Another PGA Tour Blunder

Commissioner Jay Monahan called the changes significant and exciting for the players, partners, and “more importantly,” our fans back then.

The fans nor the players never got the memo and never embraced the new format.

“As soon as the Tour Championship begins, any fan – no matter if they’ve followed the PGA Tour all season or are just tuning in for the final event – can immediately understand what’s going on and what’s at stake for every single player in the field,” Monahan said of the changes in the 2018 announcement. “And, of course, players will know exactly where they stand at all times while in play, which will ratchet up the drama, consequence, and volatility of the competition down the stretch.”

It’s fair to say none of this came to fruition. Players never liked the changes, and fans felt lost in trying to understand how a player who is playing better than the leader is not leading.

Yet, the PGA Tour called the Starting Stroke system “simplicity” for fans.

“I think the best way to identify the best player throughout a tournament is 72-hole stroke play on a really good golf course,” Scottie Scheffler, who was not a fan of the Starting Strokes format, said of the new changes. “I think when you look at a good test of golf and you get to compete over four days, I think that's the best way to crown the best winner for that week.”

While match play was discussed, it never had any traction.

One other format that has support is a double elimination format, which includes cutting at 16 after two rounds, then resetting and cutting at eight after three rounds, with the last eight scores reset, and playing for the FedEx Cup on Sunday.

Instead, Monahan said they likely looked at every permutation and returned to what they had done from the start of the Tour Championship in 1987 until the change to the Starting Strokes format in 2019.

Talking to the media in a small scrum on Wednesday, Monahan said that they believe the competition under the 72-hole stroke-play format will yield drama and be compelling.

If this is true, then why did they make the changes in 2019 away from 72 hole stroke play?