The First Look: TOUR Championship

It all comes down to this.

The TOUR Championship, the final leg of the three-event FedExCup Playoffs, tees off Thursday at the recently restored East Lake Golf Club, with the TOUR’s biggest prize still up for grabs. Scottie Scheffler once again returns to Atlanta as the top-ranked player in the FedExCup standings, with Xander Schauffele hot on his heels.

The Starting Strokes format gives Scheffler a two-shot advantage heading into Thursday’s opening round at the TOUR Championship, starting the week at 10-under. Schauffele starts at 8-under, with all 30 players in the field starting at even par or better.

Regardless of the start, however, it’s how you finish. And this week’s top finisher will win the FedExCup.

FIELD NOTES: Scheffler will once again head to East Lake ranked No. 1 in the FedExCup standings after a fabulous 2024 campaign that includes six TOUR victories and a gold medal at the Paris Olympics. This is the third straight year Scheffler has entered the PGA TOUR season finale ranked No. 1 in the standings … Schauffele has authored his own tremendous campaign with two major titles to his name. He and Scheffler have separated themselves from the chasing pack on top of the FedExCup standings, as Schauffele is almost 1,500 points ahead of No. 3 Hideki Matsuyama …. Matsuyama won the FedEx St. Jude Championship but withdrew from the BMW Championship due to a back injury. He’s set to return to action at East Lake … Matsuyama was confirmed Sunday as the top-ranked member of the automatic qualifying group for the Presidents Cup’s International Team, with three other automatic qualifiers (Sungjae Im, Adam Scott and Byeong Hun An) in the mix at the TOUR Championship. All six of the U.S. Team’s automatic qualifiers – Scheffler, Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay and Sahith Theegala – have qualified for East Lake … Rory McIlroy, at No. 6 in the standings, is looking to win his record fourth FedExCup title. He has finished outside the top 10 just once in the last seven years at East Lake.

FEDEXCUP BUBBLE UPDATES: Four players jumped into the top 30 on the FedExCup standings after their efforts at the BMW Championship, led by winner Keegan Bradley, who was the last man into the BMW (No. 50) and vaulted to No. 4 in the standings into the TOUR Championship … Adam Scott, who finished tied for second, jumped to No. 14 … Tommy Fleetwood was on the bubble heading into the BMW Championship (at No. 31) but finished tied for fifth and moved to No. 22 … Chris Kirk jumped from No. 32 to No. 26 … Brian Harman, Jason Day, Davis Thompson and Denny McCarthy were the four that got bumped from the field at East Lake … Justin Thomas heads to the TOUR Championship as the final player in the field at No. 30 in the standings.

HOW IT WORKS: The FedExCup Starting Strokes format rewards the top player in the FedExCup standings with a two-shot advantage Thursday at East Lake. For the second straight year, Scottie Scheffler starts on top at 10-under, while Xander Schauffele is at 8-under, Hideki Matsuyama is at 7-under, Keegan Bradley is at 6-under, Ludvig Åberg is at 5-under, and the balance of the field will span from 4-under to even-par.

FEDEXCUP: Winner receives the FedExCup.

COURSE: East Lake Golf Club, par 71, 7,490 yards. Every FedExCup champion (introduced in 2007) has been crowned at East Lake, the TOUR Championship’s host venue since 2005. The home course of Bobby Jones, East Lake is the oldest golf course in the city of Atlanta. Tom Bendelow was the original architect, with both Donald Ross and Rees Jones contributing to the storied Atlanta layout; Andrew Green recently completed a substantial restoration. Another of Green’s recent projects, the East Course at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York, hosted the 2023 PGA Championship.

Green worked off an aerial photo of the course from 1949 along with archival photos, and the team reworked the entire course in just 10 months. Grasses for both fairways and greens were changed, while No. 14 was converted to a par 5.

72-HOLE RECORD: 257, Tiger Woods (2007)

18-HOLE RECORD: 60, Zach Johnson (Round 3, 2007)

LAST TIME: Hovland held off a hard-charging Schauffele with a final-round, 7-under 63 to cement a five-shot victory for the 2023 FedExCup. Schauffele and Hovland were paired in the final group Sunday at East Lake and fired the day’s two lowest rounds, with Hovland’s 63 the lowest Sunday score for a TOUR Championship winner. Hovland was the No. 2 seed going into the TOUR Championship, starting at 8-under. In Sunday’s finale, Schauffele fired a front-nine 30 to Hovland’s 31, but the Norwegian never let up and closed with three straight birdies to secure the FedExCup. It marked Hovland’s third victory of the season, including the prior week’s BMW Championship. Clark finished third at 16-under, while McIlroy finished fourth in his FedExCup defense and Cantlay finished fifth.

How to follow (all times ET)

Television:

• Thursday-Friday: 1-6 p.m. (Golf Channel)
• Saturday: 1-2:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2:30-7 p.m. (NBC)
• Sunday: noon-1:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), 1:30-6 p.m. (NBC)

Special programming alerts:

• Payne Stewart Award Ceremony
  • Tune in live on Tuesday, Aug. 27, at 7 p.m. ET on Golf Channel to as nine-time TOUR winner Brandt Snedeker is honored as the latest recipient of the Payne Stewart Award.
• PGA TOUR Live: On the Range
  • Tune in at 2:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Aug. 28, to catch all the live action straight from the practice range on at the 2024 TOUR Championship, featuring expert analysis, DraftKings betting and fantasy golf previews, player interviews and more at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
• 'The Creator Classic presented by Blackstone'
  • Tune in at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Aug. 28, as 16 content creators compete in a nine-hole competition at East Lake Golf Club prior to the TOUR Championship.

PGA TOUR LIVE ON ESPN+

PGA TOUR LIVE is available exclusively on ESPN+

• Main feed: Primary tournament coverage featuring the best action from across the course
• Marquee group: New “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group
• Featured groups: Traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups
• Featured holes: Combination of par 3s and iconic or pivotal holes

Radio on SiriusXM and free at PGATOUR.com/liveaudio:

• Thursday-Friday: noon-6 p.m.
• Saturday: 2-7 p.m.
• Sunday: 1-6 p.m.