CASTLE ROCK, Colo. – There was a collective sigh of reduction final weekend when Hideki Matsuyama closed out the FedEx St. Jude Championship, bringing an finish to what had been 17 months of turmoil.
It started in March 2023, a tense time for the PGA Tour. The highest gamers had been getting wealthy however, apparently, not wealthy sufficient. LIV Golf was poaching a few of its greatest needle-movers and threatening the Tour’s enterprise mannequin. And a large swath of the membership was sad, some even livid, with a brand new signature-event collection that promised to create an much more distinct class system.
As normal, Rory McIlroy was put in entrance of reporters to elucidate the intricacies of the brand new program that will place heightened significance on being among the many high 50 within the FedExCup – the rarified air that will assure entry to the largest occasions, the largest purses, the largest level totals.
On the time, there was affordable concern that the mannequin was making a closed store that went towards the very spirit {of professional} golf as the final word meritocracy. That capping the fields on the marquee occasions, every with elevated level totals, was merely insulating these gamers from poor efficiency whereas making it too troublesome for others to interrupt in.
The Tour’s objective was to match the same old turnover price (34-38%), and its knowledge staff crunched and re-crunched the numbers in hopes of recreating that typical churn among the many high 50 with its new level breakdown.
All that was at stake was gamers’ careers.
In a quiet second at TPC Sawgrass, McIlroy stated, “They’ve completed hundreds of simulations. They’ve bought some nice know-how. I belief it. I’ll belief that till it offers me a motive to not. That is what it’s giving us. We don’t know if that is the proper system. Are there going to proceed to be tweaks to this to make it higher? After all. At this level, we simply need to go along with it and see.”
* * *
Unanimous approval is unimaginable to seek out on Tour. We’re reminded of this yearly with the FedExCup playoffs, which has been endlessly tweaked since its introduction in 2007 and nonetheless, even now, doesn’t all the time obtain its acknowledged objective of figuring out the season-long champion.
And, no, this fledging signature-event collection mannequin isn’t flawless both. Event winners clogged up one of many two pathways into the signature occasions. The cadence of the schedule created lengthy stretches for these making an attempt to experience scorching streaks. A pedestrian signature-event end nonetheless is perhaps weighted too closely. Sponsor exemptions to Tour coverage board members raised eyebrows.
However in Yr 1, not less than, it did produce the meant end result: There are 19 “new” gamers among the many high 50, a churn price of 38%.
“I believe it appears about proper,” stated Adam Scott, a participant director on the Tour coverage board. “It’s about what it’s been each different yr. As a lot as we dissect all the things the PGA Tour does, it’s been the benchmark {of professional} golf; it doesn’t imply that it will get all the things proper, however it’s been a profitable product. I’d be comfortable to listen to any case why that churn price must be totally different than that, as a result of you’ll be able to’t simply go distant from what’s been profitable till there’s one more reason to take action.
“So, in equity, I’d give that staff again there in Ponte Vedra credit score. They ran the simulations. And on this occasion, there have been some outspoken folks on the finish of final yr that stated that is all very unsuitable, and it’s not likely labored out like that. Is it completely excellent? No. Nevertheless it definitely doesn’t appear unfair.”
Those that dropped out of the FedEx high 50, yr over yr, ranged from the apparent to the unlucky to the underwhelming.
Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton opened up two spots just by defecting to LIV. Jordan Spieth battled by means of a lingering wrist harm. Rickie Fowler appeared to lose his recreation, once more. Some who had padded their level totals by taking part in the earlier fall to crack the top-50 threshold final summer time – volume-shooters who now have much less room to function with the Tour’s return to a calendar-year schedule – spent this postseason on the sidelines.
Those that weren’t retained among the many Tour’s ruling class didn’t essentially play poorly in 2024; solely Fowler, who was 106th, completed outdoors the highest 80.
It simply wasn’t ok.
And that’s OK, too.
“It’s arduous,” Justin Thomas stated, “however it’s additionally arduous to maintain a job at any skilled stage. Perhaps we’ve simply been a bit of beneficiant up to now. And it’s like, look, if we wish the very best product, we wish the very best gamers, then all of us need to earn it. And that’s simply what it’s.”
* * *
Those that narrowly missed qualifying for the 50-man BMW Championship ought to really feel equally.
Tom Kim misplaced in a playoff in a signature occasion and would have superior if not for a late collapse in Memphis.
Maverick McNealy was the 12th-best participant on Tour this season in strokes-gained: complete and is now watching from dwelling.
Patrick Rodgers earned his most top-10s in a season (4) since 2015 and didn’t get by means of.
The margins are skinny. All the time have been.
For probably the most half, their near-misses weren’t due to an absence of alternative. Of the eight gamers who had been closest to the top-50 cutoff, seven performed in not less than seven signature occasions; McNealy, who bought in just one, was coming off an injury-plagued 2023 and got here into the brand new yr needing to meet a serious medical exemption. Zoomed out even wider: Of the gamers who completed Nos. 51-70 within the standings, 15 of them performed not less than 4 of the marquee occasions.
In different phrases, they nonetheless wanted to reap the benefits of their golden alternative.
Rookie Jake Knapp (No. 59) received in Mexico and was gifted entry into the 5 remaining signature occasions. His mixed common end in these tournaments: 56th. It was an identical story for Taylor Moore (No. 64), who was in all eight signature occasions this yr. However his common end in these with a lower: 45th.
“You must have a extremely, actually good yr to make it into the highest 50,” Thomas stated.
So, how did this BMW discipline come collectively?
Ten of the 19 newbies within the high 50 had been Tour winners in 2024, aiding the circuit’s case that it nonetheless prioritizes trophies. These victories unlocked rapid entry into the marquee occasions for the rest of the season, an avenue that proved useful for, amongst others, Matthieu Pavon, Akshay Bhatia, Billy Horschel, Stephan Jaeger, Taylor Pendrith and Austin Eckroat. Even those that received later within the yr, as soon as the premier occasions had been largely wrapped up – resembling Robert MacIntyre, Davis Thompson and Aaron Rai – had completed sufficient beforehand to get throughout the road.
“I sit right here now and I’m an instance that when you play properly and also you reap the benefits of the alternatives that you just get – whether or not it’s in some signature occasions otherwise you play properly within the majors the place there are extra FedExCup factors – you may get inside the highest 50,” Horschel stated. “Is it straightforward? No, it isn’t. It’s going to be arduous, and it must be a bit of little bit of a problem. Nothing must be handed to us by any means.”
* * *
Max Greyserman is standing outdoors the clubhouse at Fort Pines, a bag slung over his shoulder, his work completed for the day.
The Tour rookie was one of many bubble boys final week in Memphis however, with a final-round 63, secured his spot among the many coveted high 50. It capped a dizzying summer time stretch for a participant who, simply two months in the past, was fearful about merely maintaining his card. Then he performed properly within the U.S. Open, completed second on the 3M Open and woulda-coulda-shoulda received the regular-season finale in Greensboro.
Greyserman, 29, recalled listening to at rookie orientation all concerning the signature occasions and swings and churn charges, however he was extra centered on his personal schedule. As a first-timer on Tour, he was decided to play in each single event for which he was eligible, making an attempt to stockpile factors and possibly sneak his approach into a couple of elevated occasions. That turned out to be a 23-tournament slate wherein he hasn’t had two consecutive weeks off in additional than six months.
“It’s simply the way in which the Tour is structured,” he stated, “that you just simply begin from behind.”
Not that Greyserman was complaining. Over the course of his rookie season, he turned conscious about how there’s primarily two excursions now – one for the haves, the opposite for the have-mores.
“You’re moving into much less occasions, you’re taking part in for fewer factors total, however on the flip facet of that, you’re not taking part in towards Scottie (Scheffler), Rory and Xander (Schauffele) who routinely end inside the highest 10,” he stated. “It’s a stark distinction, and I really feel like there’s a unique stage of golf for the highest guys.
“So, I believe the present construction is honest since you get the chance to not play towards the Scotties of the world and nonetheless accumulate factors. Do you begin from behind? Sure. However that’s simply the way it goes.”
And it’s what made his payoff into the BMW that rather more satisfying. Greyserman is one in all simply two gamers (Rai) who made the elite discipline with out taking part in a single signature occasion this yr.
He did it his approach. The arduous approach.
“I’m actually, actually comfortable,” he stated, “as a result of final week modified all the things for me.”
Earlier than his torrid near the season, Greyserman was already making ready for the autumn. He’d made journey plans and meant to enroll in each occasion, hoping to climb the standings and, by means of the Nos. 51-60 factors class, achieve entry into not less than the primary two signature occasions of the brand new yr.
However now, together with his new standing, he’s rethinking all the things. He can go to Napa for a working trip together with his spouse. He can go play in Japan, if solely to gorge on sushi. He can play the Tour cease in Vegas at his outdated dwelling course.
There’s nonetheless loads of motivation: A win or top-50 world rating by the top of the yr will get him into the Masters (at present 51st). However a number of the stress to chase factors is off.
“My entire profession has been a rat race,” Greyserman stated, “and now, for the primary time, it’s not. Every little thing is so recent and new now.”
And it’s why it’s instructive to look again at how McIlroy framed the dialogue that day in March 2023. It was all about entry, he stated, and guaranteeing that, even when it’s now a bit more durable, the gamers nonetheless bought a good shot at altering their profession trajectories.
“And there’s one solution to remedy that,” he stated. “It’s to shoot the scores and qualify.”
The Tour’s parlance has modified. The goalposts have moved. However 17 months later, that central tenet stays.
