Normaly, the playoffs are dominated by the teams and players competing for the ultimate prize. The chase to make one’s name known in the record books is the main focus.
Instead, a dark cloud has formed over Wilmington Country Club, Delaware, the site of this week’s BMW Championship. The FedEx Cup Playoffs’ second stop will see the top 70 golfers compete for $75 million. The penultimate event of the 2021-22 season’s schedule is not about the FedEx Cup race, but rather about the fact that this is the Tour’s first event in Delaware.
There was talk of the ongoing PGA Tour vs. LIV Golf war and the players-only meeting, which took place late Tuesday. Tiger Woods was present at the meeting, having flown in earlier from Florida to discuss the futures of the PGA Tour as well as professional golf.
Justin Thomas, the 2022 PGA Championship winner, said that it was a productive meeting. It’s clear that all the Tour players want the best and are interested in what is best for them. It’s one of those things that we all want the best for players and we are working together to achieve that.”
Best bets
Thomas is currently ranked 10th in the standings, and he won the FedEx Cup trophy last year. He hopes to join Woods or Rory McIlroy in attempting to win the playoffs two times. Thomas didn’t answer any questions about his chances of winning this week during his pre-tournament conference.
Two meetings were held on Tuesday to discuss the future of the Tour. Woods and Rickie Fowler flew to the players-only meeting. The second was a Players Advisory Counsel meeting.
Thomas stated that Woods’ appearance was a sign that Thomas is passionate about the topic. “If he isn’t behind something, then it’s probably not good for the betterment and enjoyment of the game. But two, it’s just going to not work.”
“I believe he came because he felt it was important to him. He probably didn’t feel it was right to do this over Zoom or to just call in. It shows his passion for golf and desire to improve it.
Rory McIlroy added on Woods: “I think it’s pretty obvious that whenever we all get into the room, there is an alpha there and it’s certainly not me.”
Thomas, McIlroy, and the rest of the field are chasing Will Zalatoris who won his first PGA Tour title at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, Memphis, Tennessee last week. With the win, Zalatoris moved up to first place in the playoff standings.
Scottie Scheffler dropped to No. 2. Cameron Smith, third in FedEx Cup, withdrew on Monday from the BMW Championship citing hip discomfort.
Xander Schauffele was sixth in the standings and was present at the meeting as well.
He said, “I am very optimistic with the sort of what’s next.”
McIlroy stated that “all the top players on this Tour agree and align themselves as to where we should go moving forward,” McIlroy stated, “We must get the top players together more often than that we do.” All in the same tournaments and all in the exact same weeks.
Although the FedEx Cup Playoffs are a strong field of professional golfers, a few top players from the Official World Golf Ranking aren’t there. Most of them have defected to LIV Golf Series. Dustin Johnson (No. The Tour has suspended Abraham Ancer (23), Brooks Koepka (25) and others.
What does the future hold for the PGA Tour?
Thomas stated, “I would just hope for better product.” “I believe that’s the hope for all things. It’s just to improve ourselves and do the best we can.
By: Cameron Jourdan
Title: FedEx Cup Playoffs: Ahead of BMW Championship, spotlight is on future of PGA Tour with players-only meeting
Sourced From: golfweek.usatoday.com/2022/08/17/fedex-cup-playoffs-bmw-championship-players-meeting-tiger-woods/
Published Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2022 18:44:24 +0000
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