ATLANTA -- The PGA Tour, along with FedEx and Wyndham, is changing the system for its yearlong points race and playoff format next season.
Also, significantly more money will be put into the points race and playoff format, with the winner to receive a $15 million bonus starting next season.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan announced the changes Tuesday at East Lake Golf Club, where the season-ending Tour Championship will be under a new format next year.
Players who reach the 30-player field in Atlanta will be staggered based on a strokes-based bonus system that will see the leader in points start at 10 under par, with levels decreasing down to the 30th player, who will start at even par.
Call it a tournament with a golf "handicap,'' if you will, with those behind in the standings having to "give strokes'' to those in front of them.
Gone will be the points reset that occurs following the BMW Championship and the guessing game that ensues with the various possibilities throughout the rounds.
Starting in 2019, whoever finishes the Tour Championship at the lowest aggregate total including the staggered bonus will be the tournament winner as well as the FedEx Cup champion.
The winner of the Tour Championship, based on the staggered scoring formula, will be credited with an official PGA Tour win even if he did not shoot the lowest score over 72 holes.
"Any fan can immediately understand what's going on and what's at stake for every single player in the field,'' Monahan said. "And, of course, the players will know exactly where they stand at all times while in play, which will ratchet up the drama, consequence and volatility of the competition down the stretch.
"Compared to the current system, the beauty here is in the simplicity. Fans are very familiar with golf leaderboards in relation to par, so they will have a clear understanding of the impact every shot makes during the final run for the FedEx Cup-ultimately leading to a singular champion without conflicting storylines.''
Last year, Xander Schauffele won the Tour Championship while Justin Thomas won the FedEx Cup. That scenario happened just two other times in time in FedEx history that dates to 2007 -- when Camilo Villegas won the Tour Championship in 2008 and Vijay Singh had already clinched the FedEx Cup; and after the format was changed, Phil Mickelson won the Tour Championship and Tiger Woods took the FedEx Cup in 2009. It can happen again this year but not going forward.
The PGA Tour ran thousands of computer simulations to try and approximate as best it could the point differential in play now to the strokes-based bonuses that will be used in the future.
If the new format were in play this week, No. 1 Bryson DeChambeau would begin the tournament at 10 under. No. 2 Justin Rose would be at 8 under, with No. 3 Tony Finau at 7 under, No. 4 Dustin Johnson at 6 under and No. 5 Thomas at 5 under.
The next five players would be at 4 under, with players 11 to 15 at 3 under, 16 to 20 at 2 under, 21 to 215 at 1 under and players 26 through 30 would start at even par.
In next year's scenario, No. 20 Woods would start at 2 under and be 8 shots back of DeChambeau starting the 72-hole tournament.
The players will also be compensated considerably better in the new format. The existing FedEx Cup bonus pool will be enhanced by $25 million to $60 million, with the winner receiving $15 million, up from $10 million which has been in place since 2007. Players all the way through 150th in the final points standings receive a deferred bonus.
Also, Wyndham is kicking in $10 million to the top finishers in the regular season, which concludes at the Wyndham Championship.
The top player in points at the end of the regular season will receive a $2 million bonus, with payouts going down 10 places to $500,000.
Next year's schedule has been significantly modified, with the Tour Championship ending the week prior to Labor Day and the playoff events shortened from four to three.
Following The Open at Royal Portrush in July -- the last major, because the PGA Championship is moving to May -- the schedule heads to the WGC-FedEx St. Jude in Memphis, followed by the season-ending Wyndham Championship.
Following the Wyndham, the top 125 players advance to the Northern Trust via the same points system that is in place now. From there, the top 70 will move on to the BMW Championship, with points quadrupled at the first two playoff events. After that, the top 30 advance to the Tour Championship, where the new strokes-based system will be put in place.