The First Look: TOUR Championship

The 2022-23 PGA TOUR campaign wraps up at East Lake Golf Club – with the best of the season all competing for golf’s top prize.

The body of work of a FedExCup champion must be consistent, with a little bit of good timing sprinkled in as well.

Take Lucas Glover, for example, where winning back-to-back weeks – including the first FedExCup Playoffs event at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, in Memphis – catapulted the veteran into the fifth spot heading into the TOUR Championship.

“Obviously a pretty fun couple of weeks, not to put it too lightly,” Glover said last week at the BMW Championship.

And then there’s Viktor Hovland, whose course-record 61 Sunday at Olympia Fields quickly moved him into the winner’s circle at the BMW Championship. His Sunday 61 was the lowest final-round score by a winner in a FedExCup Playoffs event.

“To win at a place like this and amongst the best players in the world, it's pretty cool, and to do it that way, making seven birdies the last nine holes, and yeah, to beat those guys, that was pretty cool,” Hovland said of his final-round duel with Scottie Scheffler and Matt Fitzpatrick.

Rory McIlroy is going for his record fourth FedExCup. Can he become the first to go back-to-back?

Jon Rahm is looking to put the nicest of bows on an incredible season.

Maybe Max Homa will triumph at East Lake for the first time, with a smile of course.

Or 2021 FedExCup champ Patrick Cantlay will sneak up on everyone and join McIlroy and Tiger Woods as the only multi-time winners of the FedExCup.

Whatever the TOUR Championship holds, it’ll be a dramatic end to the season at East Lake.

FIELD NOTES: The full field can be found here… Scheffler heads to East Lake ranked No. 1 in the FedExCup standings for the second straight year – the first time that has occurred. Scheffler, who has won twice this season, has had a remarkable 16 top-10 finishes in 22 starts… Hovland’s spectacular Sunday at the BMW Championship means he’ll head to East Lake ranked second in the FedExCup standings. Hovland shot a course-record 61 at Olympia Fields, including a back-nine 28, to win by two. It was his second win of the season… McIlroy is looking for his record fourth FedExCup title. McIlroy, twice a winner this season, will firmly be in the mix to chase down Scheffler again – just like in 2022. This is McIlroy’s highest position entering the TOUR Championship since the FedExCup Starting Strokes format was introduced in 2019… Fitzpatrick made the biggest move of anyone at the BMW Championship. His tie for second – his best result since his win at the RBC Heritage in April – moved him up 30 spots in the standings. Fitzpatrick was the only person to jump into the top 30 after the BMW Championship, with Chris Kirk the lone golfer to fall out of the top 30… After back-to-back top 10s at both FedExCup Playoffs events, Corey Conners will join Nick Taylor as Canadians in the season finale. It’s the first time in the FedExCup era there has been more than one Canadian at East Lake after the country produced four TOUR winners this season – its most ever… By virtue of teeing it up at the TOUR Championship, Adam Schenk – who is making his debut at East Lake – will have played 33 PGA TOUR events this season, the most of anyone… There will be five TOUR Championship debutants – Schenk, Taylor, Wyndham Clark, Tom Kim, and Taylor Moore… Emiliano Grillo (No. 27) has re-qualified for the TOUR Championship for the first time since 2016 – the largest gap of anyone in the field.

HIGHEST-RANKED PLAYERS IN THE FIELD

STORYLINES:

1) How it works

The FedExCup Starting Strokes format rewards the top golfer in the FedExCup standings with a two-shot advantage Thursday at East Lake. Scottie Scheffler will start the week at 10 under, while Viktor Hovland will be at 8 under. Rory McIlroy will be at 7 under, Jon Rahm will be at 6 under, Lucas Glover at 5 under, and the balance of the field will be from 4 under to even par. The winner of the FedExCup will receive $18 million.

2) Can Rahm finish what he started?

Rahm, who won four times in the early part of the year including the Masters, was on top of the FedExCup standings for 30 straight weeks until he was bumped to fourth after Viktor Hovland’s victory at the BMW Championship.

3) Major champs to FedExCup champ?

Both Wyndham Clark and Brian Harman – first-time major winners this season – are inside the top 10 in the FedExCup standings heading to East Lake. The last time an in-season major winner also won the FedExCup, however, was in 2017 when Justin Thomas pulled the feat.

4) Ryder Cup selections still up for grabs

With the top six for U.S. Team now confirmed, the remaining six captain’s picks will come at the conclusion of the TOUR Championship. Plenty of notable would-be picks are teeing it up at East Lake including Glover, Keegan Bradley, and RickieFowler.

FEDEXCUP: Winner receives the FedExCup.

COURSE: East Lake Golf Club, par 70, 7,346 yards. Every FedExCup champion (from 2007-onwards) has been crowned at East Lake, the host club of the TOUR Championship every year since 2005. The home course of Bobby Jones, East Lake is the oldest golf course in the city of Atlanta. Tom Bendelow was the original architect, with both Donald Ross and Rees Jones putting their hands on the storied Atlanta layout.

At the conclusion of the 2023 TOUR Championship, architect Andrew Green will conduct a robust remodel. Green spearheaded the significant changes to Oak Hill Country Club’s East Course – the host of this year’s PGA Championship.

72-HOLE RECORD: 257, Tiger Woods (2007).

18-HOLE RECORD: 60, Zach Johnson (3rd round, 2007).

LAST TIME: McIlroy captured his record third FedExCup, finishing one shot ahead of Sungjae Im and Scheffler, who was in the No. 1 spot after the BMW Championship. McIlroy fired a 63 on Saturday – tied for the low round of the week – but needed plenty of help from Scheffler to win at East Lake. He trailed Scheffler by 10 shots at one point on Thursday and was six shots back entering the final round. Scheffler never trailed all week until the 70th hole after a bogey on the par-4 16th en route to a final-round 73. It was McIlroy’s third win of the season after THE CJ CUP and the RBC Canadian Open. Xander Schauffele finished fourth, while Homa and Justin Thomas finished tied for fifth.

HOW TO FOLLOW: (All times ET)

Television: Thursday-Friday, 1-6 p.m. (Golf Channel). Saturday, 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-7 p.m. (CBS). Sunday, noon.-1:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), 1:30-6 p.m. (CBS).

PGA TOUR LIVE:

On the Range at the TOUR Championship - 2-3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 23

PGA TOUR LIVE is available exclusively on ESPN+

• Main Feed: primary tournament coverage featuring the best action from across the course
• Marquee Group: new “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group
• Featured Groups: traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups
• Featured Holes: a combination of par-3s and iconic or pivotal holes

Radio: Thursday-Friday, noon–6 p.m. Saturday, 2-7 p.m. Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio