News
The FedEx Cup overhaul is official. Here are the details
The PGA Tour substantiated the rumored changes to the FedEx Cup Playoffs, Tuesday, unveiling a new playoff format in general, an overhaul of the Tour Championship in particular, and a new regular season points race.
As had been previously established, the Tour will move from four playoff events to three. Most dramatically, the rumored staggered Tour Championship scoring, with the No. 1 player on the points list starting at 10 under, is now a reality. The next four players in the standings will being a 8 under through 5 under. No 6-10 will start at 4 under. Every five players after that will start a stroke further back, with No. 26 through 30 beginning at even par.
There will also now be a $10 million regular season bonus pool sponsored by Wyndham Rewards, aptly named the “Wyndham Rewards Top 10.”
The FedEx Cup Playoffs will wrap prior to Labor Day, thus finishing before the NFL season kicks off. The field for The Northern Trust will be 125 players, 70 for the BMW Championship, and 30 for the Tour Championship, with the points remaining the same for the first two events.
“This is a significant and exciting change for the PGA Tour, our players, our partners and – most importantly – our fans,” said PGA Tour commissioner, Jay Monahan. “As soon as the Tour Championship begins, any fan – no matter if they’ve followed the PGA Tour all season or are just tuning in for the final event – can immediately understand what’s going on and what’s at stake for every single player in the field. And, of course, players will know exactly where they stand at all times while in play, which will ratchet up the drama, consequence and volatility of the competition down the stretch.”
Regarding the $10 million Wyndham Rewards Top 10, the Tour says it, “will also put an even greater premium on excelling over the course of the FedExCup Regular Season.”
The leader of the top 10 will earn $2 million, with the runner-up pocketing $1.5 million. The existing FedEx Cup bonus pool will now total $60 million—$25 million more than the existing pool. Accordingly, the FedEx Cup champion will earn $15 million, rather than the $10 million in the current system.
Alternatively, there’s Geoff Shackelford’s summary of the changes: “This will be easier to follow than the current system where algorithms proved consistently boring to follow. This has to be better…the FedExCup as we knew it, did not work.”
I’m going to gush in this intro paragraph, to get the emo stuff done early. I’ve not pulled harder for a professional to win, than Cameron Young. I coach golf in New York state, and each spring, my best golfers head to a state championship in Poughkeepsie. I first saw Cameron there as a 9th grade student. I saw him three more times after that. I reconnecected with Coach Haas from Wake Forest, an old interview subject from my days on the Old Gold and Black, the Wake newspaper. He was there to watch Cameron. After four years at Wake Forest, Young won on the Korn Ferry Tour, made it to the big tour, almost won two majors, almost won five other events, and finally got the chalice about 25 minutes from the Wake campus. Congratulations, Cameron. You truly are a glass of the finest. #MotherSoDear
OK, let’s move on to the Tour Rundown. The major championship season closed this week in Wales, with the Women’s Open championship. The PGA Tour bounced through Greensboror, N.C., while the PGA Tour Americas hit TO (aka, Toronto) for a long-winded event. The Korn Ferry lads made a stop in Utah, one of just two events for that tour in August. The many-events, golf season is winding down, as we ease from summer toward fall in the northern hemisphere. Let’s bask in the glory of an August sunrise, and run down a quartet of events from the first weekend of the eighth month.
LET/LPGA @ Women’s Open: Miyu bends, but she doesn’t break
Royal Porthcawl was not a known commodity in the major tournament community. The Welsh links had served as host to men’s senior opens, men’s amateurs, and Curtis and Walker Cups in prior years, but never an Open championship for the women or the men. The last-kept secret in UK golf was revealed once again to the world this week, as the best female golfers took to the sandy stage.
Mao Saigo, Grace Kim, Maja Stark, and Minjee Lee hoped to add a second major title to previous wins this season, but only Lee was able to finish inside the top ten. The 2025 playing of the Women’s Open gave us a new-faces gallery from day one. The Kordas and Thitikulls were nowhere to be found, and it was the Mayashitas, Katsus, and Lim Kims that secured the Cymru spotlight. The first round lead was held at 67 by two golfers. One of them battled to the end, while the other posted 81 on day two, and missed the cut. Sitting one shot behind was Miyu Yamashita.
On day two, Yamashita posted the round of the tournament. Her 65 moved her to the front of the aisle, in just her fourth turn around a women’s Open championship. With the pre-event favorites drifting off pace, followers narrowed into two camps: those on the side of an underdog, and others hoping for a weekend charge from back in the pack. In the end, we had a bit of both.
On Saturday, Yamashita bent with 74 on Saturday, offering rays of hope to her pursuing pack. England’s Charley Hull made a run on Sunday closing within one shot before tailing off to a T2 finish with Minami Katsu. Katsu posted the other 65 of the week, on Saturday, but could not overtake her countrywoman, Yamashita. wunderkind Lottie Woad needed one round in the 60s to find her pace, but could only must close-to’s, ending on 284 and a tie with Minjee for eighth.
On Sunday, Yamashita put away the thoughts of Saturday’s struggles, with three-under 33 on the outward half. She closed in plus-one 37, but still won by two, for a first Major and LPGA title.
PGA Tour @ Wyndham: Young gathers first title near home
Cameron Young grew up along the Hudson river, above metro New York, but he also calls Winston-Salem home. He spent four years as a student and athlete at Wake Forest University, then embarked on tour. This week in Greensboro, after a bit of a break, Young opened with 63-62, and revved the engine of Is this the week once more. Runner-up finishes at the Open, the PGA, and a handful of PGA Tour events had followers wonder when the day would come.
On Saturday, Young continued his torrid pace with 65, giving him a five-shot advantage over his closest pursuer. Sunday saw the Scarborough native open with bogey, then reel off five consecutive birdies to remind folks that his time had, at last, arrived. Pars to the 16th, before two harmless bogeys coming home, made Young the 1000th winner of an official PGA Tour event (dating back to before there was a PGA Tour) throughout history. What’s next? I have a suspicion, but I’m not letting on. Mac Meissner closed with 66 to finish solo 2nd, while Mark Hubbard and Alex Noren tied for third.
Korn Ferry Tour @ Utah Championship: Are you Suri it’s Julian?
Who knows exactly when the flower will bloom? Julian Suri played a solid careet at Duke University, then paid his dues on the world’s minor tours for three years. He won twice on two tours in Europe, in 2017. Since then, the grind has continued for the journeyman from New York city. At age 34, Suri broke through in Beehive state, outlasting another grinder (Spencer Levin) and four others, by two shots.
Taylor Montgomery began the week with 62, then posted 64, then 68, and finally, 70. That final round was his undoing. He finished in that second-place tie, two back of the leader. Trace Crowe, Barend Botha, and Kensei Hirata made up the last of the almost quintet. As for Suri, his Sunday play was sublime. His nines were 32 and 31, with his only radar blip a bogey at ten. He closed in style with one final birdie, to double his winning margin. Hogan bloomed late…might Suri?
PGA Tour Americas @ Osprey Valley Open presented by Votorantim Cimentos – CBM Aggregates
Some tournament names run longer than others. This week in Toronto, at the Heathlands course at TPC Toronto, we might have seen the longest tournament title in recorded history. The OVOPBVCCBMA was a splendid affair. It saw three rounds of 62 on Thursday, but of those early risers, only Drew Goodman would stick around until the end. 64 was the low tally on day two, and two of those legionnaires managed to finish inside the top three at week’s end. Saturday brought a 63 from Patrick Newcomb, and he would follow with 64 on Sunday, to finish solo fourth.
Who, then, ended up winning the acronym of the year? It turns out that Carson Bacha had the right stuff in TeeOhhh. Bacha and Jay Card III posted 63 and 64, respectively, on day four, to tie for medalist honors at 23-under 261. Nathan Franks was one shot adrift, despite also closing with 63. If you didn’t go low on Sunday, it was about the check, not the championship.
Bacha and JC3 returned to the 18th hole twice in overtime. Card nearly chipped in from the thick stuff for birdie, while Bacha peeked and shoved a ten-feet attempt at the win. On the second go-round, Card was long with his approach, into the native grasses once more. He was unable to escape, and a routine par from the fairway was enough to earn the former Auburn golfers a first KFT title.
Card III and Bacha both miss their birdie tries on the first playoff hole.
We’ll play 18 again @OspreyOpen. pic.twitter.com/vNpHTdkHDg
— PGA TOUR Americas (@PGATOURAmericas) August 3, 2025
GolfWRX is live this week from the final event of the PGA Tour’s regular season, the Wyndham Championship.
Photos are flowing into the forums from Sedgefield Country Club, where we already have a GolfWRX spirit animal Adam Schenk WITB and plenty of putters for your viewing pleasure.
Check out links to all our photos below, which we’ll continue to update as more arrive.
General Albums
- 2025 Wyndham Championship – Tuesday #1
- 2025 Wyndham Championship – Tuesday #2
- 2025 Wyndham Championship – Tuesday #3
WITB Albums
- Chandler Phillips – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Davis Riley – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Scotty Kennon – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Austin Duncan – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Will Chandler – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Kevin Roy – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Ben Griffin – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Peter Malnati – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Ryan Gerard – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Adam Schenk – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Kurt Kitayama – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Camilo Villegas – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Matti Schmid – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
Pullout Albums
- Denny McCarthy’s custom Cameron putters – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Swag Golf putters – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Karl Vilips TM MG5 wedges – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- New Bettinardi putters – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Matt Fitzpatrick’s custom Bettinardi putters – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Cameron putters – 2025 Wyndham Championship
See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.
Kurt Kitayama just won his 2nd PGA Tour event at the 3M Open. Kurt is a Bridgestone staffer but with just the ball and bag. Here are the rest of the clubs he used to secure a win at the 2025 3M Open.
Driver: Titleist GT3 (11 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD VF 7 TX
3-wood: Titleist GT1 3Tour (14.5 degrees, A3 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8 TX
7-wood: Titleist GT1 (21 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 9 TX
Irons: TaylorMade P7CB (4), TaylorMade P7MB (5-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52-12F, 56-14F), Vokey Design WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Style Newport 2 Tour Prototype
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy 1.0PT
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Ball: Bridgestone Tour B XS (with Mindset)
‘Why would anybody want to change that swing?’ – Brandel Chamblee says PGA Tour star was wrong to change his swing
‘The stupidest freaking thing I’ve ever heard’ – Billy Horschel slams Open idea suggested by Padraig Harrington
WITB Time Machine: Brandt Snedeker’s winning WITB, 2018 Wyndham Championship
Golfer proudly posts photo of ball mark on iron, receives immediate roasting
WITB Time Machine: Matthew Wolff’s winning WITB, 2019 3M Open
Oakmont Country Club bans Wyndham Clark over locker incident; Reveals specific conditions to earn reinstatement
Adam Scott puts Callaway blades in the bag at Wyndham Championship
Report: LIV star fires caddie and coach in shock shake up
Rickie Fowler makes equipment change to ‘something that’s a little easier on the body’
The championship formula: How 3 key stats separate winners from the field
Peter Malnati WITB 2025 (August)
Peter Malnati what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. More photos from the event here. Driver: Titleist...
Cameron Young’s winning WITB: 2025 Wyndham Championship
Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting) Buy here. Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX 3-wood: Titleist...
Camilo Villegas WITB 2025 (July)
Camilo Villegas WITB accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. Villegas was undecided on a 3-wood when we shot his bag. ...
WITB Time Machine: Brandt Snedeker’s winning WITB, 2018 Wyndham Championship
Brandt Snedeker fired a final-round 65 at the 2018 Wyndham Championship to outlast Webb Simpson and C.T. Pan. His 5-under...
SNAKE FARR
Aug 16, 2019 at 5:38 pm
Pga tour has officially been reduced to a net event? Will 2020 usopen give the defending champ a 10 under par start before any one hits a shot? Welcome to the 8th flight club tournament at Bushwood !!!! Changing basic rules of golf scoring so tv watchers that have never played wont get confused. Pga be ashamed!!
P Cleeve
Sep 20, 2018 at 4:26 am
This will totally alienate ALL viewers and leave the PGA Tour totally alone Internationally, whereas the other Tours will now go forward by being guided, not by greed and demand to be the “ONLY” tour, but by being receptive to informed viewers requests and a genuine interest in ALL players best interests no matter what standing they have. Greed is a killer.
Mat
Sep 20, 2018 at 2:22 am
Just to add to the reasons this is stupid, not that it should require any more…
The incentive is now that the top seed will be rewarded for playing *conservatively*. Think about that… play it safe is the right way to play. That’s just so backwards.
If you think you should be giving an advantage, fine. I’d be ok with giving major winners a first round match bye, and I’d also be fine with an even match going to the higher seed after 18, no playoff. Seeding becomes a natural advantage. But the idea that the scoring of a single tournament will be modified makes this right about a local over-50’s weekender.
I honestly hope this costs the commissioner his job. Where other parts of the world are getting rave reviews for 6s golf, this is going to be the short, mistake era of the PGA.
Tom54
Sep 19, 2018 at 6:00 pm
I agree with many of the comments about how asinine this new formula is for the FedEx playoffs. Hopefully before the new wraparound season starts which by the was is pretty dumb too,they will have time to come up with something better. Who in the world thought this through gods sake?
Ron Owens
Sep 19, 2018 at 4:29 pm
Really? A tournament where players start at various strokes under par? Stupid!
Everyone starts at zero and plays the game. Best man wins. What’s so difficult about that?
HDTVMAN
Sep 19, 2018 at 1:23 pm
I just looked up the definition of the PGA Tour in the on-line dictionary: “A very rich group of gentlemen, who play for extremely large amounts of money, a 501c3 non-profit, lead by a commissioner and board equivalent to the characters in ‘Dumb & Dumber'”.
Gary Ahlert
Sep 19, 2018 at 1:00 pm
This is beyond stupid. Either these guys are on drugs or ought to be. Absolutely nuts. Ta Ta PGA. Youve lost me as viewr. Stop trying to gimic everything up
GHN
Sep 19, 2018 at 12:32 pm
I like it! It is simply not a normal tour event it is the FedEx Cup playoff and giving the leader 10 strokes over the last 4 guys in the field makes perfect sense. It will be much better then trying to figure out what is on the white board! The players and the fans will know where everyone stands and every player will know what they need to do to win.
Yawning
Sep 19, 2018 at 12:23 pm
You’ve made it simpler Mr. Monahan, simply buzz killing. Handicaps are for Ams.
Just neck the field down a couple times to 30, then match play with one seeding bye for the top 10 ranked players, based on season performance. But since the press releases already went out it seems we will have to endure at least one farce, the 2019 FedEx cup.
While you are in a “simplifying” mood, how about dumping the wrap-around season and go back to traditional calendar based scheduling ?
Dan
Sep 19, 2018 at 10:31 am
Oh and by the way it wasn’t the Playoffs or the Tour Championship format that needed revamping. It was the points accrued throughout the season. How is a player that hasn’t won at all ranked higher than a player who has won 2 majors. There is your problem!!
Dan
Sep 19, 2018 at 9:43 am
Wow! Now I’ve heard it all. We are giving professional golfers handicaps. What a sham. Pretty surprised the player’s board allowed that to happen. Now the Tour Championship is a meaningless made for TV event. Hot garbage!!
Roy
Sep 19, 2018 at 9:07 am
Guess there is a reason the NFL dosen’t start the playoffs with one team up 14-0 at the opening kickoff….
Scheiss
Sep 19, 2018 at 3:09 am
So, so dumb.
It should be simple, like this:
Play the usual season and collect moneys as usual; the top 144 of the Money List qualify for the Final 4 events. No need for points. No need to worry about who won how many times. Just make them all just go out there and get the moneys.
Then play cut-line.
1st Final Event, the 144 players get cut to 108.
QuarterFinal, cut to 72.
SemiFinal, cut to 36.
Final, just 1 Winner. Gets the Cup.
Simples!
They’ll be hungry and will be gunning for it at the end. No need to shuffle anything around, no points needed, just do it by earnings to qualify.
bogeypro
Sep 18, 2018 at 9:52 pm
wow, just wow…. no words for how dumb this is. just do a 32 man match play. Handicapping a pga event is ridiculous.
Mat
Sep 19, 2018 at 7:52 am
Couldn’t agree more. I’d prefer nothing better than a simple bracket. I’d want 28, so that your four major winners get a bye.
But anything other than match play is revolting.
Jacob Bengtson
Sep 18, 2018 at 9:40 pm
Garbage, match play or nothing. Looks like I won’t even be watching anything after the Us open for the 20th year in a row.
Liberty Apples
Sep 18, 2018 at 8:50 pm
So the Tour Championship is now a handicapped event? Utter nonsense.
Rebill One
Sep 18, 2018 at 6:39 pm
I thought the real final event was Phil vs Tiger.
Jill Ouellette
Sep 18, 2018 at 4:36 pm
Really dumb thing to do! We don’t care if one person wins the Tour Championship and another the Cup. If you make it to the final 30, you should have an equal chance in the Tour Championship. Your overall performance should be the determining factor, not just one tournament. What you’ve done does not increase interest–in fact, just the opposite.
Jack
Sep 19, 2018 at 9:41 am
You are so right Jill! The entire PGA Tour staff should be tested for substance abuse. That has to be the only explanation for this mind-numbing decision.
emb
Sep 18, 2018 at 3:35 pm
so you’re 6th in points for the entire year and you start the Tour Championship 6 shots back? that seems a little extreme, I feel like the leader is given too much of an advantage but I’m sure they’ll tweak it after next year as well depending on results. Wonder how long it’ll be before they go 2 full seasons without changing anything
Knarls Barkley
Sep 18, 2018 at 3:16 pm
I still think Greg Norman got jobbed for having come up with this idea of an elite level playoff system, presenting it to the Tour, and they poo poo’d it, ONLY TO PRESENT THEIR OWN VERSION OF IT!! AND THE SYSTEM IS STILL COCAMAMIE NONSENSE!!
Ryan Michael
Sep 18, 2018 at 3:15 pm
128 man match play event make it short and sweet for all the marbles and most importantly it simplifies things!
dat
Sep 18, 2018 at 2:53 pm
This scoring system sounds like something a network exec. came up with who has never played golf in his life.
Graham Fee
Sep 18, 2018 at 2:18 pm
I really dislike this, seems very foolish to change a system that was working to something convoluted. If this is a reaction to the possibility of someone winning the FedEx Cup without a win, it sure is an extreme reaction. I have no issue with Finau winning the Cup – shows he has been playing well all year. I like the regular season race – good addition. The starting a tournament with under-par scores already on the board – no thanks! I think this cheapens the perception of the Tour Championship overall.
kevin
Sep 18, 2018 at 2:56 pm
if the winner of the final event didn’t take home the fedex trophy….it wasn’t a playoff.
no one likes watching an event where math is needed to calulate whether or not the guy finishing the last tournament in 2nd or 3rd would actually be the overall winner.
the new system, although not perfect, is a step in right direction. however i’d rather see a final 8 match play event.
Rebill One
Sep 18, 2018 at 6:40 pm
Final 8 match play is a great idea!
Tom
Sep 18, 2018 at 1:46 pm
The timing of this is strange, two days before the 2018 finals you reveal the next version?
Basically inferring the current program isn’t very good, puts a cloud over this week’s event?
kevin
Sep 18, 2018 at 2:56 pm
agreed. but it wasn’t a secret the current system is garbage
Midwest Blade
Sep 18, 2018 at 1:14 pm
Seems like they are really forcing the effort to create something exciting. These season ending events look more and more like every other event during the season and are probably not gaining much in audience or interest. There are always certain events throughout the year that I do really enjoy watching, The Masters has always been the start to the season, followed by the US Open, The Open and finally the PGA. Throw in The Players and a couple of other events like the old Western Open, anything played at Firestone and that was a wrap for the majority of my golf viewing. Week after week of golf tournaments looking like the week before are not gaining fans. Weekly money is so large that fields in the off weeks seem to be getting weaker and weaker. All the top players schedule for the major’s, WGC’s (non cut events, guarantees $’s) and a few other events. Why can’t the season end with a simple two event run, top 80 make the series which is then cut to 40 for a final tour championship, simple, clean and easy to understand. No strokes, no points, simply top 80 on the money list make the finals.