Scottie Scheffler, despite a dominant season, missed out on the 2025 FedEx Cup because of the format change. With all 30 players starting at even par, Tommy Fleetwood surged to his first PGA Tour win and the $10 million prize. Under the old staggered-strokes system, Scheffler might have carried him to the title instead.

Williams’ sharing his thoughts on the 5 Clubs podcast was blunt. “I don’t have to be a deep thinker to separate who was the best player all year from the guy who won the last event.” His point is obvious. Scheffler won two majors this year, four wins, and had double the FedEx Cup points of Rory McIlroy (3,687). Yet, the East Lake saw Fleetwood holding the trophy and the title of the FedEx Champion just because he won the TOUR Championship. This is not the first time the FedEx Cup finale has been caught in an identity crisis.

Before 2019, there was a separation. There used to be one winner of the Tour Championship and another winner of the FedEx Cup. That’s how Tiger Woods won his unforgettable 80th career victory at East Lake in 2018, while Justin Rose — who had a better season overall — claimed the cup. Phil Mickelson had lived through similar moments. To many, such moments with two players sharing the stage seemed awkward. “Tiger and Phil had to share a photo op, and one won one, and one won the other, and you’re going, ‘Well, this is really awkward.’ It wasn’t awkward for me. I loved it,” Williams remembers.

Based on that reason, the Tour scrapped the dual-winner setup in favor of the staggered start format a year later. Season-long points leader would begin the TOUR Championship now with a lead by being under par. But starting this year, they did away with this rule too, which led to a lot of debate in the golf world. “The starting system was kind of wonky, it seemed like made-for-TV and not a great way to identify someone who has played well all year and deserves to win the FedEx Cup,” Brandt Snedeker, the 2012 FedEx Cup champion and a member of the PAC this season, said.

Players themselves were divided. Patrick Cantlay, who didn’t win a single event this season, defended the decision. “I think at this point, if you played a whole year and get into the Tour Championship with the 30 best guys who have played the best all year, and you beat them that week with everything on the line, that’s a huge accomplishment.” What’s more interesting, Scottie Scheffler himself backed this approach, knowing fully well that it’s players like him who will be on the receiving end of this. “I was not a fan of it. I didn’t think it was a good way to end the year, for a variety of reasons. I’m much happier with this format.” He then went on to joke, “I guess no more sandbagging for me at the end of the year.” 

But things are probably going to change. New PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp seems ready to address this tension the moment he takes over. Rolapp has already launched a Future Competition Committee led by Tiger Woods, tasked with blowing up the current model and redesigning how golf’s regular season and postseason connect. He’s going to have fewer events with a simpler structure. Rolapp believes that the current FedEx Cup system requires advanced mathematics to understand what matters. “Competition should be easy to follow,” Rolapp explained.

And this is exactly what Williams directed. He believes that very soon the golf world is going to see a change in this regard. “I think one of the things that we’re going to see is that they’re going to alter this, and we’re going to turn this into a finals series. And if that means some type of implementation of match play, maybe.”

Meanwhile, fans are already at a crossroads over Fleetwood’s win.

Fans angered over Scottie Scheffler’s snub

Many fans have spoken against this entire system. Although they are not against Fleetwood, the playoff format, where all 30 players started at even par, didn’t sit right with them. Let us look at some of their reactions.

“I’ve been pretty vocal about this, and I’m going to reiterate my sentiment. This FedEx Cup format su*ks. They should never have done away with the original format. The fact that anyone other than Scottie Scheffler has the opportunity to win the FedEx Cup is ridiculous.” Scheffler entered the TOUR Championship by being at the pinnacle of the FedEx Cup standings (7,456 points).

Echoing the same sentiment, another user chimed in: “Scottie Scheffler having more than double the FedEx points of any other player and doesn’t get to win the FedEx cup is insane to me.” But probably what this user doesn’t know is that Scheffler himself has spoken about this. He was the number 1 seed for the past three years, yet he believes that the staggered system should go. “In order to win the FedEx Cup, you have to play good golf at the right time,” he said earlier this month.

Scheffler is right here. Although he played throughout the season, his struggles with the putter at the Tour Championship are well-documented. He hit his first tee shot out of bounds during the final round, eventually finishing tied for fourth. One user did highlight this, “Scottie wanted it bad, but his putter was cold. The FedEx Cup is no major, but it was big.”

“I like Tommy Fleetwood but the FedEx Cup means less than nothing when a guy with zero wins is about to claim it over a guy with five wins and two majors. So desperate to make it exciting that you succeeded in making it a title of zero significance except for $$$. Nice job, guys.” Yes, he is right, Fleetwood did end up getting the money ($10 million) and the cup, but he also had three top-5 finishes in his last five starts, including two close calls in the other playoff events. And it’s not like Scheffler didn’t earn anything. He received $10 million bonus as the #1 player in the FedEx Cup standings, and for maintaining this peak, he received an additional $5 million. Moreover, finishing T4 at East Lake allowed him to take $2.6 million.

So, who earned more? You can do the math. (Hint: It’s not Fleetwood)

Honestly, the format change has definitely altered the meaning of the regular-season points. What benefit do you get to top the standings, other than just being able to qualify for the playoff events? Fans were quick to point fingers. “I do not understand why you accumulate points all season and get no reward in the finals. Everyone starting, even for what is a season-long trophy, just doesn’t seem fair.”

In the end, the new format turned the FedEx Cup into a playoff sprint rather than a season-long reward — leaving many questioning whether consistency across the year still truly matters.