“It used to be East Lake,” said Xander Schauffele when asked about his choice.
He was probably being honest rather than sarcastic. Schauffele has failed to score under par only three times in 28 rounds at East Lake. And those three rounds were all even-par 70. But now East Lake has changed dramatically, and Schauffele has reason to be suspicious.
Rory McIlroy chose Quail Hollow, where he has won four times. Scottie Scheffler leaned toward either TPC Scottsdale or Bay Hill, “something with hard greens.” He won at both places. Hideki Matsuyama had to be reminded that Augusta National is closed until October. He nodded, smiled and chose Riviera, where he shot 62 on the final day to win this year.
Something has to change, and it’s not just the humid weather.
The PGA Tour prefers continuity to build familiarity. The postseason format has been changed four times since 2007. The most obvious change was the introduction of “starting strokes,” which means Scheffler starts with a two-stroke lead at 10 under par. But the biggest change was the reduction in the field – 70 players instead of 125 to start, 50 for the second event and 30 for the final.
That’s not the problem.
What makes the BMW Championship so special is that it keeps getting moved. The second of three playoff events will move from Castle Pines outside Denver this year to Caves Valley outside Baltimore next year. Bellerive in St. Louis and Liberty National across the Hudson River from Manhattan are next. The other two will not be moved.
Yes, the heat can be unbearable in Memphis, Tennessee, in August. But it’s not necessarily cooler in New Jersey or Missouri or most other places. At least on weekdays, the crowd at TPC Southwind is consistent. The start of the playoffs is not exactly exciting.
Of course, there is the small matter of the building to the right of the fifth fairway at TPC Southwind – the headquarters of FedEx, for which the company pays a hefty freight fee.
The TPC Southwind used to host a regular PGA Tour event that preceded the US Open (it’s hot in June, by the way). And then when the Tour lost its title sponsor, Firestone, Memphis took over as the World Golf Championship. And now it’s a playoff opener.
The course is well suited to tournament golf, especially the closing holes. It rarely lacks drama. But it does lack excitement, except for a summer afternoon thunderstorm.
When you factor in the points system, the mood over the last two weeks has been whether the top players even need to be there. Attendance is becoming an issue, and $20 million in prize money is no longer enough to get players to participate.
McIlroy wondered why he had to play in Memphis. He had just finished tied for 68th (against a field of 70) and had dropped from third to fifth place.
Schauffele asked a similar question last week in miles of air south of Denver. Barring a win, he would be No. 2 coming to East Lake even if he didn’t play. The thought occurred to him as he was leaving Paris after the Olympics.
He remembered something his father always told him. Would he regret not playing? He chose the BMW Championship, deciding it was the best preparation for East Lake. He finished fifth and remained the No. 2 seed in the FedEx Cup. He had no regrets.
Scheffler has every reason to feel the same way, especially in a year like his, when he’s traveling to Atlanta from a high altitude.
The bigger problem is the market. When the playoffs began in 2007, it was the New York, Boston, Chicago and Atlanta area. The PGA Tour no longer has a presence in New York or Boston, two of its biggest markets. McIlroy floated the idea of using California as a venue for prime-time golf on television.
FedEx still gets the recognition it deserves with the “FedEx Cup” mentioned throughout the year, and if an agreement can be reached, it would be ideal to have the postseason eliminated from TPC Southwind.
In a perfect world, you make Memphis a standout and look for a title sponsor to host the opening game of the playoffs across the country. Start with New York or Boston.
The PGA Tour had considered – before the COVID-19 pandemic – moving the Tour Championship to a different location, with East Lake as the anchor. Imagine going to Atlanta one year and Whistling Straits or Shinnecock Hills the next.
That notion is no longer there, and that’s probably a good thing. This is the 21st year in a row in Atlanta, and with the FedEx Cup and its value, East Lake has replaced the Tour Championship as a destination for players at the start of the year. It’s a tradition now.
The path to get there may need some change.
