[PHOTO: James Gilbert]
In May, the PGA Tour revealed changes approved starting this year by the Tour Policy Board to the format of its season-ending Tour Championship. With much fanfare, tour officials announced they were scrapping the staggered-stroke start for the 30-man field, with the 72-hole score at East Lake Golf Club deciding the winner of the FedEx Cup.
RELATED: PGA Tour makes changes to format for the season-ending Tour Championship
What the Policy Board also approved at the time apparently – but didn’t make public until overnight, Australian time – were additional changes to the FedEx Cup prizemoney distribution, with a new three-tier system that could create more volatility in payouts.
Instead of the results from the Tour Championship determining how much players get from the $US100 million overall FedEx Cup prize fund – with the winner previously taking home $US25 million – the tour is now giving out portions based on the FedEx Cup points standings after the conclusion of the Wyndham Championship (the final event of the regular season) and after the BMW Championship, the second FedEx Cup Playoffs event.
The top 10 after the Wyndham will split $US20 million, with the person in first place getting $US10 million. The top 30 after the BMW will share nearly $US23 million, with the No.1 player heading into the Tour Championship earning $US5 million.
The remaining FedEx Cup prizemoney ($US57.08 million) will then be doled out based on player finishes at East Lake (like every other PGA Tour event), with the winner earning $US10 million.
The PGA Tour’s website notes that the rebalancing of the FedEx Cup prizemoney was done “to account for the increased volatility of the final event, reward season-long performance and recognise the significance of the FedEx Cup”.
Earlier on Wednesday, Front Office Sports published a story reporting the changes for the first time.
As noted on X by Associated Press golf writer Doug Ferguson, a prime example of how the changes could affect the payouts is Jon Rahm’s late season of 2023. Rahm was atop the standings at the end of the Wyndham, sat fourth after the BMW and played poorly in the Tour Championship; his bonus for that now would be $US12.2 million. In ’23, those same positions got him a bonus of $US670,000.
Meantime, if a player is No.1 in FedEx Cup points after the Wyndham and BMW, and wins the Tour Championship, he’d earn the $US25 million (plus another $US8 million for being the winner of the Comcast Business top 10 at the end of the regular season).
