US PGA Tour officials announced changes to their season-ending play-off chase that should see more drama building toward the Tour Championship starting next year, Eurosport reports.
According to the broadcaster, the third set of format alterations in three years, will ensure that all 30 players in the field at the Tour Championship will have at least some chance at a title and should prevent last year's scenario, which saw Tiger Woods seize such a big lead in the FedEx Cup points race that he could skip the first event and still claim the crown.
Next year's play-off concluding Tour Championship will be staged after a one-week break following the previous event, the BMW Championship. Other key changes includes moving the moment when points reset from the start of the play-off events to just before the Tour Championship and making each play-off event worth four times the number of points as regular PGA events.
Field sizes will also be trimmed in some play-off events, from 144 this year to 125 at The Barclays and from 120 to 100 at the Deutsche Bank Championship, but stay at 70 for the BMW Championship and 30 for the Tour Championship.
PGA Tour commissioner, Tim Finchem said:"We knew we had to re-evaluate the current structure and consider the best ways to maintain interest and excitement throughout the play-offs. With the changes we have announced, we believe we have a formula that will deliver what our players, fans, tournaments, sponsors and television partners want and expect from the FedEx Cup."
By moving the restart of points to just before the final event and boosting the point value for the three prior play-off stops, the PGA created a system whereby a victory by any of the top five seeds would take the FedExCup play-off title while the next five players would have a very strong chance of the title should they win the finale.
"By moving the reset to after the BMW Championship, the regular season not only will determine who qualifies for the play-offs, it also will play a vital role in determining who advances to the Tour Championship," Finchem said. "These structural changes, combined with the one-week break between the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship, will assure heightened drama and excitement."
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