East Lake has been the prime location for the TOUR Championship for over two decades. However, the 2025 edition of the playoff event exposed the vulnerabilities of the popular course. Particularly, the second hole on Sunday, on which only Patrick Cantlay faltered as part of the last group. That started the debate on whether the final FedEx Cup event should be moved to a different venue. And Golf Channel executives believe it might.

“I think you will see a scaled-down schedule. Something along the lines of 23 tournaments,” Golf Channel host Rich Lerner told CNBC. He added, “The question is, ‘Can you get the best players together more often? Brian Rolapp, the new CEO, will figureout a way to make that happen. Tiger is involved in trying to figure things out. Maybe, the TOUR Championship could move to a different location.”

The PGA Tour is already planning to shrink the PGA Tour schedule from 2027 onwards. Tiger Woods confirmed it during his conversation with the pros back in January 2023. Brian Rolapp had also suggested pushing back the start of the season post-Super Bowl.

Moreover, plans to change the venue for the TOUR Championship had also been in the books for some time now. Fans had already shared their displeasure with the historic course after it failed to impress them during the 2025 edition of the playoff event. But that’s not the only reason East Lake is losing credibility, according to Lerner.

“Fred (Beck Group CEO, Fred Perpall) would know the value of a primetime golf tournament on the West Coast. The weather is typically better in August. I think they’re looking closely at bringing some of their playoff events out here late in the season.”

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The East Coast region of the venue is not the ideal time to play golf. It gets incredibly hot and humid in the region during August. There are also high chances of precipitation during that period. Last season, the course experienced a lot of rain, and the PGA Tour faced criticism for allowing pros to use the preferred lies rule. Fans weren’t agitated with it at first, but they weren’t too pleased when the rule was applied for three consecutive rounds.

That is not the only change that the FedEx Cup playoffs might see going forward.

Tour Championship & other FedEx Cup Playoff events format might change thanks to Rory McIlroy

2025 was the first time the PGA Tour switched from the handicapped starting strokes format. Hence, strokes gained from performances in previous PlayOff events stopped mattering. That allowed pros the leeway to skip tournaments.

Rory McIlroy took advantage of the opportunity and didn’t join the field for the 2025 FedEx St. Jude Championship. The event hosted at TPC Southwind is considered one of the hottest and most grueling tests on the FedEx Cup Playoff calendar. While the PGA Tour might change the venue, the Irishman’s actions have also forced them to change the format.

While nothing is confirmed, Brian Rolapp & Co. are planning to suggest a new format that forces players to join the field for the Playoff events. It will be interesting to see how they modify the rules to avoid such issues in the future.