“Can’t call it a season-long race”: Scottie Scheffler calls out ‘silly’ FedEx Cup format

Scottie Scheffler has had one of the best 2024 seasons on the PGA Tour, if not the best. However, because of the FedExCup playoff format, he is not guaranteed the FedExCup title or even a strong finish in the rankings.

That was the topic of Scottie Scheffler's Wednesday, Aug. 14, press conference from TPC Southwind, home of the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Scheffler called the current format of the season's final stop "silly."

Here's what Scottie Scheffler had to say (via TenGolf):

"We have talked about it the last few years. I think it's silly, I mean, you can't call it a season long race and have it come down to one tournament." [o:01 - 0:06]

He added:

"I mean, 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 last tournament. Is that really the season long race? No." [0:07 - 0:18]

Scottie Scheffler added that he understands that the PGA Tour has to find a balance between creating a good television product and the definition of the season, but insisted that he does not consider it a "season long race":

"It is what it is, it's a fun tournament, I don't really consider it the season long race, like I think is the way it's called, but, I mean you got to figure out a way to strike a balance between it being a good TV product and it still being our season long race." [0:19 - 0:34]

"Right now I don't know exactly how the ratings are or anything like that but I know for a fact you can't really quite call it the season long race when it comes down to one stroke play tournament on the same golf course each year." [0:35 - 0:45]

Where does Scottie Scheffler stand in the FedEx Cup rankings?

Scottie Scheffler enters the FedExCup playoffs following a regular season in which he played in 16 tournaments without missing a cut and earned ranking points in all of them.

During the regular season, Scheffler had 14 top-10 finishes, including six wins and two runner-up finishes. That earned him a 1,936-point lead over second-place Xander Schauffele in the FedExCup standings.

That's how Scheffler earned his points:

The Sentry (T5) 250
The American Express (T17) 48
AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (T6) 237.5
WM Phoenix Open (T3) 162.5
The Genesis Invitational (T10) 150
Arnold Palmer Invitational (1) 700
THE PLAYERS Championship (1) 750
Texas Children's Houston Open (T2) 167
Masters Tournament (1) 750
RBC Heritage (1) 700
PGA Championship (T8) 191.25
Charles Schwab Challenge (T2) 45
The Memorial Tournament (1) 700
U.S. Open (T41) 16.5
Travelers Championship (P1) 700
The Open Championship (T7) 225

However, given the way the playoffs work, a bad result at the TOUR Championship would cost him the FedExCup title and even knock him off the top of the final leaderboard.