For the first time in four years, Scottie Scheffler enters the Tour Championship on equal footing with the rest of the field. The PGA Tour’s FedExCup playoff finale at East Lake has dropped the starting strokes system that had been in place since 2019, returning to a straightforward 72-hole stroke-play competition where the winner on Sunday also claims the FedExCup title. Unlike previous years when Scheffler began at 10 under par, giving him a two-shot advantage, all 30 players now start at level par.
Scheffler Reflects on Format Changes and Season Success
Scheffler expressed relief about the change, signaling an end to his strategic sandbagging near the season’s end.
“I guess no more sandbagging for me at the end of the year,”
he said. He shared a mixed opinion on former formats, favoring the points system but understanding the move towards simplicity due to FedEx’s role as a sponsor.
“I was not a huge fan of the starting strokes format. I was a fan of the points format (where the Tour Championship winner wasn’t necessarily the FedExCup champ), but I understand why people wanted to move away from that with FedEx being a huge sponsor and having to give out two trophies at the end of the week and explaining the season long race. This to me is a much simpler format to end the year.”
This season, Scheffler has dominated from a FedExCup points perspective. His recent win at the BMW Championship boosted him to 7,456 points, more than twice the total of his closest competitor Rory McIlroy, who has 3,687 points. Yet, the new format gives every player, including No. 30 seed Akshay Bhatia with 1,409 points and no victories this season, an equal chance to win.
Respect for All Competitors and the Challenge Ahead
Scheffler welcomes the possibility of an underdog like Bhatia winning the Tour Championship and the $10 million FedExCup prize.
“To be one of the 30 best players on our Tour and make it to this tournament is an extreme accomplishment,”
he said.
“One of the things people may pick apart is, well, some guys can win the season long race without winning a tournament until the Tour Championship. I would argue making the Tour Championship without winning a tournament is a pretty cool accomplishment, not in the sense of not winning, but you have to put together a really consistent, great season in order to qualify for the Tour Championship, especially without winning.”
He emphasized the importance of performing well at the season’s end.
“When it comes to this week, we all start even par, and it’s time to go chase what you want. In order to win tournaments, you have to play good golf at the right time, and if you want to win our season long race, you have to play really good golf at the end of the season.”
Scheffler’s Mixed Record at East Lake and Personal Reflections
Despite his points lead and impressive five victories this season, including The Open, Scheffler’s previous performances at East Lake have been inconsistent. He has only one FedExCup title from the advantages his earlier leads provided. In 2022, he lost by one stroke to Rory McIlroy and in 2023 finished 16 shots behind Viktor Hovland. He did win last year by four shots.
Scheffler finds the pressure of leading throughout the year difficult to handle.
“I think it was Phil Jackson who said, ‘You’re only a success at the time you’re performing a successful act,’ and it just irked me so bad finishing off the year where guys were like, ‘Hey, great playing, I’m sorry about how it ended,’”
he explained.
“It’s like, you know what, man, I won the Masters this year, won a few other tournaments, it was a pretty good year.”
Looking ahead to 2024 and the changed format, Scheffler acknowledged the tough mindset he had this past season while holding the lead. His caddie, Teddy Scott, shared that it’s hard enough to sleep on a lead, and Scheffler had been doing that since February.
“I was leading the entire year in the FedExCup, and it all comes down to a four-day tournament on a golf course that I hadn’t really played great on. … It was one of the hardest tournaments I had to play just because I had been sleeping on the lead for six or seven months. It’s a weird feeling…”
He closed with optimism,
“I think we’re in a much better place now.”
Implications of the Return to Even Par Start
The return to a level starting point eliminates the advantage top players once enjoyed, making the Tour Championship more unpredictable and open to the entire field. This format change also simplifies the competition’s narrative for fans while emphasizing the importance of performing well under pressure over four consecutive days at East Lake. With Scheffler’s strong season and newfound mindset, his pursuit of both the tournament title and FedExCup supremacy will be closely watched. The stakes are higher for everyone, and the stage is set for a dramatic conclusion to the PGA Tour season.