Woods is playing for the first time since '13 and is expected to boost the event's attendancegetty images
This week marks the last time the PGA Tour will hold its annual event in the Boston area on Labor Day weekend, and Dell Technologies Championship Dir Rich Brady said that the decision to adjust the schedule made "too much sense to pass up," according to Keith Pearson of the BOSTON HERALD. With the PGA Tour's revamped schedule, the opening event of the FedExCup Playoffs, The Northern Trust, will now "alternate between" Liberty National in New Jersey in '19 and then TPC Boston in '20. But the absence of an event next year "doesn’t mean there will be a sense of doom and gloom this week." Tiger Woods is "in the field" this week for the first time since '13. His presence "certainly will be felt at TPC Boston, where crowds are expected to swell once again." Brady said that ticket sales "are up and expects some of the seating areas to sell out before the tournament begins" (BOSTONHERALD.com, 8/29). MORNINGREAD.com's Jeff Babineau noted next summer, Boston and N.Y. will "begin sharing" a FedExCup playoff event. Babineau: "It will work, because, well, it has to." This new scenario arrives with a "sigh of relief for longtime New England golf fans, who feared they’d be the odd group out as Dell’s two-year deal at TPC Boston neared completion and the Tour’s schedule clearly was being pared down." The Dell Technologies Championship has "had its tall moments." Boston has "proved to be a solid market for the Tour, with fans always turning out in big numbers" (MORNINGREAD.com, 8/29).
CHANGE IS COMING: GOLF DIGEST's Brian Wacker noted this year's FedExCup champion will be awarded a $10M bonus, and if reported changes to the playoff structure occur, that number is "expected to climb" to $15M next year. Sources said that the Tour "gathered statisticians and focus groups to help flesh out the format" for the Tour Championship and "gauge how well the changes would be received." A source said that roughly 80% of the focus groups "grasped the concept and said it was easier to understand." Wacker noted the FedExCup Playoff always "lacked a certain element of clarity and simplicity" (GOLFDIGEST.com, 8/27). MORNINGREAD.com's Gary Van Sickle wrote the proposed Tour Championship change is a "major improvement and a great idea." Players, fans and media "never could get a handle on the complex points system." They all "understand scores in relation to par." The Tour’s new iteration "smartly moves us out of points and back into strokes versus par, a significant upgrade" (MORNINGREAD.com, 8/28).
UNCERTAINTY AHEAD: In Greensboro, Ed Hardin wrote "no tournament on the PGA Tour has been tossed around more" than the Wyndham Championship, and the news of a possible postseason shakeup has organizers "scrambling for information." There are two scenarios being floated, "one being that the regular season would end the week before the Wyndham, a scenario that doesn't make any sense and would potentially ruin the tournament as we know it." The other scenario would be to "leave Greensboro as the final stop, thus enhancing the Wyndham by making it hard for players contending for the regular-season title to skip it" (Greensboro NEWS & RECORD, 8/29).
