Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele walk down the fairway after teeing off on the first hole during the second day of the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tenn., on Friday, August 16, 2024. The 2024 FedEx Cup season comes to a dramatic conclusion with this week’s Tour Championship at the redesigned East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
Only the top 30 in the standings made it to the third and final leg of the playoffs, but how many players have a legitimate shot of hoisting the trophy and claiming the $25 million bonus check come Sunday? World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler arrived in Atlanta as the top seed and owning a two-stroke lead for the third consecutive year, but he has yet to go on to win a FedEx Cup title.
Our golf experts preview the event and share their favorite prop picks along with best bets to win this week.
TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP
Location: Atlanta, Ga., Aug. 29-Sept. 1
Course: East Lake Golf Club (Par 71, 7,490 Yards)
Purse: $100M (Winner: $25M)
Defending Champion: Viktor Hovland
FedEx Cup Leader: Scottie Scheffler
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: 1-6 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday: 1-2:30 p.m. (GC), 2:30-7 p.m. (NBC); Sunday: Noon-1:30 p.m. (GC), 1:30-6 p.m. (NBC)
Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday: 11:15 a.m.-6 p.m. ET; Saturday: Noon-7 p.m.; Sunday: 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
X: @TOURChamp
STARTING STROKES
The player with the lowest total strokes over 72 holes when combined with his FedEx Cup Starting Strokes will win the season championship.
10 under: Scottie Scheffler
8 under: Xander Schauffele
7 under: Hideki Matsuyama
6 under: Keegan Bradley
5 under: Ludvig Aberg
4 under: Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark, Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay
3 under: Sungjae Im, Sahith Theegala, Shane Lowry, Adam Scott, Tony Finau
2 under: Byeong Hun An, Viktor Hovland, Russell Henley, Akshay Bhatia, Robert MacIntyre
1 under: Billy Horschel, Tommy Fleetwood, Sepp Straka, Matthieu Pavon, Taylor Pendrith
Even: Chris Kirk, Tom Hoge, Aaron Rai, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Justin Thomas
PROP PICKS
–Sungjae Im to Beat Tony Finau (+100 at DraftKings): Im enjoyed a run of four consecutive finishes of T12 or better before stumbling to a T41 and T40 at the Wyndham and FedEx St. Jude. But he rebounded nicely with a T11 at the BMW and just missed a top-20 at East Lake last year. Finau has found better form since a missed cut at The Open with three consecutive T16s or better, but we like Im’s consistency and underdog payout.
–Ludvig Aberg Top 5 Finish (+170 at FanDuel): The young Swede is third behind only Scheffler and Xander Schauffele with 13 Top-10s this season. That includes a T2 last week — one of three top-5s Aberg has posted in his past eight worldwide starts. And with a limited field this week while starting at 5 under, we like his chances of successful debut at East Lake.
–Rory McIlroy Top Great Britain/Ireland Finisher (-120 at DraftKings): There’s something about East Lake and McIlroy that fit well. The three-time FedEx Cup champion has a big hill to climb to claim No. 4, as he’ll start six shots behind Scheffler at 4 under. But that’s also a shot ahead of Shane Lowry (+550), two ahead of Robert MacIntyre (+850), three ahead of Tommy Fleetwood (+320) and four ahead of Aaron Rai (+1000). McIlroy did finish T11 last week despite failing to crack 70 all week.
2024 Prop Picks Record: 42-48-1
BEST BETS
–Scheffler (+115 at DraftKings) is the first player to enter the Tour Championship at No. 1 in the standings three consecutive years. He finished T2 in 2022 and T6 in 2023. The six-time winner and gold medalist in 2024 is coming off a disappointing T33 last week.
–Schauffele (+230) finished second to Hovland last year and has a pair of top-5s in the first two playoff legs.
–Hideki Matsuyama (+1100) withdrew last week due to a back injury but did win the FedEx St. Jude following his bronze medal.
–McIlroy (+1800) is seeking a record fourth FedEx Cup title and has finished outside the top-10 just once in the past seven years. He has not been in top form of late but did post a T11 last week and is always dangerous at East Lake.
–Bradley (+3500) started the playoffs at No. 39 but leapt to No. 4 with last week’s victory. Two of the past three BMW winners have gone on to claim the FedEx Cup title.
NOTES
–The winner earns a $25 million bonus and a five-year PGA Tour exemption.
–Bradley jumped into the top 30 with his win at the BMW. Also playing their way into the field were Adam Scott (No. 14), Tommy Fleetwood (No. 22) and Chris Kirk (No. 26). Brian Harman, Jason Day, Davis Thompson and Denny McCarthy fell outside of the top 30. Justin Thomas was the final player to qualify for this week’s field at No. 30.
–Tiger Woods set the tournament scoring record of 257 in 2007.
–Field Level Media
