The PGA Tour’s new playoff format puts more money at stake for players. Will fans care?

Tiger Woods does wonders for golf.

TV ratings and fan interest spike whenever he’s playing and in the mix. We saw that with his run at the PGA Championship last month.

But the PGA Tour is hoping to generate similar drama regardless of which player is in the hunt. Golf’s sanctioning body announced changes to its FedEx Cup playoffs in an effort to “further fan engagement, understanding and drama of FedEx Cup.”

Changes include a new scoring system for the Tour Championship and a new $10 million program for the regular season.

The biggest change is for the Tour Championship to crown the FedEx champion from a field of the top 30 players.

Players will be seeded based on points with the leader starting the event at 10-under par; the next four players at 8-under through 5-under; the remaining players will be paired in groups of five to regress from 4-under for Nos. 6-10 to even par for Nos. 26-30.

“This is a significant and exciting change,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said in a statement. “As soon as the Tour Championship begins, any fan – no matter if they’ve followed the PGA Tour all season or are just tuning in for the final event – can immediately understand what’s going on and what’s at stake for every single player in the field.”

The new $10 million regular season program, which is sponsored by Wyndham Rewards, is designed to keep players and fans interest throughout the regular season at events such as the AT&T Byron Nelson in Dallas and the Charles Schwab Challenge at Fort Worth’s Colonial Country Club.

The top 10 players throughout the regular season will divvy up the $10 million pot with the No. 1 player taking home a $2 million check down to the No. 10 receiving $500,000.

Speaking of money, the Tour also announced a $25 million increase to the FedEx Cup bonus pool. So the total pot is now $60 million with the FedEx champion receiving $15 million compared to $10 million from previous years.