The Top 30 PGA Tour players are in Atlanta for the FedEx Cup finale. Check out the power rankings of the Tour Championship field.
The FedEx Cup finale is here, and the Top 30 PGA Tour players will take on a brand new East Lake Golf Club for the Tour Championship.
This year marks the 18th edition of this event in Atlanta.
This week, the players start with the stagger stroke format. Scottie Scheffler starts with 10-under, Xander Schauffele will be at 8-under, and it goes down from there.
Let’s look at this week’s power rankings for all 30 guys in the field at the Tour Championship.
Robert MacIntyre comes in this week with two victories at the RBC Canadian Open and the Scottish Open. However, he withdrew from the BMW Championship last week due to a sore back, which makes me hesitant about his ability in Atlanta.
Starting stroke: 2-under
Matthieu Pavon started the year strong with a win at the Farmers Insurance Open. He has four Top 10s and six Top 25s on the season. Pavon is the only PGA Tour rookie in the field this week, and the best way I like to describe him is a wild card.
Starting stroke: 1-under
Byeong Hun An is one of the players who has not won this year. He comes into this week at No. 16 in the standings after ending the season with one runner-up finish at The Sony Open in Hawaii, five Top 10s and 11 Top 25s. He is another wildcard in the field this week, but he could finish sneaky high.
Starting stroke: 2-under
Putting Akshay Bhatia this low hurts because he won the Valero Texas Open in April. However, he has missed two cuts in the last five starts. Before that, Bhatia did finish T-2 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and T-5 at the Travelers. I want him to prove me wrong because this 22-year-old is too good not to give the veterans a challenge.
Starting stroke: 2-under
The South African is one of three non-winners in the field. He finished runner-up to Nick Dunlap at the American Express. During the season, Bezuidenhout has three top 10s and 12 top 25s. He slid into the Top 30 barely, but nonetheless, the 30-year-old is in Atlanta.
Starting stroke: even-par
Theegala has gone up and down this season. His inconsistency issues are why he sits this low in the power rankings. Seven Top 10s on the season is no easy feat. He also has 10 Top 25s. Theegala started his season with a solo second at The Sentry and a solo fifth place at the WM Phoenix Open.
He finished T-6 at the 3M Open, but the first two playoff events were not good for him.
Starting stroke: 3-under
Aaron Rai is a great story. He won the Wyndham Championship and followed it up with a T-16 at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. He had a stretch of T-2, T-7 and T-4, so his rise into the Top 30 has been entertaining.
Starting stroke: even-par
Taylor Pendrith, a first-timer at East Lake, has a lot of momentum surrounding him. He won the CJ CUP Byron Nelson in May. The Canadian has six Top 10s and 13 Top 25s in 2024. He is coming off a T-13 finish at the BMW Championship and a T-22 in Memphis.
Pendrith recorded back-to-back Top 5s at the Barracuda Championship and the 3M Open to close out his regular season. His game is trending in the right direction, so he could surprise some people in Atlanta.
Starting stroke: 2-under
Chris Kirk opened the 2024 PGA Tour season with a win at The Sentry. However, he almost did not make it to Atlanta. A T-9 at the BMW Championship helped him get inside the bubble and give the former Georgia Bulldog his first East Lake start in 10 years.
Starting stroke: even-par
Tom Hoge finished T-13 at the BMW last week, and this week marks just his second start in East Lake. I'm not sure how to gauge Hoge, so he is lower on this list.
Starting stroke: even-par
Justin Thomas missed the playoffs last year and comes into the 2024 finale in the last spot. His worst finish at East Lake came in 2018 when he was T-7, so despite being 10 shots back of Scheffler, do not count him out.
Starting stroke: even-par
I do not know how to feel about Russell Henley because he has six Top 10s and 10 Top 25s while missing just one cut in 18 starts. He comes into this week off a T-22 finish at the BMW, but does he have enough in him to take down the likes of Scheffler and Schauffele?
Starting stroke: 2-under
Tony Finau makes his eighth straight start at the Tour Championship. He was in contention a lot this season and kept it consistent, but he could not get a win. I think Finau could be a dark horse this week, and if he can get some momentum, he could finish well.
Starting stroke: 3-under
It is hard to believe that Shane Lowry is making his first start at the Tour Championship, but he is. He and Rory McIlroy won the Zurich Classic earlier this season, and Lowry played so well at The Open. The Irishman loves challenging golf courses, and the newly renovated East Lake should give him one.
Starting stroke: 3-under
Billy Horschel finished runner-up at the Open but also won the Corales Puntacana Championship. He was T-8 at the PGA Championship, T-15 at the Memorial, T-7 at the Wyndham, T-10 in Memphis and T-22 at the BMW.
The former Florida Gator won at East Lake 10 years ago, but something about Horschel’s game makes me feel like he will play well. He wants on the Presidents Cup team and possibly the Ryder Cup team, so the better he plays, the better his odds will be.
Starting stroke: 1-under
Hideki Matsuyama withdrew from the BMW after he won the FedEx St. Jude Championship. His back injury flared up, and he is still not 100 percent. Will his body hold up for four days of play, or will the Japanese golfer have to pull out? His injury is why he sits so low in the power rankings.
Starting stroke: 2-under
Viktor Hovland had the golf gods on his side this season. He did not play up to his standards and recorded one Top 10 finish before he was T-2 at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. This week marks his fifth straight East Lake start, but will he be able to keep his game consistent enough to defend his title?
Starting stroke: 2-under
Tommy Fleetwood won the silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics earlier this summer. He finished T-5 at the BMW to earn his fourth Tour Championship start. The Englishman is another dark horse for me, but this week could finally be his moment.
Starting stroke: 1-under
This year marks Sepp Straka’s third straight appearance at East Lake. He averages 67.38 on this track. Do not count out this former Georgia Bulldog because his consistency is a good trait in Atlanta.
Starting stroke: 1-under
The 2023 U.S. Open winner had an up-and-down season, so he sits at No. 11 on this list. Wyndham Clark played well at the Olympics, but it does not eliminate how badly he played at the majors this week. Yes, he won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and finished T-13 in Colorado, but I do not think he will win this week.
Starting stroke: 4-under
Collin Morikawa has seven Top 10s and 15 Top 25s in 20 starts. He finished runner-up at the Memorial, but the two-time major winner cannot get over the hump in 2024. Morikawa has been quiet recently, even though he has had a T-28, T-22, T-24, and T-16 in his last four starts. Could Morikawa play well? Sure, but I do not see him winning.
Starting stroke: 4-under
Patrick Cantlay enters this year’s Tour Championship in the same place he did in 2023. He won the 2021 FedEx Cup title, but I think he has been too quiet this year. Even with six straight Top 25s, he has just blended in with the crowd.
Starting stroke: 4-under
Adam Scott played his way into Atlanta this year and came close to winning the BMW Championship. The 44-year-old shot a 63 in the second round in Colorado, which helped keep him in contention.
This week marks his 13th start at East Lake, and he has a lot of momentum. He did not finish like he wanted to at Castle Pines, so I expect him to come into this week aggressive and with something to prove.
Starting stroke: 3-under
Keegan Bradley was the last person to get into the BMW, and he went on to win the whole thing. He is on a hot streak, and it could continue in Atlanta. Bradley wants to be one of the captain’s picks for the Presidents Cup and to make a good argument for being a playing captain in 2025 at Bethpage Black.
He could achieve just that if he wins or finishes nicely in Atlanta. Last year, Bradley was T-9 at East Lake.
Starting stroke: 6-under
Rory McIlroy took away Scheffler’s trophy in 2022 to win in this format for the second time. He started in the same place that year as he will in 2024, so McIlroy is familiar with this kind of start. However, the Northern Irishman opened the playoffs with a T-68 in Memphis, but he rebounded in Colorado with a T-11.
It is hard to count him out with all his success at East Lake, so McIlroy is one to watch.
Stroke start: 4-under
Sam Burns is one of the hottest players on the planet right now. He went T-5 and T-2 in the first two playoff events. Burns’ game seems complete at this moment in the season. The former LSU Tiger could shock everyone and win if he keeps playing as well as he has in the past two weeks.
Stroke start: 4-under
Sungjae Im makes his sixth straight start in Atlanta. He is overdue for a win, and his game fits this course well. He is a force and has seven Top 10s in 2024. The Korean golfer was T-11 at the BMW, T-7 at the Open and T-4 at the Genesis Scottish Open.
In his last five starts, Im has three Top 11 finishes—it is his time this week. I expect a top-5 finish, at least from him.
Starting stroke: 3-under
The Swedish phenom, Ludvig Åberg, makes his first start at East Lake this week, and I think he has a chance to prove himself in a big way. Åberg starts five strokes behind Scheffler and has five Top 5 finishes in 2024. It is only a matter of time before he wins his second career PGA Tour win, and it could come this week in Atlanta.
Åberg plays well in Georgia — his last two starts include a win at the RSM Classic and a solo second at Augusta National.
Starting stroke: 5-under
Xander Schauffele is likely the one to beat this week, but this renovation makes me weary of him. He loved the old design, so it will be interesting to see how he handles these renovations. Schauffele T-2 at the FedEx St. Jude and T-5 at Castle Pines. Could he complete the playoffs with a win?
Starting stroke: 8-under
For the third year, Scottie Scheffler starts at the top of the FedEx Cup finale leaderboard. He was T-33 last week in Colorado, as it seemed his back bothered him. However, his competitive edge should not go unnoticed.
The former Texas Longhorn wants this one badly, and it would be iconic if he capped off his incredible season with a win at the Tour Championship.
Starting stroke: 10-under
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @golf_girl_sl.
