PGA Tour's changes to season money payouts create opportunity to spread the wealth

In May, the PGA Tour revealed changes approved starting this year by the Tour Policy Board to the format of its season-ending Tour Championship. With much fanfare, tour officials announced they were scrapping the staggered-stroke start for the 30-man field, with the 72-hole score at East Lake Golf Club deciding the winner of the FedEx Cup.

What the Policy Board also approved at the time apparently—but didn't make public until Wednesday—were additional changes to the FedEx Cup prize money distribution, with a new three-tier system that could create more volatility in payouts.

Instead of the results from the Tour Championship determining how much players get from the $100 million overall FedEx Cup prize fund—with the winner previously taking home $25 million—the tour is now giving out portions based on the FedEx Cup points standings after the conclusion of the Wyndham Championship (the final event of the regular season) and after the BMW Championship, the second FedEx Cup Playoffs event.

The top 10 after the Wyndham will split $20 million, with the person in first place getting $10 million. The top 30 after the BMW will share nearly $23 million, with the No. 1 player heading into the Tour Championship earning $5 million.

The remaining FedEx Cup prize money ($57.08 million) will then be doled out based on player finishes at East Lake (like every other PGA Tour event), with the winner earning $10 million.

The PGA Tour’s website notes that the rebalancing of the FedEx Cup prize money was done “to account for the increased volatility of the final event, reward season-long performance and recognize the significance of the FedEx Cup.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Front Office Sports published a story reporting the changes for the first time.

As noted on X by Associated Press golf writer Doug Ferguson, a prime example of how the changes could affect the payouts is Jon Rahm’s late season of 2023. Rahm was No. 1 in the standings at the end of the Wyndham, No. 4 after the BMW and played poorly in the Tour Championship; his bonus for that now would be $12.2 million. In ’23, those same positions got him a bonus of $670,000.

Meantime, if a player is No. 1 in FedEx Cup points after the Wyndham and BMW, and wins the Tour Championship, he’d earn the $25 million (plus another $8 million for being the winner of the Comcast Business top 10 at the end of the regular season).