What We Want to See From Match Play in the Tour Championship

On Friday, Gabby Herzig of The Athletic reported that the PGA Tour is in “advanced discussions” to convert the Tour Championship into a bracket-style championship with the potential of match play. Hallelujah! This is a no-brainer and has the opportunity to transform the Tour Championship from a cash-grab snoozefest into a legitimately exciting head-to-head competition. However, implementation is key. I will continue to argue that a match play Tour Championship format must meet the following criteria:

All participants in the season finale had seasons worthy of competing for the season-long prize.

• Match play is a high-variance format. The last man in the field could end up winning the whole bracket, so only let players with strong résumés into the tournament. The player with the 25th-best season on the PGA Tour probably shouldn’t be competing for the season-ending trophy. I’d advocate for a 12-player bracket, giving first-round byes to the top four seeds.

Play out every spot for season-end positioning to make the matches meaningful.

• Vocal opponents to a match-play format argue that match play peaks in early rounds of the competition and becomes anticlimactic in the final round with only two golfers on the course. The solution is to play out every match, both for cash and to determine where players finish on the season’s standings. A No. 5 vs. No. 6 matchup might not be as compelling as the championship match, but it’d still be captivating theater.

Herzig reports that the changes could take effect as soon as this season (yes, please!), but that Tour membership still needs to be sold on the idea. Player director Adam Scott doesn’t sound like he’s quite sold.

This piece originally appeared in the Fried Egg Golf newsletter. Subscribe for free and receive golf news and insight every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.