New Look Tour Championship Off To Great Start, But Issues Loom
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As far as first rounds go, the 2019 Tour Championship did not feel like a Thursday.
More like Saturday of a big-time event when every Justin Thomas mistake added drama and his -10 lead to start the day slipping away. Combined with some stellar opening rounds from top players, and it was a lively opening day.
That’s the fantastic news for the FedExCup, and as Mike McAllister noted for PGATour.com, from here on we have clarity with the leaderboard and hopefully very few tutorials on the format going forward.
Now, for the less peachy news. It appears that leadership lacks the privileges some projected Justin Thomas would enjoy in getting to start -10 after winning the BMW Championship.
From McAllister’s story:
A hot start could have deflated the field. “If he came out with five straight birdies, it would be like, OK, we’re done,” Casey said.
Instead, with Thomas shooting even par, the field is now bunched. Five players started the tournament within five shots of the lead; after the first round, there are now 12 players in that position.
“If I were Justin Thomas, I would be more upset than me in my position,” said Charles Howell III, who opened at even par (10 shots off the lead) but shot a 68 to cut his deficit to eight. “Justin’s played phenomenal golf and has done what he’s done, and he could theoretically fall quite a bit, and I could move up, and he’s played better than I have.”
And ESPN.com’s Mark Schlabach in his game story notes how quickly the FedExCup lead turned “meaningless”, notes how the leader may not have enough of a lead, and how quickly it went.
What was perceived as a big advantage for Thomas -- he started the tournament with at least a two-shot lead over every other player in the field -- didn't prove to be much help at all because of the way he played the first 18 holes.
Thomas had two bogeys and one double-bogey with four birdies. He hit only six of 14 fairways.
"Coming in six shots back, I have a lot less pressure than J.T. does," Schauffele said. "J.T. has a two-shot lead [going into the tournament]. Everyone's assuming he should just start running away with it. It's a hard golf course. You can play great golf and shoot even par, 1 under, and vice versa."
The overall sense after day one: the importance of the season long points race was severely negated by the first two playoff events. And now the advantage gained from playing well in those events also feels a bit muted. That’s great for viewers wanting a fun finish this Sunday, but has deeper ramifications for incentivizing more starts from top players. There is also the matter of subjecting fans to meaningless cup points updates in January. Or even July.
