Tour Championship at East Lake Could Change to Bracket-Style Match Play

The PGA Tour is reportedly in talks to change the format of its season-ending event, which has often been criticized.

The Tour Championship at East Lake may soon have a new look. / John Adams/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The PGA Tour is reportedly discussing the possibility of altering its often-maligned Tour Championship format into a bracket-style event with the changes possible for this year.

The Athletic cited sources and said talks had advanced to change the starting strokes system that's been in place since 2019.

PGA Tour officials have not commented to SI, but the idea to make changes likely has plenty of supporters in light of constant complaints about the current format, which sees the FedEx Cup leader heading into the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta get a two-shot advantage over the field before play begins. This year $25 million in bonus money went to the winner, Scottie Scheffler.

Last summer, the Tour launched its Fan Forward initiative to seek input and one of the items included the possibility of format changes.

The idea cited by the Athletic was some sort of bracket-style format with head-to-head play – that could entail stroke play or match play – and the possibility of some players getting byes in early rounds.

The Tour Championship is the culmination of the three-tournament FedEx Cup playoffs which now begins with 70 players at the FedEx St Jude Championship before being cut to 50 for the BMW Championship and then 30 for the final event.

The number of players is not likely to change but how they compete is now up for consideration among the various stakeholders, including TV partners and corporate sponsors.

 This week the 2025 PGA Tour season is opening at the Sentry in Hawaii, with the FedEx Cup portion concluding in Atlanta at the Tour Championship, Aug. 21-24.