The PGA Tour reaches its climax this week with a stellar 29-man field battling it out at the Tour Championship for FedEx Cup glory.
Usually, the season-ending event involves the leading 30 players in the FedEx Cup standings, but the field has been cut to 29 following the withdrawal of Will Zalatoris because of a back injury that has also ruled him out of The Presidents Cup next month.
Nevertheless, there will be some top-quality golf at East Lake Golf Club – a par-70 course measuring 7,346 yards which has been the host of the Tour Championship every year since 2004, while it also staged the event in 1998 2000 and 2002.
The unique starting stroke format will again be in operation, with FedEx Cup leader Scottie Scheffler starting the tournament on -10 — two strokes ahead of fellow American Patrick Cantlay and a further two clear of Xander Schauffele.
Tour Championship starting strokes
Scottie Scheffler will start this week’s event on 10-under par, two shots ahead of Patrick Cantlay, who won the BMW Championship last time out. Xander Schauffele will commence his round on six-under par, one shot clear of Sam Burns. Cameron Smith, Rory McIlroy, Rony Finau, Sepp Straka and Sungjae Im will all tee off on four-under par.
Whoever wins this week’s Tour Championship will also be crowned FedEx Cup champion and take home a cheque for $18m.
Thomas in attack mode
Starting the tournament on -3, there is lots of work for Justin Thomas to do if he wants to lift the FedEx Cup for the first time since 2017, but there is enough evidence to suggest he will have a positive week in Georgia.
With the fairways notoriously challenging to hit and thick rough ready to capture any errant shots, there is a premium on accuracy at East Lake, and the world number seven has shown that in spades this season.
The American is third in strokes gained: tee-to-green, 15th in SG: off-the-tee and sixth in SG: approach-the-green on the PGA Tour this campaign, while he is fifth in putting average, third in birdie average and seventh in scoring average.
Not only do those statistics make for good reading, but Thomas has also never finished outside of the top 10 on his previous six East Lake appearances – posting results of sixth, second, seventh, ninth, third and fourth.
Fitzpatrick set to shine on debut
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Matthew Fitzpatrick will hope to build on his US Open success this weekendEnglishman Matt Fitzpatrick has added some extra distance to his game this season, which proved crucial in his US Open success at Brookline in June – his maiden Major title.
The 27-year-old has always been a steady player off the tee, consistently finding fairways, and that facet of his game will prove hugely beneficial this week.
It may be a course debut for the world number 10, but there is no reason why he can’t adapt to these surroundings quickly and his PGA Tour statistics this season make for solid reading.
Fitzpatrick is eighth in SG: off-the-tee and fifth in SG: tee-to-green, while he is fourth in SG: around-the-green and third in scoring average.
Starting on -3, the same as Thomas, it would be no surprise to see the US Open champion making a charge up the leaderboard as he aims to reduce the seven-shot deficit to Scheffler.
Source:livescore.com