New FedEx payouts, LIV CEO speaks, dream major tweaks

Check in every week for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in the sport, and join the conversation by tweeting us at @golf_com. This week, we discuss the revised FedEx payouts, the LIV chief’s remarks about the PGA Tour and how we’d enhance the majors.  

FedEx Cup payouts are changing. Whereas the playoff-capping Tour Championship used to determine players’ hauls from the $100 million overall FedEx Cup prize fund, the Tour will now dole out bonuses based on FedEx Cup points standings after the Wyndham Championship (the regular season’s final event) and also after the BMW Championship, the second FedEx Cup Playoffs event. (The top 10 after the Wyndham will split $20 million, with first place banking $10 million, and the top 30 after the BMW will share about $23 million, with the top-ranked player heading into the Tour Championship pocketing $5 million; the remaining money — about $57 million —will be paid out at the Tour Championship, with the champ winning $10 million.) The Tour’s said the payout were recalculated “to account for the increased volatility of the final event, reward season-long performance and recognize the significance of the FedEx Cup.” Sensible move?

Dylan Dethier (@dylan_dethier): Sensible seems like the right word for it. Sensible, fair, equitable. That doesn’t necessarily equal exciting, but it at least means there will be an added incentive for players to perform at each stage of the playoffs — and down the stretch in the regular season. We haven’t yet seen high monetary stakes move fan interest in pro golf, so perhaps ditching starting strokes was correctly made top priority.

Josh Schrock, news editor (@Schrock_And_Awe): Yeah, it all makes sense. It’s good to reward players for good regular seasons and not leave it all up to chance in the final three playoff events. It’s incredibly difficult to be consistent over an eight-month stretch, so I like that there’s a chunk to reward those who performed best throughout the season and then have the rest of the money go toward playoff performance.

Alan Bastable, executive editor (@alan_bastable): For sure. Remember when Jon Rahm got hosed a couple of years ago (monetarily, anyway) after having a monster season but a poor Tour Championship? Didn’t feel right. This system is a check against that kind of thing happening. OK, now that we’ve got the money sorted, can we please incorporate a match-play element in the playoffs?!

Does this rebalancing make the playoffs any more interesting for fans? Or is this really only consequential for players?

Dethier: Touched on this above but I think the good news is that it’s certainly not less interesting for fans. We should have more pros in the mix at the Tour Championship, and it’ll mean something special to get there. Is there room for improvement? I think so; August stops in Memphis and Atlanta have never been my bag. But this should be fun.

Schrock: I think Dylan hit the right note. Fans just don’t really care if Scottie Scheffler or Rory McIlroy make $30 million or $1 million. They want to see consequential golf. Removing the starting strokes and tiering the payouts differently should at least make the Tour Championship easier to follow and add more drama, but this feels more like a way to appease the players. Over the past few years, Scheffler has repeatedly criticized the playoff format by calling it “silly” and noting that you “can’t call it a season-long race if it comes down to one tournament.” This feels like a way to assuage some grumbles from the membership.

Bastable: Yes, yes and yes, Dr. Schrock! Tough look when the best player on the planet doesn’t endorse the system. And yeah…I can’t fathom a more boring topic for fans than how hundreds of millions of dollars of prize money are being reallocated. When you start moving decimal points around — $2.5 million vs. $25 million vs. $250 million — it’s easy to lose interest quickly. But the Tour hasn’t seemed to grasp that reality in the LIV era. Way too much talk about purses and bonuses and not enough about fan benefits and engagement.    

In an interview with GOLF.com last week, LIV CEO Scott O’Neil was asked whether he feels LIV needs a deal with the PGA Tour. “The platforms that we have between what the PGA Tour is doing and what LIV is doing are very different,” O’Neil said. “The audiences are very different. We have a global platform, and we love this notion of taking this game to the world. I would say that almost everyone I’ve met in golf wants to do what’s best for the sport, and we’re all so early in this journey. We’re all going to figure out what’s best over time.” How do you interpret that response?

Dethier: I’d take it to mean that O’Neil is seeking coexistence with the PGA Tour rather than a straight-up merger. Negotiations have gone silent these last few months, but O’Neil and Brian Rolapp (on the Tour side) are outsiders to the sport and newcomers to this rivalry; perhaps they’ll be more inclined to work together as a result.

Schrock: It seems like another sign that the merger talks are iced over and might be DOA at this point. The reported schedule for LIV next season shows them taking even more of a global approach, with only five U.S.-based tournaments. It seems that O’Neil is tacitly acknowledging that the two tours are going their separate ways and no longer focused on coming together.

Bastable: Right, Josh. Also, the longer this limbo period has gone, feels like maybe the tours have come to realize they don’t need one another after all. Job 1 for O’Neil should be locking up Bryson for another decade, whatever the cost. Job 2: Reignite convos with the Official World Golf Ranking, if that isn’t already happening. LIV players’ inability to collect rankings points still is arguably the most problematic element of the league when it comes to attracting new talent. Securing points for LIVers would be a boon.    

Beginning at the 2026 Open Championship, the R&A will hold a winner-take-all final qualifier — the “Last Chance Qualifier” — at the Open site (which is Royal Birkdale next year) on the Monday before the championship. The R&A said the event, which will be comprised of up to 12 players, was the byproduct of a survey that revealed fans want more live golf and opportunities to engage with the Open. Let’s take this exercise a step further: The golf powers have granted you permission to make one change or enhancement to any major. What’s your tweak?

Dethier: The PGA Championship goes back to August — and it goes international. But first, it goes to Chambers Bay…

Schrock: Let’s turn back the clock and make it so everyone except the defending champion has to qualify for one of the majors. Since the PGA Championship is still searching for an identity, I nominate it as the qualifying major. Next year, Scottie Scheffler is in, and everyone else has to earn their way into the fourth major. 

Bastable: I’d love to see the U.S. Junior Amateur champ get an invite to both the Masters and U.S. Open. Maybe that’d have a been a crazy thought a generation ago, but the gap between the youngs and the olds has never been narrower. The kids could hang.

Speaking of the Open, this year’s edition, which is bound for Royal Portrush, is only two weeks away. Who’s your early pick?

Dethier: Tommy Fleetwood jumps out, though I suspect he’ll be a popular choice. I’m saddened the final major is on our doorstep, but it should be a terrific addition.

Schrock: How did we already get to the final major of the year? The long winter is upon us. I feel like Tommy Fleetwood will play well but I’m going to take Jon Rahm. He’s a terrific Open player and we’re due for an injection of spice back into the PGA Tour-LIV feud.

Bastable: Heart says Rory, head says Russ, as in Henley. A winner this year (at Bay Hill and nearly at Travelers), has been on a heater the last few weeks and finished 5th at the Open a year ago. Not a flashy pick but he’s primed for a big week.