ATLANTA — World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler has won six times this season, including a second green jacket at the Masters in April, and he collected a gold medal at the Olympics in Paris.
Xander Schauffele, ranked No. 2 in the world, has won twice this season at two majors — the PGA Championship and The Open.
Starting Thursday at the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club, they’ll get one more chance to settle the debate of who has been the best golfer on the PGA Tour this season — even if Scheffler believes they’re both great.
“I think sometimes I get a touch frustrated with the questions people ask because like, ‘Oh, whose year would you rather have? Would you rather have Xander’s year or Scottie’s year?'” Scheffler said. You had a guy win multiple major championships and you had a season like mine where I was able to win a good amount of times. I think it’s one of those things where we should just sit back and enjoy it. And I’m just grateful for the year that I’ve had. I’m grateful for Xander’s year.”
Here’s a look at the 30 players who will compete for the FedEx Cup and a $25 million bonus this week:
1. Xander Schauffele (8 under)
Schauffele picked up the first two major championship victories of his career, and collecting his first FedEx Cup championship would be a fitting end to his season. He’s a three-time runner-up in the Tour Championship, and it’s his best starting position in eight appearances.
His scoring average of 66.96 is the lowest in tournament history. His cumulative score of 85 under on his own ball at East Lake since 2017 is 30 strokes better than the next player, Justin Thomas.
Maybe the course’s extensive restoration will change Scheffler’s luck at East Lake, where he’ll start with a two-stroke lead on the field for the third straight time. Last year, Scheffler started at 10 under and went only 1 under over 72 holes on his own, tying for sixth at 11 under.
In 2022, he squandered a six-stroke lead by carding a 3-over 73 in the final round and lost to Rory McIlroy by one. Since 2020, according to Justin Ray of the Twenty First Group, he has gained 0.16 strokes overall in the Tour Championship and 1.58 in all other tournaments.
3. Ludvig Åberg (5 under)
Åberg is a Tour Championship rookie but debuts haven’t bothered him much in two seasons on tour. He tied for second at the BMW Championship and was solo second at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Masters. He’s talented and confident enough to lift a FedEx Cup in his first start at East Lake.
4. Rory McIlroy (4 under)
Yes, it has been a disappointing campaign for McIlroy, whose major championship drought of more than 10 years will extend into the 2025 season after his late collapse at the U.S. Open.
However, few golfers have been as good as McIlroy at East Lake, where he has a top-eight finish in six of his past seven starts. The three-time FedEx Cup champion started at 5 under when he won by four shots in 2019 and 4 under when he chased down Scheffler two years ago.
5. Sam Burns (4 under)
Burns and Schauffele were the only two golfers to finish in the top 10 in the first two playoff events; Burns tied for fifth in the FedEx St. Jude Championship and second at the BMW Championship. His flat stick has been on fire in the playoffs. He ranks second among players in the field in strokes gained, putting 1.89 over his last eight rounds. He tied for ninth last year, his best finish at the Tour Championship.
