Even if the terraces are always crowded and some golfers still have time to smash the 100 bar before the final end of the summer, the PGA Tour season is coming to an end.
Unfortunately, despite its importance and prestige, the last tournament of the season does not seem to attract as much attention as it should.
Most major leagues have their spring, or fall. The National Hockey League (NHL) has its playoffs and Major League Baseball (MLB) does too. While not a league per se, the PGA Tour is no exception.
Throughout the season, from September to August, players from the best circuit in the world accumulate points, according to the rank in which they finish in each tournament. Kind of like tennis. This ranking is called the “FedEx Cup”. The better a player performs, the more points he earns. The better he plays in big tournaments, the faster the pot fills up.
At the end of the season, the playoffs are divided into three stages.
First, the 70 players with the most points meet at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. At the end of the tournament, 20 players are eliminated. The 50 players with the highest score meet at the BMW Championship. Then another 20 players are eliminated. The last stage, which takes place from August 24 to 27, is therefore the Circuit Championship, bringing together the 30 survivors. And, at stake, the sum of 18 million dollars.
Several elements make the last tournament of the season so captivating.
First, the quality of the players present. This is the case in all major leagues, the end-of-season playoffs are somewhat of a struggle between the best athletes in the discipline. This is also true in golf. Scottie Scheffler, Viktor Hovland, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm are some of the 30 players at the East Lake Golf Club in Georgia.
Then, the purse awarded to the players is absolutely staggering: 75 million dollars will be distributed among the 30 golfers. The champion will walk away with the tidy sum of 18 million dollars. The one finishing dead last, in 30th position, will be able to comfort himself with a check for $500,000.
No other tournament during the season offers such a sum. The desire to win these playoffs is partly explained by the prestige accompanying the title of “champion of the season”. But the amounts of money at stake can also motivate some players to re-read the line of each roll once or twice.
The only element that can make the formula uninteresting, or somewhat tedious, is the advance offered to the highest ranked players.
For the PGA Tour, it is important to reward the performance of golfers during the season. Thus, the most successful can enjoy a considerable lead in the most generous tournament of the year.
FedEx Cup leader Scottie Scheffler will start the tournament at -10. Viktor Hovland, winner of the BMW Championship last week, will start the competition at -8. Rory McIlroy, provisional third, will start at – 7. And so on.
This method is questionable in that giving such a lead to the best players in the world practically gives them victory on a silver platter, in addition to spoiling the show a bit. With such a lead, it would be surprising to see Scheffler or Hovland attempt ambitious shots as if in catch-up mode.
In the last three tournaments, the leader at the start of the last stage has won twice.
The fight will therefore be tight at the top of the ranking. The big checkbook should thus land in the hands of Scheffler, Hovland or McIlroy.
Scheffler has been the most fragile of the three so far. He finished in second place last week, but his performance at the St. Jude Championship still raises doubts. His 31st position did not reassure anyone. Especially since last year he let the Tour Championship win slip by playing a final round of 3.
On the other hand, Hovland has the wind in its sails. Last week, the 25-year-old Norwegian scored the most important win of his career, posting a 61. Hovland came closer than ever this season to winning a major title. Triumphing this weekend could act as a balm, but above all as a launching pad for the future.
The most dangerous player is still Rory McIlroy. The Northern Irishman is the defending champion and he will be looking for a fourth title at the end of the season. He has already won the final stage of the playoffs three times, but he is above all the most consistent player for two tournaments, with a third and a fourth place.