The prize for being crowned the PGA Tour’s FedExCup champion this season is dropping to $10 million, down from a record $25 million the previous two years, as part of major changes to the playoff bonus money structure, Front Office Sports has learned.
A shift in how $100 million of bonus money from the PGA Tour’s playoffs would be distributed was expected after May’s unprecedented in-season announcement that the Tour Championship will eliminate its “starting strokes” format. That system, used since 2019, awarded a competitive advantage based on FedExCup points earned entering the season finale, including the top qualifier beginning the tournament at 10 under, with subsequent players starting closer to even par.
But come August at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, the Tour Championship will play out as a standard 72-hole stroke-play format, with no starting advantages. The tournament winner will still be crowned the season-long FedExCup champion, just without quite as lucrative a financial reward.
Spreading the Wealth
Instead of paying out the entire FedExCup sum after the Tour Championship, the $100 million in bonus money will be paid out in three installments based on standings following the end of the regular season, the second of three playoff events, and the playoff finale.
- Wyndham Championship: $20 million split among the top 10
- BMW Championship: $22.93 million split among the top 30
- Tour Championship: $57.08 million ($40 million split among the top 30, and $17.08 million in deferrals split among players ranked 31-150).
Spreading out the FedExCup bonus money will reward top players’ season-long performance, and provide them with a lower financial floor in the playoffs, while also making them vulnerable to missing out on at least some season-ending cash at the Tour Championship.
Under the new format, if Scottie Scheffler, currently No. 1 in the standings, remains in first place at the end of the regular season and the BMW Championship, and then wins the Tour Championship, he would win the same $25 million in bonus money that he did for winning last year’s FedExCup.
It’s also possible that Scheffler could end up with the most bonus money, even if he doesn’t win the Tour Championship and FedExCup. He’s all but clinched the $10 million regular-season bonus and will be in pole position to earn the next $5 million for being in first place after the BMW Championship.
The first two playoff events—the FedEx St. Jude Championship and BMW Championship—will still offer $20 million purses, in addition to the bonus money after the BMW. The prize money at the Tour Championship will solely consist of the $40 million in bonus money for the 30 players in the field.
There will be no change this season to the Comcast Business Tour Top 10, which will once again pay $40 million to the top 10 players in the FedExCup standings at the end of the regular season ($8 million for first place, descending to $2 million for 10th place). That, combined with the new FedExCup bonus structure, means the top player at the end of the season will take home $18 million. It would seem likely that those two end-of-season bonuses could be streamlined in 2026 and beyond.
Scheffler was one of the most outspoken supporters of eliminating starting strokes from the Tour Championship, which he won last year thanks to the pre-tournament advantage (Collin Morikawa beat him by two on the gross leaderboard but had started four back). Scheffler is on the competition subcommittee of the PGA Tour’s Player Advisory Council.
Creating the new bonus payout structure was led by the PAC’s business subcommittee, which consists of Maverick McNealy, Keith Mitchell, Brandt Snedeker, and Kevin Kisner, and is overseen by player director Patrick Cantlay.
More Changes Brewing?
The PGA Tour is evaluating what other changes could be made to the Tour Championship and FedExCup, as the format for the 2026 season is not yet set. Scheffler has said players want the Tour Championship to be the “hardest tournament to qualify for,” which has prompted speculation that its 30-player field size could be reduced even further.
Ideally, the PGA Tour would announce changes to its 2026 season before the season-opening event in Maui in January, instead of another midseason move. This year’s changes were finalized before the PGA Tour hired its new CEO, Brian Rolapp, who is expected to have a big say in the playoff’s future structure.
