Where every player will begin on the 2019 PGA Tour Championship leaderboard

Where all 30 players will begin on the leaderboard of the 2019 PGA Tour Championship from East Lake Golf Club.

If you’re someone who doesn’t watch a lot of golf, Thursday’s opening leaderboard of the 2019 PGA Tour Championship might look a little confusing to you. Well, let’s face it, it might look just as confusing to those who tune in every week. But there’s also long been the matter of the confusion of someone winning the Tour Championship and not winning the FedEx Cup title and the big payday that comes with it (which has happened two of the last three years), which is why the PGA Tour decided to try out this new format at East Lake Golf Club this year. Still confused? Let’s try to get through this together, shall we?

In some aspects, the 2019 Tour Championship looks the same. It’s still the final event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs and East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, which has served as the host of this tournament since 2004 (and three times before then as well), is still the venue for the final PGA Tour event of the season. There are still 30 players in the field and there is no 36-hole cut, meaning everyone gets credit for making said cut and everyone gets a check.

In years past, the 30 players left standing in the FedEx Cup Playoffs would have their points reset following the penultimate event of the postseason and quite a few different scenarios came into play, the easiest of which was that the five top players in the standings would automatically win the FedEx Cup by winning the Tour Championship. After that, players in the sixth through 30th spot would need help if they won at East Lake and the “if Player X does this” or “if Player Y does that” scenarios would start, which is what led to the drama with Tiger Woods and Justin Rose last year. Those scenarios are all gone now.

Still with me? Here’s where things get different…much different.

No longer pleased with the possibility of two different winners needing to be crowned on the final Sunday of the PGA Tour season, a new format is being introduced to the 2019 Tour Championship in which players will be given a score to start based on the FedEx Cup standings and play will start as usual (as usual as usual can be this week) on Thursday.

Here’s how it works. The player in the top spot heading into Thursday’s opening round is Justin Thomas, who vaulted to number one with his win last week at the BMW Championship, will start the week at 10-under and will have a two-shot lead before ever hitting a golf ball. Patrick Cantlay, who finished second at Medinah, will now open in that same position at 8-under. World number one Brooks Koepka, who was atop the FedEx Cup standings coming into the playoffs, now sits in third and will begin his week three shots back at 7-under. The Northern Trust winner, Patrick Reed, starts in fourth position at 6-under and Rory McIlroy rounds out the top five at 5-under.

Players in sixth through 10th will begin at 4-under, players 11th through 15th will begin at 3-under, players 16th through 20th will begin at 2-under, players 21st through 25th will begin at 1-under and the final five players will enter the week at even par like normal. So there is a scenario in which the 30th-ranked player in the field (Jason Kokrak) can win the FedEx Cup and the $15 million prize that comes along with it…he simply has to overcome a 10-shot lead over four days. Easy enough, right?

The new format certainly has had a lot of people torn but it will certainly be interesting to see how this plays out. I can see both sides of the argument but until we see how this goes, it’s going to be difficult to say whether it works or not. One thing is for certain. This will be a Tour Championship unlike any we’ve ever seen before.

Here’s what the opening leaderboard will look like at the 2019 PGA Tour Championship from East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

2019 PGA Tour Championship opening leaderboard

• 10-under: Justin Thomas
• 8-under: Patrick Cantlay
• 7-under: Brooks Koepka
• 6-under: Patrick Reed
• 5-under: Rory McIlroy
• 4-under: Jon Rahm, Matt Kuchar, Xander Schauffele, Webb Simpson, Abraham Ancer
• 3-under: Gary Woodland, Tony Finau, Adam Scott, Dustin Johnson, Hideki Matsuyama
• 2-under: Paul Casey, Justin Rose, Brandt Snedeker, Rickie Fowler, Kevin Kisner
• 1-under: Marc Leishman, Tommy Fleetwood, Corey Conners, Sungjae Im, Chez Reavie
• Even par: Bryson DeChambeau, Louis Oosthuizen, Charles Howell III, Lucas Glover, Jason Kokrak

What do you think of the new PGA Tour Championship format? Who’s your pick to win the FedEx Cup? Please feel free to join in the conversation in the comments section below.