Excited’ Justin Thomas denounces being ‘fan’ of Tour Championship’s staggered start

Justin Thomas candidly gave his opinion about the change in the format of the Tour Championship. The PGA Tour has eliminated the starting stroke format of the FedEx Cup finale event.

In the pre-tournament conference of the 2025 Memorial Tournament, held on Wednesday, May 28, Thomas was asked by a reporter about his opinion on the Tour Championship staggered start format. The reporter asked:

"If I remember correctly part of the reason they went to the staggered start at the TOUR Championship had to do with your feelings about not getting both trophies when you won the FedExCup. Have you been unfairly labeled as being a supporter of staggered start?"

In response, Thomas said, via ASAP Sports:

"You're the first I've heard that's told me I'm a fan of it, so I'm not really sure how to answer that. There's no way that the TOUR would change an entire product or system based off of my belief. Not to my knowledge at least. But, yeah that label is, it's unheard of to me, so I'm not sure."

However, later, Thomas was also asked his opinion on a change in the format and elimination of the starting stroke format. He added:

"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."

Justin Thomas was the runner-up at the Tour Championship in 2017 when it had a stroke-play format. However, he again finished runner-up in 2020 when the format changed to starting stroke.

A look into Justin Thomas' performance in 2025

This season on the PGA Tour, Justin Thomas started at The Sentry with a T26 finish. He finished runner-up at the American Express. He has been phenomenal on the Tour in 2025, recording three runner-up finishes and winning one, the RBC Heritage.

Here are the results of the tournaments Justin Thomas played on PGA Tour in 2025:

The Sentry: T26 (R1: 71, R2: 71, R3: 68, R4: 63)
The American Express: 2 (R1: 67, R2: 64, R3: 68, R4: 66)
AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: T48 (R1: 66, R2: 70, R3: 74, R4: 71)
WM Phoenix Open: T6 (R1: 66, R2: 68, R3: 70, R4: 65)
The Genesis Invitational: T9 (R1: 73, R2: 71, R3: 69, R4: 69)
Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard: T36 (R1: 71, R2: 70, R3: 74, R4: 76)
THE PLAYERS Championship: T33 (R1: 78, R2: 62, R3: 73, R4: 73)
Valspar Championship: 2 (R1: 73, R2: 70, R3: 65, R4: 66)
Masters Tournament: T36 (R1: 73, R2: 71, R3: 76, R4: 70)
RBC Heritage: 1 (R1: 61, R2: 69, R3: 69, R4: 68)
Truist Championship: T2 (R1: 66, R2: 67, R3: 66, R4: 67)
PGA Championship: CUT (R1: 73, R2: 72)

About the author

Ankita Yadav is an NFL and Golf writer at Sportskeeda with over three years of experience in journalism (and counting). With a Master’s degree in Chemistry, she somehow swapped test tubes for touchdowns and tee shots—and hasn’t looked back since.

She’s previously covered the world of entertainment with OtakuKart and TV Season & Spoilers and worked as an editor at ComingSoon. Her stories have racked up nearly nine million reads, and she’s had the chance to interview top athletes like professional golfer Yuvraj Singh Sandhu.

Based in Bhopal, Ankita proudly supports the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes, and is a fan of Nelly Korda. When she’s not writing, she’s probably at a live music show, watching a movie or out on a long drive.

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Edited by Hitesh Nigam