ATLANTA – Viktor Hovland recorded a third-round (66) in his fourth consecutive start at the TOUR Championship. Hovland has qualified every year since joining the TOUR in 2020 and now holds a six stroke lead to tie the largest 54-hole lead in the FedExCup starting strokes era. The previous best: Scottie Scheffler/2022/Finished T-2).
TOUR Championship
Morikawa, Hovland Surge to Lead after 36
ATLANTA – With birdies on his final two holes, Collin Morikawa opened with rounds of 61-64 –(125) to break the TOUR Championship 36-hole scoring record of 127, previously set by Tiger Woods in 2007.
Tying Morikawa on the leaderboard, but not with a TOUR record-setting performance, Viktor Hovland recorded a second-round 64 in his fourth consecutive start at the TOUR Championship and sits (68-64 and -16) after starting at (-8) and the No. 2 slot in the FedEx Cup standings after winning last week’s BMW Championship.
Scottie Scheffler (3rd place) enters the weekend two shots back, marking the second time in the FedEx Cup starting strokes era that the No. 1 seed entering the week has not held at least a share of the 36-hole lead (Justin Thomas/2019).
With two great rounds in the 60s (63-67), Travelers Championship winner Keegan Bradley sits in 4th place heading into the weekend. The favorite son of New England plays well in the Georgia sun.
Making his seventh consecutive start at the TOUR Championship, Xander Schauffele (T5) carded a second-round (64) to reach 12-under, recording his 23rd of 26 career rounds under par in the event.
With a 3-under 67, three-time FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy (7th) recorded his 30th consecutive round at par or better on TOUR, the longest active current streak. McIlroy is looking to become the first back-to-back FedEx Cup champion.
Whole Lotta Golf is ahead and they’ll tee it up for third round at 12:21pm today at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta,
TOUR Championship | Leaderboard After 36 Holes
T1 Viktor Hovland – 68-64 (-16)
T1 Collin Morikawa – 61-64 (-16)
3 Scottie Scheffler – 71-65 (-14)
4 Keegan Bradley – 63-67 (-13)
Full Leaderboard: (link)
Morikawa Leads TOUR Championship
ATLANTA – Collin Morikawa opened with career-low (61) in only his 98th PGA TOUR start. He set the tournament record for lowest opening round in this event. Morikawa has not won on TOUR since the 2020-21 season.
Keegan Bradley, winner of the 2023 Travelers, recorded his lowest score in 17 rounds at the TOUR Championship, shooting (63).
Viktor Hovland stroked his second first-round lead/co-lead in individual stroke play events on TOUR, but is 0-for-1 in converting to victory. He moved to No. 2 in the FedEx Cup standings after winning last week’s BMW Championship, his fifth career TOUR victory.
Adam Schenk’s (63) lifted him to No. 5 on the Leaderboard. He is (-8) and only two strokes off the lead.
TOUR Championship | Leaderboard After 18 Holes
T1 Collin Morikawa 61 (-9)
T1 Keegan Bradley 63 (-7)
T1 Viktor Hovland 68 (-2)
4. Scottie Scheffler 71 (+1)
Full Leaderboard: (link)
FedEx Cup Standings: (link)
PGA Tour Season Concludes
ATLANTA – This is it! The final PGA Tour Brunch preview of the 2023 PGA Tour season. It coincides with the final stop of the FedEx Cup Playoffs – the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club.
At the conclusion of the TOUR Championship, the player with the lowest stroke total over 72 holes when combined with FedEx Cup starting strokes, will be crowned the FedEx Cup Champion.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler enters the week at No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings and will begin the tournament at (10-under) via FedEx Cup starting strokes, becoming the first player to enter the TOUR Championship with the lead in the FedEx Cup two years in a row. Scheffler’s official money total of $21,014,342 is the highest in a single season in PGA TOUR history.
Scheffler, who won THE PLAYERS Championship in March, could become only the second player to win THE PLAYERS and the FedEx Cup in the same year – the first since Rory McIlroy in 2019.
The last player to lead the money list in consecutive seasons is Justin Thomas in 2016-17 and 2017-18. Scheffler also leads the PGA TOUR in Greens in Regulation percentage at 74.03 percent and led that category in 2021-22; the last player to lead the TOUR in GIR percentage in consecutive years is John Senden in 2009 and 2010.
Viktor Hovland earned his fifth career title and second of the season at the BMW Championship (first: the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday). Hovland enters the week at No. 2 in the FedEx Cup standings and has advanced to the TOUR Championship all four seasons as a PGA TOUR member (best finish was fifth in 2021).
The only three-time FedEx Cup Champion Rory McIlroy (2016, 2019, 2022), will attempt to become the first player to win the FedEx Cup in back-to-back seasons. McIlroy enters the week No. 3 in the FedEx Cup standings, his highest position entering the TOUR Championship since the starting strokes format was introduced in 2019.
TOUR Championship | Tournament Facts
COURSE: East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
YARDS/PAR: 7,346 yards/Par 70
ARCHITECTS: Tom Benelow
PRIZE Money – Purse: $75,000,000/$18,000,000
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Rory McIlroy
PAST RESULTS: (link)
SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @FedExChamp @TourChampionship
The Way They’ll Start at TOUR Championship
- Scottie Scheffler (-10)
- Viktor Hovland (-8)
- Rory McIlroy (-7)
- Jon Rahm (-6)
- Lucas Glover (-5)
- Max Homa (-4)
- Patrick Cantlay (-4)
- Brian Harman (-4)
- Wyndham Clark (-4)
- Matt Fitzpatrick (-4)
FedEx Cup Standings: (link)
Drama Builds at TOUR Championship
ATLANTA – FedEx Cup leader Scottie Scheffler carded his fifth round of (66) or better in his 10th round at East Lake Golf Club as the No. 1 seed is attempting to win and match each of the last two year’s winners in (Dustin Johnson/2020, Patrick Cantlay/2021)
However, it will not be an easy run for Scheffler as Xander Schauffele shot (63) for his lowest career round at East Lake Golf Club, highlighted by a closing eagle on the par-5 18th hole. Xander is two back.
Scheffler Leads at TOUR Championship
ATLANTA – FedExCup leader Scottie Scheffler leads by five strokes, tying the largest lead after any round since the “Starting Strokes” concept was implemented in 2019 (5/Dustin Johnson/2020/R-3).
The No. 1 seed has gone on to win each of the last two years (Dustin Johnson/2020, Patrick Cantlay/2021).
Xander Schauffele has been inside the Top 10 of the leaderboard at the TOUR Championship in 18 of 21 rounds.
U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick (3rd/-9) leads contingent of nine first-time participants with bogey-free 64, tied for low round of the day, with the other being Joaquin Niemann.
2021 FedEx Cup Champion Patrick Cantlay, who started the day at -8, eagled the par-5 18th hole for even-par (70). No player has ever won back-to-back FedExCup titles, something Cantlay is trying to do this weekend.
Second-round Tee Times run from 11:35am to 1:55pm (ET) today.
TOUR Championship | Leaderboard After 18 Holes
1 Scottie Scheffler -10 65 (-5) -15
2 Xander Schauffele -6 66 (-4) -10
3 Matt Fitzpatrick -3 64 (-6) -9
T4 Joaquin Niemann -2 64 (-6) -8
T4 Patrick Cantlay -8 70 (E) -8
TOUR Championship: Preview
ATLANTA – Sports fans sometimes complain that “the regular season doesn’t matter.” That can not be said of the PGA Tour season as the regular season efforts of Scottie Scheffler will start his TOUR Championship at (-10) in comparison to the likes of K.H. Lee, J.T. Poston, Sahith Theegala, Adam Scott, and Aaron Wise who will all begin their pursuit of the FedEx Cup at (even) par when the players tee-off (tomorrow) Thursday, August 24 at East Lake Golf Club.
Yes, the 47-event 2021-22 PGA TOUR Season will conclude at the TOUR Championship this weekend, where the FedEx Cup Champion will be crowned. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, the Tour leader in wins this season with four, enters the TOUR Championship at No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings and will begin the tournament at 10-under via FedEx Cup Starting Strokes. Scheffler is making his third consecutive appearance in the TOUR Championship, finishing No. 5 in 2019-20 and No. 22 in 2020-21. Scheffler, who won his first major championship title earlier this season at the Masters Tournament, looks to become the second player to win the Masters and the FedEx Cup in the same season (Jordan Spieth, 2014-15).
If he wins the 2022 FedEx Cup, Rory McIlroy would become the first player to win the FedEx Cup three times. When McIlroy won his second title in 2019, he joined Tiger Woods as the only two players to win the season-long race twice.
Xander Schauffele, who enters the weekend at No. 3 in the FedEx Cup standings, has advanced to the TOUR Championship in all six seasons on the Tour. Schauffele won the TOUR Championship as a rookie and has finished in the top 10 in all five starts, tied with Justin Thomas for the longest active streak on Tour.
Sam Burns is making his second consecutive appearance at the TOUR Championship, finishing 18th in 2021. Burns is one of four players who has three or more victories this season, collecting titles at the Sanderson Farms Championship, Valspar Championship and Charles Schwab Challenge (others with 3+ victories: Scottie Scheffler/4, Cameron Smith/3, Xander Schauffele/3).
Cameron Smith has three wins this season, including THE PLAYERS Championship and The Open Championship. Smith withdrew prior to the start of last week’s BMW Championship and fell from No. 3 to No. 5 in the FedEx Cup standings. With a win, Smith would become the second player to win THE PLAYERS Championship and the FedEx Cup in the same season, joining McIlroy (2018-19), and the first to win The Open and the FedEx Cup in the same season.
Scott Stallings finished runner-up at last week’s BMW Championship to move to No. 12 in the FedEx Cup standings and qualify for the TOUR Championship for the first time in his 12-year PGA TOUR career. Stallings has a career-high seven Top-10s this season (five in last nine starts).
J.T. Poston is making his first start in the TOUR Championship. Poston was No. 112 in the FedEx Cup standings after the U.S. Open and earned a runner-up (Travelers Championship) and a win (John Deere Classic) the following two weeks, becoming the only player outside the Top 75 after the U.S. Open to qualify for the TOUR Championship.
Will Zalatoris withdrew from the tournament due to a back injury. As a result of his WD, if all 29 players finish 72 holes, Zalatoris will finish 30th in the FedEx Cup, receiving $500,000 in FedExCup bonus money.
Starting Strokes for the remaining 29 players are unaffected.
The Way They’ll Start at TOUR Championship
- Scottie Scheffler -10
- Patrick Cantlay -8
- Xander Schauffele -6
- Sam Burns -5
- Cameron Smith -4
- Rory McIlroy -4
- Tony Finau -4
- Sepp Straka -4
- Sungjae Im -4
- Jon Rahm -3
- Scott Stallings -3
- Justin Thomas -3
- Cameron Young -3
- Matt Fitzpatrick -3
- Max Homa -2
- Hideki Matsuyama -2
- Jordan Spieth -2
- Joaquin Niemann -2
- Viktor Hovland -2
- Collin Morikawa -1
- Billy Horschel -1
- Tom Hoge -1
- Corey Conners -1
- Brian Harman -1
- K.H. Lee Even
- J.T. Poston Even
- Sahith Theegala Even
- Adam Scott Even
- Aaron Wise Even
Cantlay Wins TOUR Championship
ATLANTA – FedExCup leader Patrick Cantlay hit a five-foot, eleven inch putt on No. 16 to go two strokes ahead of Spain’s Jon Rahm, bogeyed No. 17 to make it interesting and then birdied his final hole with a six-inch tap-in to win the TOUR Championship and its $15 million first place prize for the FedEx Cup.
For the third season, the TOUR Championship was weighted by the FedExCup “starting strokes” system, with the format crowning a single champion. Patrick Cantlay, the player with the lowest score in relation to par combined with his FedExCup Starting Strokes edge of (-10), won the TOUR Championship and the FedExCup – wire-to-wire. Cantlay becomes the third player in FedExCup history to rank No. 1 in the FedExCup entering the TOUR Championship and go on to win. He also became the first player to win four or more times in a season since Justin Thomas in 2016-17.
Rahm carded his 15th Top-10 this season, the most by any player in a season since 2015-16 and Kevin Na played his final 57 holes without a bogey en route to best FedExCup finish of his career.
Joaquin Niemann (29th at (+4) played as a single in the final round, teed-off first and shot a 2-over (72) in 1 hour, 53 minutes.
TOUR Championship Leaderboard:
Final-Round Leaderboard
1 Patrick Cantlay – (Started -10) – 67-66-67-69 (-11) – (-21)
2 Jon Rahm – (Started -6) – 65-65-68-68 (-14) – (-20)
3 Kevin Na – (Started -2) – 66-67-66-67 (-14) – (-16)
4 Justin Thomas – (Started -4) – 67-67-65-70 (-11) – (-15)
Final Leaderboard: (link)
PGA TOUR Championship: First Look
Preview – TOUR Championship First Look
COURSE: East Lake Golf Club – (Atlanta, Georgia)
ARCHITECT: Tom Bendelow
YARDS/PAR: 7,346 yards/Par 70
PRIZE Money/FedEx Champ/First Place Winnings: $60,000,000/$15,000,000
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Dustin Johnson
PAST RESULTS: (link)
PAST FedEx Cup CHAMPIONS: (link)
SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @Playofffinale
OFFICIAL SITE: (TOUR Championship)
TV COVERAGE: Thursday, September 2 and Friday, September 3: Coverage from 1:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT) on Golf Channel.
On Saturday, September 4, Round 3 coverage 1:00pm to 2:30pm (EDT) on Golf Channel. NBC Sports takes over from 2:30pm to 7:00pm (EDT). On Sunday, September 5: Golf Channel opens final round coverage 12:00pm to 1:30pm (EDT) and NBC wraps it up from 1:30pm to 6:00pm (EDT).
PGA TOUR LIVE STREAMING: Streaming coverage on Thursday and Friday, from 11:00am to 6:00pm (EDT) on PGA Tour Live.
On Saturday, PGA Live coverage runs from 12:00pm Noon to 7:00pm (EDT) and Sunday, PGA Tour Live will stream 11:00am to 6:00pm or conclusion (EDT).
PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: SiriusXM Radio will have live radio coverage of the TOUR Championship with Thursday and Friday broadcasts from 12:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT). Weekend coverage on Sirius XM Radio begins Saturday from 2:00pm to 7:00pm (EDT) and Sunday’s finale from 1:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT) or conclusion. PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92).
TOUR Championship/Final of the FedExCup
ATLANTA – The 50-event 2020-21 PGA TOUR Season will conclude at the TOUR Championship, where the FedExCup Champion will be crowned. Patrick Cantlay, the PGA TOUR leader in wins this season (3), enters the TOUR Championship at No. 1 in the FedExCup standings and will begin the tournament at 10-under via FedExCup Starting Strokes.
The FedExCup Starting Strokes system was implented at the 2019 TOUR Championship. That year, No. 1 seed Justin Thomas went on to finish T3, while Rory McIlroy, who began the tournament in fifth place at 5-under came from five strokes back to win. Dustin Johnson entered as the No. 1 seed in 2020 before going on to defeat Thomas and Xander Schauffele by three strokes, becoming just the second No. 1 seed entering TOUR Championship to win the FedExCup.
The players who’ve qualified for the TOUR Championship are eligible for the following tournaments in the 2021-22 season: Masters Tournament, PGA Championship, U.S. Open, Genesis Scottish Open and The Open Championship.
Patrick Reed, who has just recovered from a case of pneumonia (both lungs), is in the field this week at No. 30. He is also playing for possible selection for the USA Ryder Cup team. (Reed to play)
Two players in the field qualified for the TOUR Championship for the first time: Sam Burns and first-year member Erik van Rooyen. Burns earned his first victory on TOUR earlier in the season at the Valspar Championship, while van Rooyen won the Barracuda Championship. 20 players in the field qualified in 2020 and 29 of the 30 players are in the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking, both record-highs for the FedExCup era (van Rooyen, No. 55).
The Basics:
With the limited field of 30 players, TOUR Championship Tee Times Thursday run from 11:40am to 2:00pm (EDT) with players playing in pairs.
Weather: Thursday forecast is for sunny skies and a comfortable 75-degrees. Humidity will be 65% with only a 10% chance of rain (link)