I think the Tour made a smart move with the scheduled conclusion to the FedEx playoffs scheduled to end prior to the start of football season. Now there are only 2 elimination rounds and then the finalists move to East Lake.

Also, the final weekend is handicapped based on the where the final 30 players stand in rankings. In a nutshell, in theory, every player top to bottom has a chance to win it all. If nothing else, fans at home (and the players themselves) will know where everyone stands 'at a glance' instead of having someone going through a slew of 'what if' scenarios on a whiteboard to project the winner under the old format.

https://www.golf.com/news/2019/08/07/tour-pros-intrigued-revamped-fedex-cup-playoffs-format/

    mikeintopeka instead of having someone going through a slew of 'what if' scenarios on a whiteboard to project the winner under the old format.

    But, that means less air time for Amanda!

        Par4QC - I thought it was a nerd back in the studio with his whiteboard doing all the what-if calcs?

        Amanda can keep doing her Captain Obvious interviews.

            They should still just have it with no points for the TC. Win the tournament, win it all.

              bad9 They should still just have it with no points for the TC. Win the tournament, win it all.

              That is the change they've made for the final leg of the Tour Championship at East Lake. They do give the points leaders a handicap as an award for the season long efforts. But, it's winner take all so all the players know exactly where they stand when they tee off and after each of the four rounds. Mikey be likin' it.

                mikeintopeka Amanda can keep doing her Captain Obvious interviews.

                Nobody cares what she says............ 😛

                  Pretty strange to win the first event and move from 53 place to second. Kind of minimalizes the year long efforts of other players

                    Tinker - agreed, big jump. But as you mention often regarding regular tour events, it's the strength of the field. Then add in the supercharged purses and winning the first two events ranks it right behind the 4 majors.

                      Tinker I thought it kind of odd as well. I was watching the replay broadcast last night and they said if Justin Thomas were to go wire to wire and win this weekend he would actually move ahead of Koepka into first (I assume they meant if Koepka maintains his current position as well). Didn't seem like JT had a good enough year for that to happen, but I guess that is the new way of rating. I'm conflicted in that I thought Bryson got shafted (even though I'm not a fan) last year after winning two legs of the playoff, but now I can't see how someone who hasn't won yet this year could get ahead of Koepka even though I agree that the playoff should be weighted more than the regular season in order for it to be meaningful.

                        They should make it true playoffs-the points only count to get you into the playoffs. After that its perform of go home. Top 125 regular season points get to p[lay tournament #1. Top 75 in tournament #1 move on to tournament #2. Top 30 in tournament #2 move on to the TC. Winner of TC wins it all ioncluding FC.

                          or they could just eliminate the whole contrived nonsense and play a 5 or 6 round winner take all format.
                          😮

                          bad9 They should make it true playoffs-the points only count to get you into the playoffs. After that its perform of go home. Top 125 regular season points get to p[lay tournament #1. Top 75 in tournament #1 move on to tournament #2. Top 30 in tournament #2 move on to the TC. Winner of TC wins it all ioncluding FC.

                          The problem I see with that is we'd revert back to the foreign stars limiting their appearances on the PGA Tour events to get enough points to make the Top 125. Part of the reasoning on the points system we now have is to force them to play more here to improve their standing. And it worked for the most part. The Euro Tour tried to retaliate by wanting their players to declare which tour they were going to play but it didn't work because ours has much higher payouts and rewards with the season ending TC. There was a lot written about it when the format was revamped a few years ago.

                            mikeintopeka Amanda can keep doing her Captain Obvious interviews.

                            I would like to see a poll taken after each of her interviews and have them ask each player what color her eyes are. 😛

                                JT might be 10 under next week and he hasn't even teed off yet.

                                JT is 21 under and he hasn’t even teed off yet.
                                Nobody is going to catch him

                                I eat this stuff up....this article has retro math calculations on how this handicapped start would have played out in crowning FedEx Champs going back to the inaugural in 2007 had this system been in play annually. Interesting!

                                So, can someone currently ranked 25th - 30th win by overcoming a 10 shot deficit over 4 rounds? You bet. How many times has it been done using retroactive calculations? Read the article.

                                https://www.golfdigest.com/story/can-anyone-really-win-the-fedex-cup

                                I finally found someone that doesn't like the handicapped start to the tournament...Rory Mc.

                                I think part of his chapped butt is Thomas hasn't had near the year McILroy has had but he's leading the Cup headed into the finale. Rory did have a good suggestion; make each of the 4 majors worth 1000 points which is double a regular tour stop win and +400 more than what majors are currently worth. But Thomas wins the weekend before the final event.

                                  mikeintopeka Thomas hasn't had near the year McILroy has had but he's leading the Cup headed into the finale.

                                  It's not who you're playing against as much as it's WHEN you're playing them. JT sizzled when Rory fizzled.

                                      If I am remembering correctly, Rory won two of the four FedEx Cup Championship events in 2016. So perhaps he should remember that before assuming that the concept of playing great at the right time has too much of an influence. He wasn't complaining about it at the end of that 2016 season.

                                      It's never gonna be perfect. They can tweak it all they want, but outside of a matchplay format finals, which isn't gonna happen, there will always be a discussion about "fairness."

                                      The Patriots and the Giants back in 2007, and how that all worked out, etc...