FedEx Cup bonus goes from a lump sum to one winner to 3 payoffs

The PGA Tour has done away with the staggered start for the FedEx Cup finale. In its place is a new pay structure with staggered bonuses to whoever is leading at three points in the final month of the season. The FedEx Cup champion will get $10 million, down from $25 million. However, if the No. 1 seed would still get $25 million if he stays at the top throughout the playoffs. The bonus pool remains at $100 million under the structure released Wednesday. But instead of the FedEx Cup champion receiving $25 million at the end of the Tour Championship, the No. 1 player will get $10 million after the regular season ends with the Wyndham Champion. Whoever leads the FedEx Cup after the BMW Championship gets $5 million. And the Tour Championship winner gets $10 million. This caps an overhaul to what the PGA Tour hopes can lead to a more compelling — and less confusing — end to the season. The staggered start — also known as starting strokes — gave the No. 1 seed a two-shot lead at the Tour Championship by putting him at 10-under par before the tournament event started. Now the top 30 who reach East Lake will start even, just like any tournament, and whoever wins the Tour Championship is the FedEx Cup champion. To account for the winner-take-all nature of the Tour Championship, the pay structure was altered to make sure season-long performances were still rewarded, and top players did not get penalized too much for having a bad week at East Lake. Scottie Scheffler was so dominant last year he led the FedEx Cup all through the playoffs, picking up the $25 million bonus as the champion. If the new payment structure had been in place in 2023, however, Jon Rahm would have received $10 million for leading the FedEx Cup going into the playoffs; Scheffler would have won $5 million for leading after the BMW Championship; and Viktor Hovland would have won $10 million for being the FedEx Cup champion. Rahm was the No. 1 seed starting the 2023 playoffs, tied for 18th in the Tour Championship and his postseason payout was $675,000. Under the new payment plan, Rahm would have received $12,208,750 for his FedEx Cup bonus — No. 1 going into the playoff, No. 4 after the BMW Championship and a tie for 21st in the Tour Championship. The Tour Championship effectively would have a $40 million purse, but the bonus money still will count as unofficial. The FedEx Cup points for the FedEx St. Jude Championship and the BMW Championship will remain quadruple the value to allow for movement in the standings. The Comcast Business Tour Top 10 is still around, a $40 million bonus pool for the regular season. So for this year, whoever leads the FedEx Cup going into the postseason would get $10 million from the FedEx Cup bonus and $8 million from Comcast. ___ AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf