“I don't think it's the best system" - Jon Rahm voices opposition to stroke-adjusted format for the Tour Championship

Jon Rahm is not a fan of the stroke-adjusted format for the Tour Championship that was introduced five years ago. Under the current format, the top player starts -10. The number two, three, four and five players will be at eight under, seven under, six under and five under respectively. Six through 10 will start at four under, 11-16 at three under and so on.

The new format puts the Spaniard at -6 to start out. That's four strokes behind Scottie Scheffler, who tops the leaderboard. That means he would have to play four strokes better over the course of the weekend just to get a playoff berth.

Rahm blasted the changed format a year ago, saying (via Golf Digest):

“I have made my position clear on that in the past. I don't think it's the best system. You don't get to the Super Bowl and the team with the better record starts with a two-touchdown advantage. I think it's absolutely ludicrous, but it's the best choice we have right now.”

When the format was first announced, PGA Tour comissioner Jay Monahan praised the system, saying:

“The beauty here is in the simplicity. Fans are very familiar with golf leader boards 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.”

The adjusted system provides a significant advantage to those who played well prior to the tournament, but it could remove the ability of a comeback for some players. For example, Rickie Fowler could have an excellent weekend, but if he doesn't outshoot Scheffler by seven strokes, it won't matter.

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Jon Rahm not a fan of Tour Championship format

From Jon Rahm's perspective, the deck is stacked in favor of the leader. According to the Spaniard, while this may make sense when a golfer has had a stellar first three rounds of a tournament, it's not supposed to be true before the tournament even begins.

Jon Rahm criticized the format

No other sport features any team with a score advantage in the championship. As Jon Rahm mentioned, the Super Bowl starts at 0-0. The World Series and NBA Finals begin at 0-0 with 0 wins each. Golf is a unique sport, and this is a unique scoring situation. This leader advantage sets golf apart from other sports, not a positive attribute according to the World No. 3 golfer.

Even if the Spaniard has a stellar outing during the Tour Championship, he is going to have to count on Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland (all ahead of him in strokes now) to struggle or at least stumble over the weekend to have a chance to climb up the standings.