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PGA Tour increases FedEx series to $US70m

3 minute read

The PGA Tour has announced the FedEx Cup playoffs prize pool will be increased to $US60 million in 2019, while creating a new $US10 million regular season pool.

Australians Marc Leishman and Jason Day admit the FedEx Cup prize pool being beefed up to $US70 million next year will add an unprecedented level of intensity to the US PGA Tour.

On Tuesday, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan revealed the existing FedEx Cup bonus pool for those who advance to the post-season will increase by $US25 million to an extraordinary $US60 million.

The FedEx Cup champion will now bank $US15 million, versus the $US10 million prize from previous years.

In addition, a new $US10 million regular-season prize pool has also been created to reward the top-10 points scorers on the FedEx standings.

The regular-season leader will receive $US2 million and $US1.5 million will go to second place, while 10th will still pocket $US500,000.

"It's a lot of money," Leishman told AAP.

"It's nice that we play for a lot of money every week, but when there's 15 million for the FedEx winner and 2 million for the regular season winner, it will be something the guys will be thinking about through the year."

Day attributes part of the cash injection to a resurgent Tiger Woods, who has stunned in his comeback season from spinal fusion surgery, and Phil Mickelson - who this year broke a five-year winless drought.

"It's always good when prizemoney is bumped up," Day said.

"The game of golf is in a good spot, which I think has a lot to do with Tiger and Phil playing great again."

The 2019 Tour Championship will also be significantly revamped for how the FedEx Cup winner will be determined from the 30 players in the field.

Currently, the Tour Championship has a points reset and five top seeds who can automatically win the FedEx Cup by hoisting the Tour Championship trophy.

The other 25 players in the field have to win and have a series of results fall in their favour.

Next year, the points FedEx leader will start the Tour Championship with a 10-under-par score, while the next four players will start at eight-under through five-under, respectively.

The next five players will tee off at four-under, regressing by one stroke for every five players until those ranked 26-30 start at even par.

The player with the lowest total score will win the FedEx Cup.

Monahan admits the changes are in response to years of confusion in the calculation of the FedEx champion, which has not always been the winner of the Tour Championship.

"Any fan, regardless of whether they've followed the PGA Tour all season or are just tuning, can immediately understand what's at stake for every single player," Monahan said.

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