By Chris Havlicek
Updated 8/28/24 7:01pm ET
After a full season of PGA Tour golf, Scottie Scheffler again finds himself at the top of the FedEx Cup standings heading into the final event. The world’s top-ranked golfer returns to the state where he was arrested, as Atlanta will host The Tour Championship at East Lake Country Club. The betting favorites are similar to those at the BMW, with Scheffler leading the way at +110 odds, followed by Xander Schauffele at +230 and Hideki Matsuyama in third at +1200.
No two players have more on the line than Scheffler and Schauffele. The former has put together a historical season with six wins, including The Masters and The Players Championship, and an Olympic gold medal. Schauffele followed his first career major at the PGA Championship with his second two months later at The Open Championship.
Of note, this is not your average week on tour where every golfer starts at even par to begin a tournament. Because of the Tour Championship’s staggered scoring system based on points, Scheffler will start this week at East Lake with a two-stroke lead on Schauffele and a 10-stroke lead on the last man in the field (Justin Thomas). A massive $25 million winner’s check is on the line for whoever finishes atop the leaderboard, and all of the familiar names are in Atlanta looking to cash in.
Dates/Location:
What: The Tour Championship
Where: East Lake Golf Club – Atlanta, Georgia
When: Thursday-Sunday, August 29th – September 1st
Purse: $25 Million
Defending Champion: Viktor Hovland
The Course:
East Lake had a course redesign this past year to restore most of the original Donald Ross characteristics. The course was completely rebuilt from the ground up in 10 months and had a 13-week “growth” period to allow the course to mature. The 7,490-yard (Par 71) course, East Lake took over as the permanent host of the Tour Championship in 2004 and has produced a wide range of winners from Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson to Brandt Snedeker and Bill Haas. But in recent years, the course has been dominated by the longest drivers — with Rory McIlroy winning two of the last six events and Xander Schauffele finishing either first or second in four of the last seven finales.
While length will continue to be crucial in Atlanta, driving accuracy will become much more important, particularly with fairways and greens that are exceedingly firm. What once was a one-dimensional test will now promote more variance in scoring and will challenge players in a variety of ways that the old design did not.
The Field:
This is year six of the Tour Championship’s handicapped format where the top 30 players are given starting scores based on their position in the FedEx Cup standings entering the week. For those unfamiliar with the format this week, the player with the most FedEx Cup points (Scheffler) heading into the week will start at 10-under par. The player with the second-most points starts at eight under par. The third starts at seven under par, and so on down to the fifth at five under par. Players ranked six through 10 begin at four under. Eleven through 15 at three under, and so on to numbers 26-30, who begin at even par.
In two of the five years since the format change, the player starting at 10-under has won the event, and no player starting below four under par has ever claimed the trophy.
Odds: Top 10 (Courtesy of FanDuel):
Scottie Scheffler +115
Xander Schauffele +230
Hideki Matsuyama +2500
Ludvig Aberg +1800
Rory McIlroy +1800
Sam Burns +3500
Collin Morikawa +3500
Keegan Bradley +4000
Patrick Cantlay +4000
Wyndham Clark +4500
Photo Courtesy: Shutterstock
