The PGA Tour wraps up the season this week at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta (August 21-24), in style. The top 30 golfers in the FedEx Cup standings, vying for the biggest winner-take-all check in golf: 10 million dollars. For those interested, the total purse is an incredible 40 million dollars.
What’s the Diff This Year?
This year, the Tour discontinued the staggered-start scoring system to finish the season. Quite a departure for the Tour, the top seeded players received starting head starts, players are now treated to square starts at even par, which makes an exciting true 72 hole event. Expect fireworks.
Who is the Headliner?
Scottie Scheffler is still the player to beat. Coming off a BMW Championship win, which included an 82-footer birdie bomb, Scheffler isn’t only the FedEx Cup leader for the tour, he’s also the East Lake betting odds leader.
Rory McIlroy is right behind him, as a previous champion three times over, while they are facing each other in Round 1. This is better than a televised movie (and even bigger profit).
Who else? Russell Henley, Harris English, Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood — also, to be potential storymakers, all would not mind adding their share of the 1M+ from a top-8 finish.
Storylines Where Sleepers Will Have a Night Off
Harris English has secured his Ryder Cup berth — a place to chase elite golf, with no pressure.
And surprised with the format change? It’s gotten players and fans talking. Most feel a loss of rewards for winning and playing during the playoffs; some talking points are refreshing.
Additionally, Xander (also absent from this field for the first time in years) calls this fall short the ‘worst combo’. A clear reminder of the grind of it all; he’s apparently looking forward to chasing himself.
This Tour Championship is more than a tournament; it is a battle. Everyone’s on equal footing, each player gets to chase the size of the purse, and there are elite names in the mix. Expect to see how Scheffler and McIlroy trade shots, and don’t blink on Henley or English. All of them can lock in their legacies this week.
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