Scottie Scheffler - PGA Tour playoff format could be better - ESPN

ATLANTA — Scottie Scheffler came within 1 stroke of winning the FedEx Cup last season, and he'll start the opening round of Thursday's Tour Championship with a 2-stroke advantage over the rest of the 30-man field.

The world No. 1 golfer still isn't convinced the Tour Championship, with its staggered-scoring format, is the best way for the PGA Tour to decide its season-long champion and winner of an $18 million bonus.

«I wouldn't say that it is the best format to identify the best golfer for the year,» Scheffler said Wednesday at East Lake Golf Club. "Jon Rahm played some of the best golf of anybody this year and he's coming into this tournament fourth and he's 4 shots back. And, in theory, he could have won 20 times this year and he would only have a 2-shot lead."

With two victories, 16 top-10s and 20 top-25s in 22 starts, Scheffler led the PGA Tour with 4,218 FedEx Cup points. That's 194 more than Viktor Hovland and 724 more than Rory McIlroy.

Scheffler will start the Tour Championship at 10 under. Hovland will be at 8 under, McIlroy at 7 under, and Rahm at 6 under. Open Championship winner Brian Harman is among five golfers who will begin the tournament at 4 under. The rest of the field will start 3 under to even.

«I mean, I get it,» Scheffler said. «It's made for TV. It may be more exciting for the fans to have this type of format. But as players I think it's not the best identifier of who is playing the best throughout the year. But with that being said, I'm starting this week with a 2-shot lead and, I mean, I'm not complaining about it.

»It's pretty nice. And we're playing for a lot of money this week and I'm very grateful for that. But as far as identifying the best player throughout the year, I don't think it's