During a press conference on Wednesday, Justin Thomas – the defending FedExCup champion, let it be known that he’s not exactly thrilled with the new format changes announced for the FedExCup, specifically related to the Tour Championship.
“I was perfectly content with how the format was last year,” said Thomas when asked what he thought of the new format that’s been panned by fans and media.
“I liked the way that it is now, but like anything, you’re just going to have to get used to it and you’re going to have to — we’re just going to have to become comfortable with it because that’s the way it is.
“Hopefully — I’m sure it will — it will produce a lot of great drama and a very deserving winner.”
Starting next season, instead of a points reset, the leader of the FedExCup race heading into the Tour Championship will tee off in round one at 10-under par with the next four positions at 8- to 5-under par, respectively, down to the bottom four at even-par. Using essentially a handicap system, the net winner of the tournament will also win the FedExCup, no matter what the rest of the field does. (The OWGR is still unsure how it will award world ranking points (gross winner or net?).
“Yeah, I think that’s something that’s very, very weird and going to be hard to get used to is you’re going to be starting farther back. And I think that was something — we talked about it, it is different, and it’s so — it’s never going to be perfect. No system in any sport is ever going to be perfect, and the TOUR has done such a great job of talking to us and trying to get it as good as possible,” continued Thomas.
“But it’s just hard to understand the fact that you could be starting behind somebody else and still somehow win a golf tournament or an official win.
“You know, for how much pride we take in our wins, I think that that’s something that’s going to be a little different. But it’s definitely going to be weird. I mean, you could be just shot out of the tournament really because if you start nine or ten back and you go shoot a couple over the first day, your week is realistically done.
“That part is a little bit of a bummer, but like I said earlier, we’re just going to kind of see how it unfolds, and hopefully it turns out well.”
