“I think it’s silly.” – said a dissatisfied Scottie Scheffler back in August. The current World No. 1 had voiced his complaint against his fate coming down to one tournament despite the dominant run he had the whole year. Rory McIlroy disagreed with him, saying the format gave everyone a chance to compete. While the Tour’s playoff system may not be the fairest way to determine the tour’s season-long champion, it sure adds to the excitement for the fans.

With eight tournament wins, Scheffler amassed a mind-boggling $62 million in earnings this year. This is the most money any golfer has made over a season in the history of the sport. Scheffler was so dominant throughout, that he would have won the FedEx Cup, even if he didn’t emerge victorious at the Tour Championship. However, this isn’t the case in the PGA Tour Champions and Padraig Harrington was keen to point out the format’s competitive nature.

The golfer was spotted talking to the media ahead of the PGA Tour Champions season-ending finale on November 6. “There’s nothing left to chance this week, so it really does feel like the big final event of the year,” said the senior pro after expressing his excitement at being able to play at the Phoenix Country Club. “Obviously this year with so many people in contention, they’ve certainly got the system right with 10 guys having the ability to win this week.” 

Highlighting the competitive nature of the tournament, which means Els is yet to secure the championship, Harrington said, “Like myself, by winning last week I give myself a chance if I or any, I think six of us, if we win outright, we win it outright, nobody can interfere, which is tough for Ernie. Ernie’s had a great year, he’s No. 1 and he hasn’t really got — I won’t say he wasn’t got rewarded, but he needs
to win as well this week. He’s not going to get away with not winning.”

PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup format has come under scrutiny. The season-long points competition culminates with a playoff consisting of three events to determine the FedEx Cup champion. Starting in 2019, PGA Tour introduced the “starting strokes” format, where the top points earner gets a 10-stroke advantage while the second starts the final at 8-under, and so forth. This feels artificial to many of those who follow the sport.

It also means despite dominating the entire year, the top most golfer can still end up with nothing as it all boils down to who plays the best golf in the three playoff events. Moreover, if one player dominates the playoffs, the format can feel anticlimatic since they are almost guaranteed to win the FedEx Cup. On the other hand, the PGA Tour Champions format allows for a more balanced and competitive field even heading into the last event.

The format means Els simply has to win on Thursday in order to be crowned the champion. Showing his appreciation for the playoff format of the PGA Tour Champions, Harrington added, “The playoff system looks like they know what they’re doing. We always question these playoffs and things, but I think out here on the Champions Tour if you play well enough during the year, you can get yourself a great lead coming into this. You get rewarded for that. Clearly, with double points on play and bigger prize money, you also can challenge from behind.” 

What did he mean by that? Interestingly enough, although anyone in the field can end up winning the final event, the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, only a few have the chance to emerge as the Charles Schwab Cup champion. And this format, unlike the PGA Tour Playoffs does provide a benefit for those who perform well, all the while enabling those behind to catch up as well.

It allowed Harrington to close the gap on Ernie Els, who is at the No. 1 spot on the standings. Harrington managed to win the Simmons Bank Championship allowing him to win double the figure of $365,000 as points, helping him climb to the fourth spot. Els seems to be in a similar situation as that of Scottie Scheffler, just that there’s an option of him becoming the Charles Schwab Cup winner even if he loses the event.

Anyhow, it seems like it’s going to be quite an exciting weekend that the PGA Tour Champions have in store this week for the fans. But that just leaves us curious about one thing; why did Scheffler think the PGA Tour season finale was ‘silly’ in the first place?

Scottie Scheffler calls out the ‘season-long race’

“I talked about it the last few years, I think it’s silly. You can’t call it a season-long race and have it come down to one tournament,” Scheffler said during a news conference at TPC Southwind. He then went on to give a scenario where he could end up losing his top spot.

“Hypothetically, we get to East Lake and my neck flares up, and it doesn’t heal the way it did at The Players; I finish 30th in the FedExCup because I had to withdraw from the last tournament,” he added.

Well, can’t disagree with the golfer on that, to be honest, since the Jay Monahan-led circuit kind of hits the reset point when it comes to the FedEx Cup points when it reaches the TOUR Championship. And all of it boils down to how well the golfer finishes with the help of the ‘Starting Strokes Format’. But McIIroy seemed to disagree with Scheffler, pointing out how the playoff format gives others a chance to catch the leader in the final three weeks of the season.

He said, “I love this format because if it wasn’t this format, then none of us would have a chance against Scottie because he’s so far ahead. So I really like this format.” Though McIlroy agrees that the format may not be completely fair, according to him, “we’re in for entertainment and for trying to put on the best product we possibly can.”

So do you agree with Padraig Harrington’s assessment of the playoff format for the Champions Tour? Should the PGA Tour take leaf from this tournament and have a look at its own format?