‘It’s so contrived now’ – Major champion hits out at PGA Tour

Lucas Glover has taken aim at the PGA Tour for its “contrived” Tour Championship format.

The format of the US circuit’s season-ending showpiece at East Lake has long been a contentious issue not only for fans, but also for many of the best players in the world.

A change to the structure in 2019 meant that the leader of the FedEx Cup could accumulate a huge advantage but would by no means be guaranteed to win the season-long race.

The controversial staggered start sees the FedEx Cup leader take a two-shot lead into the final 72 hole shootout in Atlanta.

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Scottie Scheffler, who  has been among those to voice their disdain at the current format.

“Hypothetically, we get to East Lake and my neck flares up and it doesn’t heal the way it did at The Players, I finish 30th in the FedEx Cup because I had to withdraw from the last tournament?” Scheffler pointed out before last year’s event.

“Is that really the season-long race? No.”

Of course, world No.1 Scheffler was last season’s dominant player and still went on to win the $25million bonus, but the consensus is that something needs to change.

Glover, a six-time PGA Tour winner, certainly agrees.

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“It’s so contrived now,” the 2009 US Open champion told his SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio Show. “Sorry to keep using that term, but it is.

“It’s made-up drama, and we tried to model this after racing and it just doesn’t work. It’s golf, you know? You can’t have playoffs in golf because nobody gets knocked out.”

It’s understood that the PGA Tour has been addressing such concerns and are exploring possibilities to change the event, including the elimination of the staggered start.

“Let’s just play golf,” Glover added.

“If you’ve got a big lead you’ve got a big lead, you deserve to win, you know?”

Ben Parsons is the Senior Writer at bunkered 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.