The PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup finale at the Tour Championship will have a new look next year, and 2017 champion Justin Thomas has had his say on the format changes

Justin Thomas had his say on the PGA Tour’s changes(Image: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Justin Thomas has welcomed the changes made to this year’s PGA Tour season finale, after the circuit announced that the starting stroke rule at the Tour Championship had been scrapped.

Thomas, who is back in action at the Memorial hosted by Jack Nicklaus this week, has become the latest big name to have their say on the changes, following in the footsteps of Scottie Scheffler, who won the FedEx Cup crown at East Lake last season.

The removal of starting strokes means all players will now begin the 72-hole event at level par. The winner after four rounds will be crowned FedEx Cup champion, and the Tour’s top 30 players will compete.

Asked about the changes at Muirfield Village this week, Thomas said: “Yeah, I’m excited. I think it’s obviously something different and something new, which I think a lot of us players felt was needed. And we want to, all of us want to have the excitement.

“We want you guys to have the excitement, and the fans, and us players to have the opportunity to go to the Tour Championship and win the FedEx Cup. And it’s always been a big deal, but I think players are starting to just realize how much harder it is to get to the Tour Championship than maybe any of us realized.

“Where I think we’re fully understanding and grasping that, if you’re at the Tour Championship and you’re at that final event, then you have all the right in the world to walk away with the FedEx Cup. So I think that’s something I know that I’m behind, and I think a lot of people are.”

Justin Thomas won the FedEx Cup in 2017(Image: Getty Images)

The starting strokes system was first introduced in 2019, two years after Thomas’s impressive season earned him the title of FedEx Cup champion.

Since then, the format and the way the FedEx Cup crown is handed out have faced criticism from players, including from last year’s season-long winner, Scheffler.

This year’s changes will ensure the Tour Championship is harder to qualify for than ever before, an idea the world No. 1 is now behind. The Tour has also pledged to make the East Lake course a risk-and-reward setup in the hopes of making the event a better spectacle for fans.

Speaking prior to Thomas’ press conference on Wednesday, Scheffler said of the changes: “I think when you’re looking at a golf tournament, I think the best way to identify the best player over the course of a tournament is 72-hole stroke play on a really good golf course.

“I think when you look at a good test of golf and you’ve got to compete over four days, I think that’s the best way to crown the best winner for that week looking at the Tour Championship.

“I didn’t love the previous format of starting strokes, and I really like the direction where we’re going.

“I think the Tour Championship’s going to be difficult to qualify for. Making the Tour Championship is truly going to be the results from a great body of work over the course of a season, and then you have an opportunity to win the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup.”