Billy Horschel disagrees with Scottie Scheffler’s “silly” FedEx Cup claim

Scottie Scheffler thinks the FedEx Cup Playoffs are a “silly” way to end the PGA Tour season – but Billy Horschel isn’t having any of it. 

The debate ensues over the Playoff format – which is engineered in such a way that any of the 30 players who make next week’s Tour Championship at East Lake could win the season-long crown.

It certainly doesn’t sit well with the world No.1 Scheffler, who pointed out that he could realistically finish the PGA Tour season 30th in the standings, despite winning six times in 2024. Scheffler’s season-long dominance means very little when it comes to the race for the $25million FedEx Cup prize.

And so argument among players about the controversial format sways between the balance of competition and entertainment.

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And Horschel – the FedEx Cup champion in 2014 – thinks that the current risk/reward setup is the most watchable for golf fans.

“I disagree with Scottie, Scottie said it’s silly,” Horschel said ahead of this week’s BMW Championship in Colorado. “I don’t agree with that. I think we have a system now that… it’s never rewarded the best player throughout the regular season.

“I won the ’14 FedEx Cup. Rory McIlroy was clearly the best player that year. He had won two majors. He came in on a high note. I was 69th in the start of the FedEx. I missed the first cut. I go second, win, win, and I win the FedEx Cup. It’s no different than the New York Giants and beating the New England Patriots and starting the Playoffs 9-7 I think it was and the Patriots being undefeated and then winning the Super Bowl.

“If you asked two other guys there’s two different opinions you’re going to get on the FedEx Cup and what they think is the best way, but I believe that our system and the way we do it – could we reward the regular season a little bit more? Sure, we can. But this is a Playoffs. Anything can happen.

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“The stroke system is better. Do I think the stroke system should be a little bit tighter? Yeah, I mentioned that to the Tour five, six years ago when they talked about implementing it.

“But I think this is a pretty good system. Yes, we can make tweaks. Yes, we can do things different. But as players we’ve got to figure out do we want to reward the player who has the best regular season in the Playoffs, or do we want to reward the guy who played solid throughout the year and then played really good in the Playoffs?

Viktor Hovland, who has had a poor season but could still win the FedEx Cup, concurs with Horschel.

“That gives everyone a reason to tune in and see what’s going on and seeing guys that are just barely getting into the Playoffs, and now you suddenly have a chance to win the whole thing,” Hovland said.

“I think that’s an exciting thing about the Playoffs.”

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.