TOUR Championship
Course: East Lake Golf Club (7,490 yards, par 70)
Purse: $40,000,000
Winner: $10,000,000 and FedExCup Title
Tournament Preview
It all comes down to this. Gone are the seeding and starting strokes that have made up the TOUR Championship in the past. It's 30 golfers all starting square trying to shoot the lowest score over four rounds to claim the FedExCup title. The money up for grabs at the TOUR Championship is also now official again instead of being part of a bonus. That means this week there's a massive $40 million purse, double a typical signature event or major, with the winner claiming $10 million.
East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta will once again play host to this elite 30 player field. It has been the host of the TOUR Championship every year since 2004, including since the inception of the FedExCup Playoffs in 2007. It's not been perhaps the most exciting golf course the PGA Tour has to offer, but it challenges your entire bag and is a great test for the top players. Andrew Green did a great job with a complete remodel last year that brought the course back closer to some of the original designs.
Scottie Scheffler is the massive betting favorite as expected after his come from behind win at the BMW Championship last week. That was his fifth win of the season and his 7,456 FedExCup points earned in 2025 were more than double the man who sits in second in Rory McIlroy at 3,687. As mentioned previously, that means absolutely nothing in terms of trying to win the FedExCup this week, but Scheffler did hit a total of $15 million in FedExCup bonus money already for leading the standings at the end of the regular season ($10 million) and at the end of the BMW Championship ($5 million).
McIlroy has the second-most wins this season with three, all of which came very early in the season, including victories at THE PLAYERS and The Masters. McIlroy's three career FedExCup titles are the most ever, and he'd certainly love to add a fourth with another strong showing at East Lake. He is one of six former FedExCup champions in the field this week along with Scheffler, Viktor Hovland, Patrick Cantlay, Justin Rose and Justin Thomas.
While the TOUR Championship is obviously a huge event, many players have their focus on trying to make the Ryder Cup team. The six automatic qualifiers from the U.S. Team were finalized last Sunday after the BMW with Scheffler, J.J. Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Harris English and Bryson DeChambeau making the squad. Plenty of other top American players will be hoping to make one more lasting impression on captain Keegan Bradley and earn one of six picks set to be announced next Wednesday Aug. 27. Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Cantlay, Ben Griffin, Cameron Young, Sam Burns, Maverick McNealy, Chris Gotterup and Bradley himself are some of the top hopefuls in this TOUR Championship field.
On the other side of things, the European Team's six automatic qualifiers will be set following the events this weekend at the TOUR Championship and the Betfred British Masters on the DP World Tour. McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Rose and Tyrrell Hatton have all clinched a spot on points. Shane Lowry holds the sixth spot right now over Sepp Straka, who is returning at East Lake after missing the BMW Championship due to personal reasons. One name for Captain Luke Donald to watch in the PGA Tour finale will be Harry Hall, who was the lone player to break into the top 30 during the BMW Championship with his sixth place showing at Caves Valley.
The forecast is pretty much what you would expect from Atlanta in August. It's going to be hot and humid, not a whole lot of wind and a chance for thunderstorms pretty much every afternoon. The course should be decently receptive all week, but that Bermudagrass rough will certainly be a challenge to deal with. Last year in the first TOUR Championship since Green renovated the course it was played as a par-71. This year it will return as a par-70 when the 14th hole moving back to being a long par-4.
Recent Champions
2024 - Scottie Scheffler (-30)
2023 - Viktor Hovland (-27)
2022 - Rory McIlroy (-21)
2021 - Patrick Cantlay (-21)
2020 - Dustin Johnson (-21)
2019 - Rory McIlroy (-18)
2018 - Tiger Woods (-11)
2017 - Xander Schauffele (-12)
2016 - Rory McIlroy (-12)
2015 - Jordan Spieth (-9)
Key Stats to Victory
- SG: Approach/Proximity
- SG: Off-the-Tee/Driving Accuracy
- SG: Around-the-Green/Scrambling
- Bogey Avoidance/Par 4 Scoring
Champion's Profile
Last year Morikawa shot a 72-hole score of 22-under-par to finish four shots adrift of Scheffler, who shot 20-under but had a six-stroke advantage over Morikawa via starting strokes. That was one off the TOUR Championship record of 23-under shot by Tiger Woods in the first FedExCup Playoffs in 2007. The word going around is that with no more starting strokes, the PGA Tour wants to try to make this the toughest test they possibly can. The rough is about an inch longer than last year and there will be some more aggressive hole locations. Prior to the starting strokes format which began in 2019, the winning score of the TOUR Championship at East Lake was between 7-and-13-under-par with the exception of the previously mentioned 2007 clinic from Tiger. I think the Tour would be happy if they could get it back down into that range again this year.
East Lake has been a very tough course over the years to play when you aren't hitting fairways. While there are certainly some lengthy par-4s around this place, driving accuracy far more important that distance. That brings pretty much everyone into play. While the greens were expanded during the renovation, they don't play all that big given the severe undulation. Quality iron shots are going to be rewarded, but offline shots into greens will leave you scrambling to make par. I'm inclined to really swing hard into ball-striking this week. Scheffler ranked first in SG: Off-the-Tee, third in SG: Approach and first in GIR's on his way to victory last year. Morikawa was second in SG: Off-the-Tee, fifth in SG: Approach and first in driving accuracy on his way to the lowest gross score of the week.
Short-game should also factor into play this week. There's a lot of short-grass runoff areas that will challenges these players, as well as tricky greenside bunkers. Even worse would be missing the green into some of the thick Bermuda rough and having to judge a flop shot right. There's definitely shots that can be made up if you're really sharp around these greens. Bogey avoidance will be a key stat with all the talk about wanting to make this a very difficult test. The two par-5s need to be taken advantage of and then try to survive on a very lengthy quartet of par-3s. I'd lock into par-4 scoring considering the top performers on those 12 holes are likely to near the top of the leaderboard come Sunday.
FanDuel Value Picks
The Chalk
Scottie Scheffler ($14,000)
Scheffler remains a bargain even at this number. He's finished T6 or better in four of his five starts at the TOUR Championship and ranks 18th or better in every strokes gained category. Scheffler leads the PGA Tour in birdie average, bogey avoidance, bounce back, par-4 and par-5 scoring. There's really not much else that needs to be said for a man coming off his fifth win in his last ten starts.
Ludvig Aberg ($11,600)
Aberg had another strong showing at Caves Valley last week, that quite honestly should have been even better had it not been for a poor finish. Aberg's true strokes gained numbers of late are very interesting. He has gained strokes off the tee and on approach in his last eight starts, and around the greens and with the putter in his last four. It's been a bit of a trying season, but this is the best the Swede has played in 2025 and I'd be surprised if he didn't have a chance at it on Sunday.
Russell Henley ($11,300)
Henley is a great course fit here. He ranks 11th in driving accuracy, 14th in SG: Approach and first in proximity this season. He's also sixth in SG: Around-the-Green, 16th in scrambling, 10th in bogey avoidance and eighth in par-4 scoring. This will be Henley's fifth appearance at East Lake and he finished top-4 twice previously. He hasn't finished worse than T17 since the PGA Championship.
The Middle Tier
Sam Burns ($10,100)
Burns logged seven top-20s in an eight-start stretch earlier in the season, but had struggled a bit since then. He finally got back on the right side of things with a T4 showing at the BMW Championship in which he once again dominated on the greens. Burns now leads the PGA Tour in SG: Putting on the season, but he's also gained strokes off the tee in five of his last six starts. The 29-year-old needs a strong showing to have a chance at a Ryder Cup pick.
Cameron Young ($9,800)
At this stage in the year sometimes you just have to ride the hot hand. Young has finished 1st-5th-11th in his last three starts where he's gained strokes off the tee, on approach and with the putter in all of them. He's got the type of ball flight that should thrive around East Lake and he's been driving it much straighter of late. Bermudagrass really seems to suit this Ryder Cup hopeful.
Robert MacIntyre ($9,400)
MacIntyre was not pleased to say the least after giving up a four-shot lead last Sunday to Scheffler. I think he comes back at East Lake and uses that as a fuel to go after another big championship. MacIntyre said he is as confident as he's ever been with the putter, and it showed at Caves Valley where he gained over 7.5 strokes on the greens. The Scot was also third in SG: Approach. MacIntyre has gained strokes around the greens in seven of his last eight starts and has driven it well most of this season.
The Long Shots
Harris English ($8,300)
English has played difficult golf courses well all season and I expect that to continue at East Lake. He won at Torrey Pines earlier this year, and then finished runner-up at the PGA and The Open. English is a reliable driver of the ball, has seen a big step forward in his iron play the last few months and ranks 17th on the season in SG: Putting. Everything is there for a big finish to the 2025 campaign in his fourth East Lake appearance.
Justin Rose ($7,900)
This will be Rose's first appearance at East Lake since 2019, but it's historically been a place he has torn up with four top-4s and seven top-11 finishes. Rose has gained strokes off the tee in all 10 starts here, on approach nine times and around the greens nine times. All parts of his game have been clicking over the last month or so which has resulted in a win among three top-16 finishes in his last four starts.
Shane Lowry ($7,200)
Lowry has struggled throughout most of the summer, but he finally showed signs of life at Caves Valley, and I'm willing to give him a shot at this tremendous price. Lowry profiles extremely well for East Lake as a typically very accurate driver and elite iron player with a reliable short game. He finished T9 last year in his first attempt at East Lake, ranking sixth in SG: Putting for the week.
Strategy Tips This Week
Based on a Standard $60K Salary Cap
The 30 players are separated by $7,000 in salary. That's quite a spread from what we see most weeks when things are more bunched. There are only six players in the $9K range, which is typically my bread and butter. The fact that there are really good players in the $7K range gives you a lot of different roster construction options. Expect Scheffler to once again be at a high ownership rate, but given how he's playing currently you almost can't afford not to roster him. Hitting check on Scheffler leaves you an average of $9,200 for your last five picks. Adding a player or two in the $7K range would easily allow you to pair a guy like Aberg or Henley with him.
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