Scottie Scheffler heads into the first of three FedEx Cup Playoffs, the FedEx St. Jude Championship, with a huge lead in the standings, boasting a near 2,000-point lead over closest rival Xander Schauffele, helped by wins in six of the tournaments offering the points this season.
Signature events, which offer 700 points for a win, are where Scheffler has benefited the most in 2024, but the Playoffs hand 2,000 points to the winner, while the leader on the standings heading into the final event, the Tour Championship, will begin with just a two-shot lead over his nearest rival.
That has made for a more open contest at East Lake in recent years, with even the lowest-ranked of the 30 in the Tour Championship field starting only 10 shots behind the leader. However, Scheffler is not a fan of the format, particularly as it is the culmination of a season-long battle for points.
Speaking to the media before this week’s event at TPC Southwind, he aired his frustrations over how, even with his enormous points lead heading into the tournament, it could be overturned with a moment of bad luck such as a flare-up of the neck injury that bothered him on his way to winning The Players Championship.
He said: “Yeah, I mean, 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.
“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 FedEx Cup because I had to withdraw from the last tournament? Is that really the season-long race? No.”
One reason for the format is to ensure the winner is not all-but-guaranteed by the start of the final Playoff event, and that’s something the man third in the standings, Rory McIlroy, argued earlier in the day is a crucial thing to consider.
He said: “I think it makes the Tour Championship more exciting from a consumer standpoint. Is it the fairest reflection of who's been the best player of the year? Probably not. But I think at this point, we're not in for totally fair, we're in for entertainment and for trying to put on the best product we possibly can."
Scheffler also conceded there is a need to ensure it is an enjoyable spectacle for TV audiences. “It is what it is,” he said. “It's a fun tournament. I don't really consider it the season-long race like I think the way it's called.
“But you've got to figure out a way to strike a balance between it being a good TV product and it still being a season-long race. Right now, I don't know exactly how the ratings are or anything like that, but I know for a fact you can't really quite call it the season-long race when it comes down to one strokeplay tournament on the same golf course each year.”
The opening round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship begins on Thursday, with Scheffler grouped with Schauffele. The pair’s tee time is 1.45pm EDT (6.45pm BST).
