Preview

As the PGA Tour season wraps up, all eyes turn to the PGA Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. This event features the top 30 players from the FedExCup standings, each hoping for a chance to secure the FedExCup trophy, as well as the $25 million prize that accompanies it.

Format:

For those unfamiliar with the format at the Tour Championship, the field consists of the top 30 players in the FedEx Cup standings after the first two playoff events (FedEx St. Jude Championship, BMW Championship).

Scoring and Starting Strokes:

The Tour Championship uses a staggered start system for scoring. The top player in the FedEx Cup standings starts the tournament at 10-under par. The second player starts at 8-under par, the third at 7-under par, and so on, down to the 30th player who starts at even par.

Winning:

The player with the lowest score relative to par over the four rounds is the Tour Championship winner. However, the FedEx Cup champion is determined by the final standings in the FedEx Cup points list, which is influenced by performance in the Tour Championship.

Full list of starting positions per player:

Starting Strokes	Player
-10	Scottie Scheffler
-8	Xander Schauffele
-7	Hideki Matsuyama
-6	Keegan Bradley
-5	Ludvig Åberg
-4	Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark, Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay
-3	Sungjae Im, Sahith Theegala, Shane Lowry, Adam Scott, Tony Finau
-2	Byeong Hun An, Viktor Hovland, Russell Henley, Akshay Bhatia, Robert MacIntyre
-1	Billy Horschel, Tommy Fleetwood, Sepp Straka, Matthieu Pavon, Taylor Pendrith
E	Chris Kirk, Tom Hoge, Aaron Rai, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Justin Thomas

DFS Picks

$10,000 Range

Play: Xander Schauffele $11,000

Xander has been in immaculate form since the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, which took place back on February 4th. Since then, Xander has finished no worse than T25 and has not lost strokes to the field in any event. In 28 rounds at East Lake, Schauffele has gained an impressive 2.05 strokes over the field. Xander finished as runner-up behind Viktor Hovland last season at this event, and I anticipate him closing the 2-stroke gap behind Scottie Scheffler and making for an exciting finish on Sunday.

Fade: Hideki Matsuyama $10,100

The $10,000 range contains only three players, and I am certainly not fading Scottie Scheffler. Hideki Matsuyama withdrew from last week’s competition due to a lower back injury. Signs are pointing to him being healthy this week, and he completed a practice round on Monday with no issues. Even so, it is hard to trust that this won’t flare up again and cause him limitations over the weekend.

$9,000 Range

Play: Patrick Cantlay $9,400

Cantlay’s recent form has been tremendous, with no finish worse than T25 and recording two Top-5 finishes in his last five starts. He also has a strong track record at East Lake, having finished 5th in 2023, T7 in 2022, and winning in 2021.

Fade: Ludvig Åberg $9,900

Similar to the $10,000 range, there aren’t many players available in the $9,000 range. The other two not mentioned are Collin Morikawa ($9,100) and Rory McIlroy ($9,600). Ludvig Åberg put together a phenomenal performance last week, finishing as the runner-up in the BMW Championship. However, leading up to this event, his results were: T40, T18, and CUT. His recent inconsistencies and being at the top of the $9,000 range are the only easons for fading him this week.

$8,000 Range

Play: Sam Burns $8,500

Sam Burns has been on a heater, with finishes of T2, T5, and T12 in his last three starts. He has gained at least four strokes on the field in 8 of his last 10 events. He finished T9 on this course last year, and I expect him to contend again this weekend.

Fade: Wyndham Clark $8,100

The ball is finally rolling in the right direction for Wyndham Clark, with three top-15 finishes in his last three starts. However, despite gaining 2.5 strokes on the field last week, Wyndham lost another 4.3 strokes on approach. He finished third at East Lake in 2023 while achieving something he has done only five times this season: gaining strokes throughout the bag. To be in contention on Sunday, he will need to excel around the greens and on approach.

$7,000 Range

Play: Tommy Fleetwood $7,600

I debated putting Sungjae Im here, but it seems Tommy Fleetwood isn’t receiving much love from experts this week, so I’ll hop on the wagon. Fleetwood has had a solid campaign and is in good recent form, with finishes of T5, T22, and 2nd in his last three events. He also has a strong course history at East Lake, with results of T6 (2023), T16, and T11. Look for Tommy to move up the leaderboard from his starting position of -1.

Fade: Sahith Theegala $7,000

The Sahith Theegala train has officially left the station. His game is off at the moment, with finishes of 48th, T46, and a missed cut in three of his last five starts. His history at East Lake isn’t strong either; he recorded a 28th-place finish and lost strokes across the board in his lone appearance at this course in 2022.

$6,000 Range

Play: Sepp Straka $6,700

A talented ball striker, Sepp Straka always has the potential to gain strokes on accuracy-based courses. He finished T14 and T7 in his previous two appearances at East Lake. If he putts as well as he did during the BMW Championship, he could certainly see his name climb the leaderboard.

Fade: Mathieu Pavon $6,000

I don’t anticipate many will be slotting Pavon into their lineups, but if you find yourself with only $6,000 remaining, it might be better to rebuild your lineup. Mathieu Pavon has been out of form, losing strokes to the field in 7 of his last 10 starts. Additionally, he has never played at East Lake before.