changing the playoff schedule is a must.

Smylie Kaufman urges PGA Tour to make obvious change

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Speaking on the latest edition of the Smylie Show, Kaufman claimed moving the FedEx Cup Playoffs away from the south could be an option.

“I think that Memphis is one, and Atlanta is another. I would love to play East Lake every year, but I want it to be somewhere like a Wells Fargo where East Lake can have its own event and now and then be a host of a Tour Championship and have it rotate, whether it’s East, North, South or West and East Lake be the course that gets it in the south,” Kaufman explained.

“I haven’t gotten past the point that our playoffs should probably be played in LA, Chicago, New York, Boston. These big cities. Why not? It seems so obvious to me.”

He added, “The BMW goes to different courses and venues, and that’s what we are looking for. Unfortunately, the tour is in this handshake with FedEx and all these big sponsors.”

The PGA Tour must change FedEx Cup format

The PGA must be proactive rather than reactive in this situation. If they persist with the current system, interest levels will decrease.

Of course, Scheffler was deserving of the season-ending prize money, but jeopardizing the leader would’ve provided a more dramatic finish.

The first step is to ditch the advantage of starting strokes. The best players in the world don’t use handicaps, so there’s no reason why Scheffler’s six wins equate to a two-shot advantage.

Perhaps another option to consider is making the FedEx Cup playoffs a separate entity, where all players start from scratch upon the regular season’s conclusion.

As Kaufman says, something has to change to prevent the PGA Tour from becoming an unwatchable product.