Viktor Hovland’s comments at East Lake prove exactly why the Tour Championship format had to change

Viktor Hovland leads the Tour Championship heading into the final round on Sunday.

Hovland has played some stunning golf so far this week at East Lake, shooting rounds of 64, 66, and 65.

The 28-year-old Norwegian leads by one from Ryan Gerard, but some huge names are trailing him on the leaderboard and waiting to pounce.

Scottie Scheffler and Chris Gotterup are three back of Viktor Hovland, while Rory McIlroy and Cam Young trail him by five.

The man from Norway will be looking to win the FedEx Cup for the second time by securing victory at the Tour Championship on Sunday.

Hovland worked even harder on his game after missing the cut at the US Open back in June, and that seems to have paid off now.

A win on Sunday at East Lake would be the perfect way for the Norwegian to finish his PGA Tour season.

However, Hovland doesn’t feel like the title of FedEx Cup champion is as deserved as it was when he won it back in 2023.

Viktor Hovland’s comments prove the Tour Championship format had to change

The eight-time PGA Tour winner spoke to reporters after his third round in Atlanta on Saturday evening.

Hovland was asked if he triumphs at East Lake on Sunday, will he call himself the Tour Championship winner or the FedExCup champion?

“Tour Championship winner,“ Hovland replied quickly.

“This feels different than 2023. Just because of the format, I feel like it’s anybody’s game this week versus in ’23 — although you’re playing for way more points in the first two events leading up to this event, I feel like it was harder to win in ’23.

“Definitely just feels more like a Tour Championship, but I’ll take it.“

And that proves just how much the PGA Tour needed to change the format of the FedEx Cup finale.

It was announced ahead of this week’s event that the Tour Championship will be switching to match-play from the start of the 2028 season onwards.

Brian Rolapp announced the change during his press conference at East Lake on Tuesday.

The switch to match-play will give an advantage to the season-long leader, with seeding being used to determine the matchups.

New Tour Championship format explained

The Tour Championship will be played over the course of two weeks on two separate golf courses.

The top 32 on the FedEx Cup points list will make the group stages, whereby only two players from each of the eight groups will make it to the final week of the competition.

Those 16 will then face off in head-to-head matches before a champion is crowned at the end of the week.

As things stand, the FedEx Cup finale is not fit for purpose. There is no advantage for leading the season-long standings when entering the Tour Championship.

How can that be fair?

The PGA Tour chiefs obviously thought the same thing, and they’ve finally given the fans what they want to see – a two-week marathon of match-play golf to end the season.

Viktor Hovland’s comments proved that something had to be done about the Tour Championship format, and in fairness to Brian Rolapp, he has acted.