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  Debate

Debate

Are Schauffele and Scheffler out of touch with reality, or do they have a point about the PGA Tour?

Scottie Scheffler entered the FedEx Playoffs, maintaining his lead through all three championships. However, according to him, the format of the playoffs is a rather ‘silly’ one. “You can’t call it a season-long race and have it come down to one tournament,” said the World No. 1. It is called the season-long race, but according to the American professional, it might be a fun rundown, but he completely disagrees with the name.

Even the former No. 2 on the standings did not find it important to focus on the rank of the FedEx Cup playoffs. Xander Schauffele pays no attention to it. Rather, he just focuses on giving his best on the field. While there are other pros too, who have taken a jab on the format, looks like Billy Horschel is siding with it.

Billy Horschel says no one wants to see a ‘one single match’

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Billy Horschel appeared as a guest at the Fairways of Life Show hosted by Matt Adams on September 3. As they spoke about his career and the season, Adams stated how Collin Morikawa called the stout Championship leaderboard a fake one and also asked what his thoughts were on the Playoffs. He stated how he has heard a lot of the players demanding a single-match play.

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Although it is fun, according to him, no one apart from the golf enthusiasts will like it. “If you’re trying to bring in your non-regular golf fans and just sports fans in general, if someone’s four or five up after four or five holes it’s not going to be entertaining. I was told this stat recently that the last two out of three years of the WC match play um that final round was the lowest televised uh viewership of any PGA Tour event and I happened to be involved in one of those matches with Scottie Scheffler,” he said.

It had been a terrible match. While it might sound cool to bring about match play, for TV and every other form of viewership, that is not something that will keep the audience excited and thrilled every year. However, he added that no formula is perfect, and while there can be improvement, according to him, the current format is indeed the best.

Billy Horschel’s FedEx Cup win in 2014

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Billy Horschel won the FedEx Cup trophy a decade ago in 2014. Well, as per the current year’s record made by Scottie Scheffler, one might think that it had been the best year for Horschel, but it was not even close. He had bagged no wins until the BMW Championship. All he did was give his best through. Before the playoffs began, he only had two top-10 finishes. Back then it was still a four-match format, and well, his run began with a missed cut at the first event – Barclays.

What’s your perspective on:

Are Schauffele and Scheffler out of touch with reality, or do they have a point about the PGA Tour?

Have an interesting take?

It was after tying for the second position at the Deutsche Bank Championship that he went on to win the BMW Champ, the penultimate tournament of the format. Finally, he entered the Tour championship playing with Rory McIlroy who was on the lead back then. It was there that Horschel gave a better-than-best performance and won the title in a three-stroke lead against McIlroy and Jim Furyk. The 8X PGA tour winner bagged a whopping $10 million, despite having an average run. “It’s never rewarded the best player throughout the regular season,’’ he said. What are your thoughts on the FedEx Cup format? Let us know in the comments section below!