"Snooze fest"; "What a stupid set up" - Fans call for FedEx Cup playoff's format change as Scottie Scheffler wins massive prize

The 2024 Tour Championship concluded on September 1, at the East Lake Golf Club. The tournament uses a stroke-gained format, meaning players start with a certain number of strokes based on their ranking in the FedEx Cup standings. Scottie Scheffler started with a 10-under advantage and ultimately won the event after four rounds.

He shot rounds of 65, 66, 66, and 67 to secure a four-stroke victory over Collin Morikawa. The 28-year-old, thus, also won the FedEx Cup.

If only the Tour Championship’s score were considered without the stroke-gained format, Collin Morikawa, who finished with the lowest score, would have been the winner, finishing two strokes ahead of Scottie Scheffler. However, the latter's 10-under advantage brought his total to 30-under and he finished four strokes ahead of Morikawa and won the Tour Championship.

Fans were far from impressed with the Olympic champion being adjudged the winner, and were critical of the FedEx Cup setup.

"Snooze fest. Change the format back to what it used to be." a fan wrote.

Another fan reflected on the FedEx Cup format and wrote:

"So, Morikawa actually won the tournament though, correct? What a stupid set up," another fan commented.

One fan called for a change in the FedEx Cup format.

"Change the format!," another fan wrote.

"7th win is misleading considering he finished 3rd this week behind Morikawa & Theegala. It’s a season long win and should not count as an individual tournament title," a fan jotted.

Fans' reaction (Image via X/@PGATOUR)

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Comparing the leaderboard of the final FedExCup playoff with and without the stroke-gained format

After four rounds of the 2024 Tour Championship without the stroke gained, it was Collin Morikawa who topped the leaderboard with a score of 22-under. However, his starting score was 4-under, resulting in a total score of 26-under.

Sahith Theegala scored 21-under after shooting four rounds of 67, 66, 66, and 64. But since he started the tournament at 3-under, his overall score was 24-under, placing him third on the actual leaderboard of the 2024 Tour Championship. Without the stroke-gained format, Theegala would have recorded the second-lowest score of the week.

Below is the leaderboard of the 2024 Tour Championship without strokes gained by comparing the score with the gained format:

1. Collin Morikawa, -22 (-26)

2. Sahith Theegala, -21 (-24)

3. Scottie Scheffler, -20 (-30)

4. Russell Henley, -17 (-19)

5. Adam Scott, -16 (-19)

6. Sungjae Im, -15 (-18)

7. Justin Thomas, -14 (-14)

T8. Wyndham Clark, -13 (-17)

Shane Lowry (-16)

Viktor Hovland (-15)

Taylor Pendrith (-14)

12. Rory McIlroy, -12 (-16)

T13. Xander Schauffele, -11 (-19)

Sam Burns (-15)

15. Matthieu Pavon, -10 (-11)

T16. Hideki Matsuyama, -9 (-16)

Robert MacIntyre (-11)

Tommy Fleetwood (-10)

T19. Ludvig Aberg, -7 (-12)

Patrick Cantlay (-11)

T21. Byeong Hun An, -6 (-8)

Aaron Rai (-6)

23. Billy Horschel, -5 (-6)

T24. Tony Finau, -3 (-6)

Akshay Bhatia (-5)

Chris Kirk (-3)

T27. Keegan Bradley, -2 (-8)

Sepp Straka (-3)

T29. Christiaan Bezuidenhout, +3 (+3)

Tom Hoge (+3)

Notably, the score in brackets represents the actual score of the player with strokes gained, while the score without brackets is without strokes gained.