ATLANTA – Justin Rose talked Wednesday about the volatility of the new format of the Tour Championship and noted the points leaders have much less protection than in previous years of the playoff finale.
“If you were leading the FedExCup in the past and you had a poor week, you’d finish maybe second, possibly third in the FedExCup,” Rose said. “You have a poor week now, you can finish 12th, 15th, 18th, 20th. So there’s a lot more volatility, I think, with this format, which is what playoff golf is all about, I guess.”
Rose wasn’t spot on with his play on the course this week, but his comments off the course certainly were.
Look no further than Patrick Cantlay. Following a runner-up finish at last week’s BMW Championship, Cantlay began the week second in the FedExCup standings, just behind Justin Thomas. As a result, he started the week 8 under, two back of Thomas but still in excellent position to take home the $15 million prize money that came with the FedExCup.
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But 8 under was as good as it got for Cantlay, who posted rounds of 70-71-75-73 to plummet all the way down to T-21. He wasn’t alone. After beginning the week 14th in the FedExCup standings, Dustin Johnson had an equally disappointing week and fell to T-29 with Lucas Glover.
On the flip side, Jason Kokrak narrowly made it to East Lake as the last man in the field, clinging to the 30th spot in the standings. He took advantage of the week and earned a lot more money than he otherwise would have in previous years.
Kokrak began the week at even par, along with four others rounding out the bottom of top 30, but used rounds of 71-67-72-67 to leap up to finish 14th. In addition, Chez Reavie started T-22 at 1 under but finished eighth at 6 under.
Most players had their own opinion this week when it came to the new staggered-scoring format, and whether they were positive or negative, at least now there’s a clearer picture for just how much of a difference a bad – or good – week can make.