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The PGA Tour is reportedly preparing to eliminate the starting strokes system at the Tour Championship for the 2025 season. Golf.com shared an update on this on April 25, claiming that the tour plans to revert to a 72-hole stroke-play format without any staggered scoring advantages.
Introduced in 2019, the starting strokes system allows players a head start based on their FedEx Cup standings. Under this rule, the top-ranked player starts at 10-under-par, No. 2 at 8-under, No. 3 at 7-under, and so forth.
Meanwhile, the ongoing process of change in rules is discussed in Golf.com's recent post on X. It reads:
"The PGA Tour Policy Board will be voting on changes to the Tour Championship format within the next couple of weeks."
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"There is support to eliminate the starting strokes advantage, and match play is not on the table right now."
Last year, Scottie Scheffler had the advantage being the top ranked player due to starting strokes. He finally managed to win the Tour Championship after failing to do so in the past two years, losing first to Rory McIlroy, then to Viktor Hovland.
Although these kinds of discussions are ongoing, the PGA Tour has not yet confirmed anything. Many have criticized the starting strokes system at the Tour Championship, including those involved in the decision making process.
PGA Tour stars criticize the starting strokes format at the Tour Championship
Adam Scott, a PGA Tour pro and a current member of the PGA Tour's policy board, recently discussed the possible changes in the upcoming tour championship. In an interview with Golfweek published on April 24, Scott called the format "gimmicky" and hinted that it could soon be abandoned:
"I hope so. I think everybody involved wants that to be the case."
In addition to that, another member of the PGA tour's player advisory council, Sam Burns, also shared his concerns about the format's impact on fan understanding. In the same report with Golf Week published on April 24, Burns stated:
"Right now, it's a bit confusing for fans to have a tournament where we state even all year, and then in our biggest tournament of the year, there are starting strokes. There's a bit of a disconnect."
Apart from removing the starting strokes, the concept of changing the Tour Championship to a match-play format had been discussed among PGA Tour officials. Reflecting on that, Adam Scott said:
"It’s hard to wrap your head around you play one style all season and then your final event is an entirely different format. I think the players felt like we had match play in pro golf and there’s a reason why it doesn’t go that well. Big names go out and TV dies. It seems compelling early in the week but when Nos. 1 and 2 lose early you’re in for a long weekend and there’s also not a lot of golf," Adam Scott said.
Scott's comments reference the PGA Tour's earlier experience with match play events. especially the WGC-Dell Technologies Matchplay. That event first happened in 1999 and was later discontinued after its final event in 2023, where Sam Burns won the title.
