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Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Writer
ATLANTA — World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler has won six times this season, including a second green jacket at the Masters in April, and collected a gold medal at the Olympics in Paris.
Xander Schauffele, ranked No. 2 in the world, has won twice this season at two majors — the PGA Championship and The Open.
Starting Thursday at the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club, they’ll get one more chance to settle the debate of who has been the best golfer on the PGA Tour this season — even if Scheffler believes they’re both great.
“I think sometimes I get a touch frustrated with the questions people ask because like, ‘Oh, whose year would you rather have? Would you rather have Xander’s year or Scottie’s year?'” Scheffler said. “It’s like, can’t we just enjoy some great golf that’s been played this year?
“You had a guy win multiple major championships and you had a season like mine where I was able to win a good amount of times. I think it’s one of those things where we should just sit back and enjoy it. And I’m just grateful for the year that I’ve had. I’m grateful for Xander’s year.”
Here’s a look at the 30 players who will compete for the FedEx Cup and a $25 million bonus this week:
1. Xander Schauffele (8 under)
Schauffele picked up the first two major championship victories of his career, and collecting his first FedEx Cup championship would be a fitting end to his season. He’s a three-time runner-up in the Tour Championship and it’s his best starting position in eight appearances.
His scoring average of 66.96 is the lowest in tournament history. His cumulative score of 85 under on his own ball at East Lake since 2017 is 30 strokes better than the next player, Justin Thomas.
2. Scottie Scheffler (10 under)
Maybe the course’s extensive restoration will change Scheffler’s luck at East Lake, where he’ll start with a 2-stroke lead on the field for the third straight time. Last year, Scheffler started at 10 under and went only 1 under over 72 holes on his own, tying for sixth at 11 under.
In 2022, he squandered a six-stroke lead by carding a 3-over 73 in the final round and lost to Rory McIlroy by one. Since 2020, according to Justin Ray of the Twenty First Group, he has gained 0.16 strokes overall in the Tour Championship and 1.58 in all other tournaments.
3. Ludvig Åberg (5 under)
Åberg is a Tour Championship rookie but debuts haven’t bothered him much in two seasons on tour. He tied for second at the BMW Championship and was solo second at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Masters. He’s talented and confident enough to lift a FedEx Cup in his first start at East Lake.
4. Rory McIlroy (4 under)
Yes, it has been a disappointing campaign for McIlroy, whose major championship drought of more than 10 years will extend into the 2025 season after his late collapse at the U.S. Open.
However, few golfers have been as good as McIlroy at East Lake, where he has a top-eight finish in six of his past seven starts. The three-time FedEx Cup champion started at 5 under when he won by four shots in 2019 and 4 under when he chased down Scheffler two years ago.
5. Sam Burns (4 under)
Burns and Schauffele were the only two golfers to finish in the top 10 in the first two playoff events; Burns tied for fifth in the FedEx St. Jude Championship and second at the BMW Championship. His flat stick has been on fire in the playoffs. He ranks second among players in the field in strokes gained, putting 1.89 over his last eight rounds. He tied for ninth last year, his best finish at the Tour Championship.
6. Patrick Cantlay (4 under)
Cantlay liked East Lake’s old course — he had a 67.67 scoring average in his last 12 rounds there. After outlasting Jon Rahm to win the 2021 FedEx Cup, Cantlay tied for seventh in 2022 and was solo fifth in 2023. He ranked in the top 10 in strokes gained: off the tee (.770) and total (1.90) among golfers in the field over his last eight rounds.
7. Hideki Matsuyama (7 under)
It’s Matsuyama’s best starting position in his 10th appearance in the Tour Championship. After winning the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, he was forced to withdraw before the second round of the BMW Championship because of lower back pain. He has gained more than two strokes putting and nearly 4½ overall on the field since the start of the playoffs.
8. Keegan Bradley (6 under)
Bradley’s unexpected victory at the BMW Championship outside Denver last week — after he made the event as the last player in the field — put him right into the conversation for a captain’s pick for next month’s Presidents Cup.
He’s already scheduled to be at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Canada as a vice captain. The good news for Bradley: Two of the last three BMW Championship winners lifted the FedEx Cup (Cantlay in 2021 and Hovland last year). Was it the elevation in Colorado or can he do it again in scorching Atlanta?
9. Collin Morikawa (4 under)
Last year at East Lake, Morikawa carded a 9-under 61 to grab a share of the first-round lead. He was 15 under on his own ball after 36 holes. He went 73-72 on the weekend and tied for sixth at 11 under. Regarded as one of the best iron players in the game, he has surprisingly lost strokes to the field on approach over his last eight rounds. If he gets them working, he might be a contender.
10. Wyndham Clark (4 under)
Clark’s game continued showing signs of life with a tie for 13th at the BMW Championship in his home state, his fourth top-15 finish in his last five starts. The 2023 U.S. Open winner finished solo third in his Tour Championship debut last year when he arrived after a tie for 15th at the BMW.
11. Tony Finau (3 under)
Finau has been playing well over the last three months with top-20 finishes in all but one of his last nine starts. Finau is making his eighth consecutive appearance at the Tour Championship, tied with Schauffele for the longest active streak. Finau’s best finish is sixth in 2018.
12. Russell Henley (2 under)
Henley quietly put together a very good season with a career-high six top-10 finishes. Four of them came in signature events (Arnold Palmer Invitational and Wells Fargo Championship) and the majors (U.S. Open and The Open). His best finish in the FedEx Cup standings was 13th in 2017.
13. Viktor Hovland (2 under)
The reigning FedEx Cup champion has struggled mightily with his swing this season — and he’d have to come from way back — but he’s capable of doing it at East Lake. He admits he preferred the old course, where he collected an $18 million bonus with a five-shot win over Schauffele last year.
14. Sungjae Im (3 under)
The South Korean golfer has made the Tour Championship field in each of his six seasons since joining the tour in 2019. He was runner-up in 2022 after posting four rounds of 67 or better.
15. Adam Scott (3 under)
The Australian is coming off a tie for second at the BMW Championship, continuing his recent resurgence since mid-July. Scott, 44, is the oldest player in the field and will be making his 13th appearance in the Tour Championship. In 2019, he started at 3 under and finished sixth at 8 under.
16. Sepp Straka (1 under)
The Austrian-born golfer, who grew up in Valdosta, Georgia, and played at the University of Georgia, feels right at home at East Lake. His scoring average in his previous two appearances in the Tour Championship is 67.38. He tied for seventh and 14th in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
17. Tommy Fleetwood (1 under)
Winning would take some serious heavy lifting, but Fleetwood is playing great golf. His first victory in the U.S. would come with quite a bonus. After missing the cut at The Open, he tied for 22nd at Memphis and fifth at Colorado. He tied for sixth at last year’s Tour Championship, carding 65-66 on the weekend.
18. Shane Lowry (3 under)
It’s hard to believe Lowry is making his first appearance in the Tour Championship in his 10th season on tour. The 37-year-old has won nine times around the world, including the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.
19. Justin Thomas (even par)
Thomas was on his way home to Jupiter, Florida, last week, believing he’d missed the field for the Tour Championship for the second season in a row. But a handful of golfers faltered down the stretch, opening the door for Thomas to return to East Lake. He has never finished worse than a tie for seventh at East Lake, but he’s starting way back of the leader this time.
20. Billy Horschel (1 under)
On the 10-year anniversary of his victory in the 2014 Tour Championship, Horschel returned to East Lake playing some of his better golf in recent months. He has four straight top-25 finishes, including a tie for second at The Open. The former Florida Gator was trying to make some friends in Atlanta on X:
In honor of a great win this past Saturday, I decided to rock some Georgia Tech colors today! #collegefootballisback pic.twitter.com/ji1Pv4m9SL
— Billy Horschel (@BillyHo_Golf) August 27, 2024
21. Tom Hoge (even)
Hoge is playing in his second Tour Championship after finishing solo 10th in his debut in 2022. He tied for 13th at the BMW Championship to secure his spot at East Lake.
22. Chris Kirk (even par)
One of three former Georgia golfers in the field (Henley and Straka are the others), Kirk might want to play well Thursday and Friday to grab a later tee time Saturday. The Bulldogs open the season against Clemson just down the road at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. It’s his first appearance in the Tour Championship since tying for fourth in 2014.
23. Aaron Rai (even)
The Englishman who likes to wear two gloves is making his Tour Championship debut. He captured his first PGA Tour victory at the Wyndham Championship on Aug. 12. He hits the ball as straight as any golfer in the field.
24. Sahith Theegala (3 under)
Last year, Theegala missed a return trip to East Lake by one spot in the FedEx Cup standings. He finished 28th in his Tour Championship debut in 2022. It will be his 100th start on tour. His form hasn’t been great lately — he tied for 46th at the FedEx St. Jude Championship and was 48th at the BMW Championship.
25. Taylor Pendrith (1 under)
Pendrith is one of a handful of Canadian golfers fighting for a Presidents Cup captain’s pick from International team captain Mike Weir — and Pendrith is the only one who made it to East Lake. He’s 11th in points, and a good showing in his Tour Championship debut might punch his ticket to Montreal.
26. Akshay Bhatia (2 under)
It’s Bhatia’s first appearance in the Tour Championship — and probably not his last one. At 22, he’s the youngest player in the field. After tying for 12th at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, he slipped to 45th at the BMW Championship.
27. Christiaan Bezuidenhout (even)
The South African golfer hasn’t yet won on the PGA Tour, but he enjoyed his best season on tour, climbing 80 spots in the FedEx Cup standings from 109 in 2023 to 29 this year. He’s another Tour Championship first-timer.
28. Robert MacIntyre (2 under)
The former DP World Tour regular probably would have been higher if he hadn’t injured his lower back in the third round of the BMW Championship. He picked up his first two PGA Tour victories at the RBC Canadian Open and Genesis Scottish Open this season.
29. Byeong Hun An (2 under)
The South Korean golfer had five top-10 finishes this season, including runner-up at the Sony Open in Hawaii. It’s his first start at the Tour Championship.
30. Matthieu Pavon (1 under)
Pavon, from France, was the only PGA Tour rookie to qualify for the Tour Championship. He picked up his first PGA Tour victory at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego on Jan. 7. He hasn’t had a top-30 finish on tour since late June and was 58th in the golf competition at the Paris Olympics.