Patrick Cantlay has been critical of the format of the Tour Championship, after earning a $15m bonus
Cantlay After Winning $15m – “I Don’t Think It’s A Good Format”
Patrick Cantlay has criticised the format of the FedEx Cup Playoffs on Sunday, despite winning the Tour Championship and a $15 million bonus.
Cantlay had stated earlier in the week that the format didn’t make sense, and echoed those feelings after being handed the FedEx Cup trophy.
“I’m still not a fan of this format,” said Cantlay, “I don’t think it’s a good format.
“I don’t like the fact that somebody else shot the lowest score this week, and they would have won the Tour Championship in years past.”
Beginning in 2019, the Tour Championship adopted a new strokes-based format in order to ensure that the winner of the event would also be the FedEx Cup champion.
Cantlay, the player with the most FedEx Cup points, headed into the tournament at East Lake Golf Course starting ten under par.
The player with the second-highest number of points, Tony Finau, started eight under, while Bryson DeChambeau in third started seven under, which continued all the way down to the players ranked 26 to 30 on the points list who started at even par.
Without the strokes-based format, Jon Rahm and Kevin Na would have tied in first place at 14 under par, with Xander Schauffele in third at 12 under, and Cantlay T4 at 11 under.
Consequently, Patrick Cantlay didn’t even register the best score at the Tour Championship to win the tournament, which he isn’t a fan of.
His win at the BMW Championship meant he moved to first in the FedEx Cup points list, giving him a starting score of ten under par at the Tour Championship.
Without that, either Rahm or Na would have won the event and the $15 million bonus.
The format changed to strokes-based scoring in 2019, after previously having every player start the Tour Championship on even par.
From 2009 to 2019, the awarding of points ensured that if any of the top-five FedEx Cup point leaders entering the Tour Championship won the event, then they would also win the FedEx Cup.
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