[ad_1]
With two playoff events in the books, the PGA Tour will land in East Lake this week for the season-ending Tour Championship to wrap up the race for the FedEx Cup.
The rankings, at least on Thursday, will seem a little strange.
The Tour Championship uses a staggered start in the rankings, which will give top-ranked Scottie Scheffler a significant advantage in Atlanta. Scheffler, who has won six times on Tour this season, will start the week at 10 under par.
“I try not to treat it any differently. Like I said, the tee shot format is a little different. It’s not a traditional golf tournament,” Scheffler said Tuesday.
“But at the end of the day, the format is what it is. I’m going to try to approach it the same way I approach other tournaments, which is to come in from the first tee and make my best to execute, just like I would at the Masters, at the RBC Heritage, at Palm Springs, every tournament, I step on the first tee, I see my shot and I try to hit it, then I go from there »
Xander Schauffele, who finished second in the standings, will start at 8 under for the week. Hideki Matsuyama will start at 7 under, and Keegan Bradley – who held on to win the BMW Championship on Sunday to earn a spot in the field at East Lake – will start at 6 under. This system works down to the last five players in the field of 30, who will start tied.
From there, whoever wins the tournament will win the FedEx Cup. That comes with a $25 million bonus and a five-year PGA Tour exemption.
Here’s a look at the starting standings and initial tee times for the Tour Championship in Atlanta.
Tour Championship starting positions
1. Scottie Scheffler -10
2. Alex Schauffele -8
3. Hideki Matsuyama -7
4. Keegan Bradley -6
5. Ludvig Aberg -5
6. Rory McIlroy -4
7. Collin Morikawa
8. Wyndham Clarke
9. Sam Burns
10. Patrick Cantlay
11. Sungjae I am -3
12. Sahith Theegala
13. Shane Lowry
14. Adam Scott
15. Tony Finau
16. Ben An -2
17. Victor Hovland
18. Russell Henley
19. Akshay Bhatia
20. Robert MacIntyre
21. Billy Horschel -1
22. Tommy Fleetwood
23. Sepp Straka
24.Matthieu Pavon
25. Taylor Penndrith
26. Chris Kirk E
27. Tom Hoge
28. Aaron Rai
29. Christiaan Bezuidenhout
30. Justin Thomas
Tour Championship Round 1 Start Times
All times ET
11:16 a.m. — Christiaan Bezuitenhout, Justin Thomas
11:27 — Tom Hoge, Aaron Rai
11:38 a.m. — Taylor Pendrith, Chris Kirk
11:49 a.m. — Sepp Straka, Matthieu Pavon
12:00 — Billy Horschel, Tommy Fleetwood
12:16 — Akshay Bhatia, Robert MacIntyre
12:27 — Viktor Hovland, Russell Henley
12:38 — Tony Finau, Ben An
12:49 — Shane Lowry, Adam Scott
1:00 p.m. — Sungjae Im, Sahith Theegala
1:16 p.m. — Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay
1:27 p.m. — Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark
1:38 p.m. — Ludvig Aberg, Rory McIlroy
1:49 p.m. — Hideki Matsuyama, Keegan Bradley
2:00 p.m. — Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele