RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Back-to-back Masters champion Rory McIlroy believes the PGA Tour are giving fans what they want by introducing matchplay to their end-of-season play-offs.
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp confirmed on Thursday that from 2028 the Tour Championship will be played across two weeks, at two different courses, and adopt a head-to-head format.
World number two McIlroy, who is a three-time winner of the FedEx Cup, feels the return of matchplay to the PGA Tour for the first time since 2023 shows fans have been listened to by the decision-makers.
"I think the PGA Tour and the Future Competition Committee and Brian and everyone involved have really taken on board what the fans have been calling for and have wanted, which is matchplay," said the Northern Irishman, 37.
"Brian took me through the plan last week for the first time. I didn't really know anything about it. It's certainly different.
"Two weeks, two different venues, but it's cool. I think they've taken a big swing, and conceptually, I think I really like it."
The FedEx Cup play-offs have have gone through numerous iterations across their two decades, presently consisting of a three-event strokeplay series which begins with the top 70 players from the season-long points list.
This week's concluding Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta will have a $40m (£29.3m) purse, and while the events have undoubtedly been lucrative for players, there have been consistent questions regarding fan engagement.
McIlroy added: "I think they've been great for players. Obviously we play for a ton of money, and it's sort of like the culmination of the entire season.
"The players have been rewarded. I think what the Tour are really trying to do is listen to the fans and what they want, and I think this idea of matchplay over two weeks is something that came mostly from what the people that watch golf wanted, so I think that's a really good thing."
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With a regular season consisting of 15 events and a schedule which will run from February to August, McIlroy hoped more star players primarily based on the PGA Tour will follow his lead and play an increasing number of events on the DP World Tour.
The six-time major winner said: "I think if the PGA Tour are going to play from February through to August, DP World Tour have five months where, with the help of the PGA Tour and maybe some others, [it] can really shine a spotlight on international golf and put on some of the biggest international events in golf.
"I think with what the PGA Tour has been through with changing its competitive model and its structure, I think if the DP World Tour could do something similar, where you host all of your best events in that five-month time frame, it would allow guys to take up membership, to then have something to play for at the end of the DP World Tour season - if they choose to do that."
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