“Worst format ever invented”: Fans lash out at PGA giving Scottie Scheffler an advantage at the Tour Championship

Scottie Scheffler is in pole position at the Tour Championship, with his score of 18-under helping him take a lead of six strokes on the next-closest player early in his second round.

This is because of the unique Tour Championship format. His status as the top-ranked FedEx Cup player this year meant that he began the tournament at 10-under, so he's only shot eight-under in truth. Despite that, he's far ahead of the competition.

It allows Scheffler to be the only player in Tour history to hold a seven-stroke or more lead after 18 holes, though that is a skewed metric. The format has garnered much debate, and fans are lashing out at what it's done to the early scoreboard at East Lake. They believe Scheffler should not be so far ahead solely based on his performances this season.

"Scottie Scheffler is 17-under after Round 1 of the TOUR Championship, and the PGA Tour X account won't acknowledge it because it highlights the worst format ever invented for a golf tournament," a fan said.

"It’s a handicap event, A 7 stoke lead after 18 holes? The PGA Tour is losing all sense or reality. He has a one shot lead over those that shot 5 under," another fan added.

"Next year give the leader a hundred shots because that’ll look really cool in the record books," one fan sarcastically said.

"I love Scotty, but he had a multi-shot lead before the tournament started. This is a misleading and useless statement. You don’t have to hype Scotty. His play speaks for itself," another said.

"Not sure that second paragraph is relevant since he got a two stroke lead to begin with," one said.

"This is not a normal event. He teed off at -10," another added.

It's very difficult to out-play all other players in the field, especially one with theoretically the 30 best golfers on the PGA Tour, by seven shots in a single round, which is why that stat is so impressive. However, it is aided by the fact that Scottie Scheffler was at least two shots up on every single player, most by much more than that.

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What is the Tour Championship format and how did Scottie Scheffler benefit?

Scottie Scheffler started -10 (Imagn)

Despite not winning either of the two playoff events (FedEx St. Jude Championship and BMW Championship), Scottie Scheffler's season, which has included six victories and countless other top finishes, was more than good enough to send him into the Tour Championship ranked first.

Thanks to the format, Scheffler entered at -10. Xander Schauffele was closest to him at -8. Everyone else, save for the bottom few, had staggered scores as well. They were:

• Hideki Matsuyama (-7)
• Keegan Bradley (-6)
• Ludvig Åberg (-5)
• Rory McIlroy (-4)
• Collin Morikawa (-4)
• Wyndham Clark (-4)
• Sam Burns (-4)
• Patrick Cantlay (-4)
• Sungjae Im (-3)
• Sahith Theegala (-3)
• Shane Lowry (-3)
• Adam Scott (-3)
• Tony Finau (-3)
• Byeong Hun An (-2)
• Viktor Hovland (-2)
• Russell Henley (-2)
• Akshay Bhatia (-2)
• Robert MacIntyre (-2)
• Billy Horschel (-1)
• Tommy Fleetwood (-1)
• Sepp Straka (-1)
• Matthieu Pavon (-1)
• Taylor Pendrith (-1)
• Chris Kirk (E)
• Tom Hoge (E)
• Aaron Rai (E)
• Christiaan Bezuidenhout (E)
• Justin Thomas (E)

The idea is to reward those who did well during the regular season with an advantage, but the advantage has come under fire from golf fans.