The top-30 players who performed well during the 2022-23 PGA Tour season are in Atlanta at East Lake Golf Club for the Tour Championship.
Outside of the four majors and the Players Championship, the FedEx Cup is what every player competes for. The Tour Championship is the season finale for the PGA Tour schedule, which means players put all their marbles into this week.
Last week, World No. 5 Viktor Hovland won the BMW Championship after he shot a course record of 9-under 61 to win by two strokes over World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and World No. 8 Matt Fitzpatrick.
Hovland recorded a back nine 7-under 28 as each of his birdie putts were within 14 feet.
As a result of the win, Hovland moved up five spots to No. 2 in the FedEx Cup standings. What makes the FedEx Cup standings that much more important is that players are rewarded for their play throughout the season for this week’s Tour Championship.
Since 2019, the starting strokes format has been implemented to the 30 players in the standings.
Scheffler, who recorded the most FedEx Cup points through the conclusion of last BMW Championship, begins at -10. Hovland starts at -8 and the strokes trickle down to even par for the lowest scoring point leaders:
- 10-under: Scottie Scheffler
- 8-under: Viktor Hovland
- 7-under: Rory McIlroy
- 6-under: Jon Rahm
- 5-under: Lucas Glover
- 4-under: Max Homa, Patrick Cantlay, Brian Harman, Wyndham Clark, Matt Fitzpatrick
- 3-under: Tommy Fleetwood, Russell Henley, Keegan Bradley, Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele
- 2-under: Tom Kim, Sungjae Im, Tony Finau, Corey Conners, Si Woo Kim
- 1-under: Taylor Moore, Nick Taylor, Adam Schenk, Collin Morikawa, Jason Day
- Even par: Sam Burns, Emiliano Grillo, Tyrrell Hatton, Jordan Spieth, Sepp Straka
The lowest the winner began the week was last year when McIlroy began at 4-under par before emerging victorious.
East Lake Golf Club is a par-70, measuring 7,346 yards. Players are going to be challenged with lengthy holes, thick Bermuda rough and fast greens. Nine of the 12 par-4s are more than 440 yards and three of the four par-3s are longer than 210 yards. Avoiding any rough and finding the short grass is going to key if players want to shoot low.
Another challenge this week is going to be the weather. Temperatures are going to be in the mid- to high-90s which means the players must stay hydrated and mentally tough if they want to be hoisting the FedEx Cup on Sunday.
Also read: Top takeaways from the BMW Championship
What channel is the Tour Championship on?
The Tour Championship will be televised between CBS and the Golf Channel.
Television schedule for the Tour Championship
| Round | Date | Time (ET) | TV |
| 1 | Thursday, August 24 | 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. | Golf Channel |
| 2 | Friday, August 25 | 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. | Golf Channel |
| 3 | Saturday, August 26 | 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. | Golf Channel CBS |
| 4 | Sunday, August 27 | 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. 1:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. | Golf Channel CBS |
Other coverage for the Tour Championship
In addition to CBS and the Golf Channel, the Tour Championship will also be broadcasted on ESPN+ and Peacock. PGA Tour Live for the marquee and feature groups can be exclusively found on ESPN+ for all four days of the tournament, in addition to the featured holes at 2, 9, 15 and 17.
The Tour Championship will also be on the airwaves of Sirius XM.
Thursday, August 24 (Round 1)
ESPN+: 11:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET
Peacock: 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.ET
Sirius XM: 12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET
Friday, August 25 (Round 2)
ESPN+: 11:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET
Peacock: 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET
Sirius XM: 12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET
Saturday, August 26 (Round 3)
ESPN+: 12:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. ET
Peacock: 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. ET
Sirius XM: 2:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. ET
Sunday, August 27 (Round 4)
ESPN+: 11:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET
Peacock: 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. ET
Sirius XM: 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET
Related: World Golf Rankings: A look at the top 10 after the BMW Championship
How much are tickets for the Tour Championship?
Tickets for the Tour Championship begin at $85 to walk the grounds and prices are increased for the Michelob Ultra Athletic Club, The Tailgate Terrace and other club venues.
In addition, the Tour Championship is offering active, retired or reserved military members and veterans one free grounds admission per day. Tickets for Saturday and Sunday are sold out.
Also two youth, ages 15 and under receive admission with a ticketed adult.
Payout for the 2023 Tour Championship
The total amount of prize money is $75 million and the winner will receive $18 million, nearly a quarter of the total. In addition, the winner will receive the FedEx Cup trophy.
Who are some of the top golfers in the Tour Championship field?
From a normal 156-man field, the field is cut by nearly 80% to determine who takes home the coveted FedEx Cup.
McIlroy is looking to win the FedEx Cup for a record fourth time and be the first to take the trophy home in consecutive years.
Scheffler, who is the first player to start the tournament at 10-under par for a second straight season, is hoping to convert for the title after coming up short to McIlroy. In addition, Scheffler and McIlroy consists of nine of the top 11 in the World Golf Rankings competing this week.
Scheffler is also looking for his 17th top-10 finish, which would tie Tiger Woods for third most dating back to 1980. Seventeen top 10s is also the most Woods had in a season.
Overall, there are five players making their first appearance at the Tour Championship in Adam Schenk, Nick Taylor, Wyndham Clark, Tom Kim and Taylor Moore. Schenk has played 33 events this season, the most of anyone this season. Taylor, who won the RBC Canadian Open in June, is joined by Corey Conners as the two Canadians in the field this week.
In addition, Emiliano Grillo is competing in the Tour Championship for the first time since 2016, which is the largest of anyone in the field.
It should be a compelling and dramatic finish to the season this week at the Tour Championship as players look to end on a high note.
Related: Who has won the most PGA Tour events of all-time?
5 players with the best chance to win the Tour Championship trophy
Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy continues to put himself in contention week in and week out with his ninth straight top 10 finish since the PGA Championship in May, placing fourth last week. The key thing for McIlroy was his putting heading into last week. McIlroy has been inside the top 25 in strokes gained: putting the last two weeks and needs to continue that.
McIlroy has come back to win FedEx Cup titles before. In addition to being down six entering the first round last year, he was also down five in 2019 when he won by four over Schauffele. If McIlroy is able to sink putts, he will be more of force, especially with the length on his side.
Scottie Scheffler
Scottie Scheffler returned to his top-5 self that he had been all season long with a runner-up finish last week. Of his 16 top 10s this season, 13 have been inside the top 5, including a couple of wins at the designated events – WM Phoenix Open and the Players Championship.
Scheffler came up just short last season and wants to reach the top as he led the standings for the second straight year.
Viktor Hovland
Viktor Hovland enters this week fresh off a victory at the BMW Championship and is trying to become the first player since Patrick Cantlay two years ago to win the Tour Championship after being victorious at the BMW Championship the week before. Hovland has proven he can be atop leaderboards in the biggest tournaments this season with a runner-up at the PGA Championship, a T7 at the Masters and a T3 at the Players Championship.
Xander Schauffele
Can this be the year Xander Schauffele wins the FedEx Cup? In the last six years, Schauffele has played in every Tour Championship and has five top-5s with a seventh-place finish. He recorded the low aggregate (the best score without the starting strokes) in 2020 and won the Tour Championship, but not the FedEx Cup in 2017 when he was the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year.
Schauffele has a scoring average of 67.25 dating back to 2017. In 2020, Schauffele started in the same position this year and was the runner-up, losing by three strokes. Two years ago, he started one stroke worse than this year and still finished inside the top five.
Max Homa
Max Homa enters this week with the No. 6 spot in the standings and looking to take advantage of being down by six strokes, which is the same number McIlroy was trailing entering the week. Homa, who has two wins this season, also has a runner-up finish and 11 top 10s.
Homa, who has top 10s in his last three starts, is making his second start at the Tour Championship when he tied for fifth last year that included an 8-under 62 in the second round, the same score in the same round he had last week in Chicago.
Also read: How Max Homa has changed golf this season
Tour Championship pairings
All times ET; FG: Featured Group
| Round 1: 1 tee | Players |
| 11:26 a.m. (FG) | Jordan Spieth & Sepp Straka |
| 11:37 a.m. | Emiliano Grillo &Tyrrell Hatton |
| 11:48 a.m. | Jason Day & Sam Burns |
| 11:59 a.m. | Adam Schenk & Collin Morikawa |
| 12:10 p.m. | Taylor Moore & Nick Taylor |
| 12:21 p.m. | Corey Conners & Si Woo Kim |
| 12:32 p.m. | Sungjae Im & Tony Finau |
| 12:43 p.m. | Xander Schauffele & Tom Kim |
| 12:54 p.m. | Keegan Bradley & Rickie Fowler |
| 1:05 p.m. | Tommy Fleetwood & Russell Henley |
| 1:16 p.m. | Wyndham Clark & Matt Fitzpatrick |
| 1:27 p.m. | Patrick Cantlay & Brian Harman |
| 1:38 a.m. (FG) | Lucas Glover & Max Homa |
| 1:49 a.m. (FG) | Rory McIlroy & Jon Rahm |
| 2:00 p.m. | Scottie Scheffler & Viktor Hovland |
