Paige Spiranac at Risk of Losing New Job as PGA Tour Cracks Down, Per Reports

As we head into the second leg of the PGA Tour playoffs, it’s worth asking: Do the PGA Tour playoffs live up to the name? Playoffs are supposed to be high-stakes, make-or-break moments that define legacies, where a whole season’s worth of brilliance can be undone by one bad week. But does that happen at the Tour? Sure, there’s $100 million on the line, but beyond that big payday, does the FedEx Cup title really mean something profound to the players and the content creators supporting them?

Well, as per golf insiders at Fore Play Podcast Plus, not really. On a recent episode, co-host Frankie shared his frustration with the playoff format, saying, “And I, like, I don’t know why the points from the regular season carry over into the playoffs.”

Their point? It should be a stand-alone battle. If the PGA Tour wants to amp up the postseason’s cred, it’d decouple the three-tournament playoff series from the regular season. No carryover points. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Want to advance from the first round (FedEx St. Jude) to the second round (BMW Championship)? You have got to finish top 50 that week. Want to make it to the Tour Championship in Atlanta? Finish top 30 in the BMW.

Undoubtedly, however, such discussions are here to stay. The only solution? The Tour can try holding its Creators Council meetings. But, as the podcast hosts point out, even that is a little messy. Frankie said in the podcast, “I wish we, we have to have another one of those meetings. I don’t even know if we’re in the council anymore. I mean, we, like, we get all these emails, people are getting, no, we are. We are still, ’cause I know people are getting fired from the council.” 

In 2024, the Tour created a Creator Council to better engage with the fans and content creators. The part of the crew included Bob Does Sports, Bryan Bros Golf, Paige Spiranac, and Roger Steele, among others. Although there’s no official report of the Tour firing a council member, it has certainly banned its partners for associating with their rival league, LIV Golf.

In April, the Tour banned Wesley Bryan for participating in a LIV Golf-affiliated influencer event. His participation in “The Duels: Miami” was treated as a breach of PGA Tour policy. And similar things can continue to happen, as suggested by the insiders.

On the other hand, Rory McIlroy, a key player on the Players Council, made headlines when he walked out after talks about the PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger dragged on endlessly. Despite McIlroy’s departure from the team, other Council meetings have been productive in shaking up the Tour’s playoff situation.

For example, following a lengthy discussion in May, the Council announced a tweak to the TOUR Championship format: all 30 players in the field will start at even par in a stroke-play tournament. However, Frankie and his fellow co-hosts’ suggestions aren’t the only proposed solutions currently in the golf market. There’s more. Like: you should win all the playoffs to win the playoff.

The Rory McIlroy issue and the Golf Channel‘s Steve Sands’s solution

Rory McIlroy skipped the first leg of the Tour playoffs – the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis. He was the only eligible player out of 70 skipping the $20 million purse at TPC Southwind. It didn’t come without any trouble: with golf insiders demanding a ‘Rory McIlroy rule.’ On the other hand, when asked about preventing players like McIlroy from taking a week off during playoffs, PGA Tour’s Player Council member, Peter Malnati, said, “I think there is stuff in the works and I’ll leave it at that.”

There’s been a lot of debate about McIlroy’s decision to skip the event. Some thought it was a strategic move boosting his Tour Championship hopes. Others were surprised Scottie Scheffler didn’t do the same. Because of this, the PGA Tour’s been urged to change the playoff format. On Golf Channel, Steve Sands said, “Sadly, yes. I think that’s the biggest change that needs to be made moving forward in these playoffs… you can’t be eligible to win the playoffs if you don’t play in all three playoff events.”

Sands emphasized the importance of FedEx Cup titles on a player’s resume, saying, “It’s now major championships, it’s Players Championship titles, it’s FedEx Cup titles – you look at Rory McIlroy there, he’s won five majors, he’s won a couple of Players, and he’s won three FedEx Cup titles. It’s a huge thing on a player’s resume.” 

He thinks the Tour and players need to ensure everybody shows up for all playoff events. Why? To build a more solid resume and fan base, for one thing. And that, he added, by saying, “I just think as a sports fan, not just a golf fan, but a sports fan, you can’t be eligible to win the playoffs if you don’t play in all three playoff events.”