Rory McIlroy has thrown his support behind the PGA Tour’s decision to overhaul the format of the season-ending Tour Championship, insisting the move to a level playing field gives all 30 competitors a genuine chance at the $10 million FedEx Cup prize.
The Northern Irishman, a three-time FedEx Cup winner, will tee off at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta on Thursday with the rest of the elite field as equals after officials scrapped the controversial “starting strokes” format.
Introduced in 2019, that system awarded players a staggered head start based on their ranking in the FedEx Cup standings, with world No 1 Scottie Scheffler beginning last year’s Tour Championship at 10-under par and two shots clear of his nearest challenger.
But following sustained criticism from fans and players alike, the PGA Tour confirmed in May that the 2025 edition would revert to a conventional 72-hole stroke play event. Officials described the change as a return to the “most straightforward and engaging format”.
McIlroy welcomed the reset.
“It has a different feel,” he said. “Any one of the 30 has a chance to win the FedEx Cup this year, which is obviously a lot different than it’s been in previous years.
“It’s a clean slate for everyone, and it’s a great opportunity for one of the guys who maybe wasn’t a huge part of the season to put their hand up and have a chance. At the same time, it gives players who’ve had great years the chance to rubber-stamp it and finish on a really positive note.”
McIlroy admitted he had not been opposed to the old format.
“I thought the player that played the best during the course of the season should have had an advantage coming in here,” he said. “But the majority of people just didn’t like the starting strokes.”
The 35-year-old, who served on the PGA Tour’s Player Advisory Council, revealed that switching to match play had also been discussed but was ultimately dismissed.
“Match play was on the table, and that got canned for this year,” McIlroy said. “It’s hard for the players to reconcile that we play stroke play all year and then the biggest event is decided by match play.”
England’s Tommy Fleetwood echoed McIlroy’s support. “It’s probably more exciting for the players,” he said. “Everybody knows it’s a level field and a chance to have a great week and leave unbelievably happy.”
Fleetwood has never won a PGA Tour event, recording seven top-10s and only one missed cut in 18 events. He tied for third and fourth at the first two legs of the FedEx Cup play-offs.
Another heartbreaker Fleetwood endured came in June at the Travelers Championship, a signature event and the site of his sixth career runner-up finish on tour. After blazing rounds of 66, 65 and 63, he ceded the lead late on Sunday to Keegan Bradley, who made an improbable birdie on the 18th hole while Fleetwood three-putted for bogey and signed for a 72.
Four rounds of golf from now, the man with the lowest score will be the winner of the tournament, the FedEx Cup and $10 million; a perfect time for Fleetwood's first PGA Tour win.
"I'm not going to be picky about which one I choose to have as the first one. This one would be a good one," Fleetwood said. "But I think it would be pretty funny if I won this week and then got the FedEx Cup as well. I think that would be funny."
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Full list of Emmy 2020 nominations
LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Anthony Anderson, Black-ish
Don Cheadle, Black Monday
Ted Danson, The Good Place
Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method
Eugene Levy, Schitt’s Creek
Ramy Youssef, Ramy
LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Christina Applegate, Dead to Me
Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Linda Cardellini, Dead to Me
Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek
Issa Rae, Insecure
Tracee Ellis Ross, Black-ish
OUTSTANDING VARIETY/TALK SERIES
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Jason Bateman, Ozark
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Steve Carell, The Morning Show
Brian Cox, Succession
Billy Porter, Pose
Jeremy Strong, Succession
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Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show
Olivia Colman, The Crown
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Laura Linney, Ozark
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OUTSTANDING REALITY/COMPETITION PROGRAM
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LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE
Jeremy Irons, Watchmen
Hugh Jackman, Bad Education
Paul Mescal, Normal People
Jeremy Pope, Hollywood
Mark Ruffalo, I Know This Much Is True
LEAD ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE
Cate Blanchett, Mrs. America
Shira Haas, Unorthodox
Regina King, Watchmen
Octavia Spencer, Self Made
Kerry Washington, Little Fires Everywhere
OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES
Little Fires Everywhere
Mrs. America
Unbelievable
Unorthodox
Watchmen
OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Dead to Me
The Good Place
Insecure
The Kominsky Method
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Schitt’s Creek
What We Do In The Shadows
OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
Better Call Saul
The Crown
The Handmaid’s Tale
Killing Eve
The Mandalorian
Ozark
Stranger Things
Succession
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
