TOUR Championship
Atlanta, Georgia
East Lake Golf Club - Par 70 - 7,440 yards
Field - 30 entrants
Purse - $40M
The Preview
Now more than a year removed from extensive renovations, East Lake Golf Club once again plays host to the TOUR Championship this week, inviting those still remaining among the top 30 in the FedExCup standings to continue their 2025 campaigns in Atlanta while competing for their share of a $40M purse. The lengthy East Lake's relatively narrow fairways and penalizing bermuda rough survived the 2023-24 revamp, and larger green complexes should encourage creative pin locations to enhance the difficulty level as well. Meanwhile, the staggered strokes starting format thankfully did not survive for this year's edition, so maybe someone will feel like competing with Scheffler? Nonetheless, expect scattered showers/storms to impact the tournament at several points, although wave advantages cease to exist with a field this small.
Recent Champions
2024 - Scottie Scheffler
2023 - Viktor Hovland
2022 - Rory McIlroy
2021 - Patrick Cantlay
2020 - Dustin Johnson
2019 - Rory McIlroy
2018 - Tiger Woods
2017 - Xander Schauffele
2016 - Rory McIlroy
2015 - Jordan Spieth
Key Stats to Victory
Total Driving
SG: Approach
Birdie or Better Percentage
SG: Putting
Yahoo Value Picks
Based on $200 salary cap
Cream of the Crop
Scottie Scheffler - $45
The No. 1 player in the world by a wide margin, Scheffler remains an auto-click at Yahoo's extremely affordable $45 maximum salary, so expect his ownership to creep north of the 75-percent mark in most contests. He just racked up his fifth win of the season this past week in Maryland, and he's the defending champion here at East Lake.
Rory McIlroy - $44
McIlroy ranked third among the BMW Championship field in both SG: Off-the-Tee and putts per GIR en route to 17 total birdies and an eagle last week, ultimately tying for 12th in his first start since a T2-T7 stretch across the pond. A three-time TOUR Championship winner, McIlroy owns the best East Lake resume.
Glue Guys
Viktor Hovland - $36
Hovland gained 6.7 strokes with his irons on the way to a T7 at Caves Valley last week, and he remains No. 1 in both Prox: 150-175 and Prox: 175-200 over his last 24 measured rounds. He also won here at East Lake in 2023 when he gained 10.6 strokes on the field from tee to green.
Ludvig Aberg - $35
Aberg has rounded back into form with three top-10s across four starts dating to a T8 at the Genesis Scottish Open, and he should be a great course fit for East Lake. The 25-year-old Swede just gained a season-high 4.1 strokes putting at the BMW Championship, and he's fifth in SG: Ballstriking over his last 24 rounds.
Tommy Fleetwood - $34
Quite evidently, the mid-$30s range is strong again this week as the Hovland/Aberg/Fleetwood trio should be priced higher than downward-trending names like Collin Morikawa and Keegan Bradley. Fleetwood is not in the business of winning golf tournaments, but a 30-man field lends him the best opportunity yet on paper. He's playing extremely well right now, notably notching back-to-back top-4 finishes in the first two legs of the playoffs.
Bargain Bin
Patrick Cantlay - $24
The common theme of mispriced salaries continues down here in the low-$20s with Cantlay, who hasn't been contending in tournaments, but is nearly a lock to gain strokes off the tee and provide scoring opportunities. He won the 2021 TOUR Championship despite actually losing 0.2 strokes on the greens.
Sam Burns - $22
Burns gained a whopping 13.4 strokes with the flat stick throughout the first two legs of the FedExCup Playoffs, and the red-hot putter guided him to a T4 result last week at Caves Valley where he also gained 3.9 strokes ball striking. Over his last 24 rounds, Burns is third in both SG: Par-4 and P4: 450-500 Efficiency.
Cameron Young - $20
Young hasn't budged from the $20 minimum despite a Win-5-11 stretch from the Wyndham Championship through the BMW Championship, so his ownership figures to be lofty again this week as he fits every style of lineup build. The iron play still isn't great, but he's excelling with his driver and putter right now.
For up-to-the-minute updates on injuries, tournament participation and overall golfer performance, head to RotoWire's latest golf news or follow @RotoWireGolf on X.
