Scottie Scheffler is aiming to claim his first FedExCup title this week in Atlanta where he begins the Tour Championship with a two-stroke advantage on the field, giving him his “best opportunity” to win.
The Tour Championship’s staggered structure means Scheffler, the leader in the FedExCup points standings, will start the tournament at 10 under par, while his nearest pursuer Xander Schauffele begins at eight under at East Lake Golf Club. It is the third consecutive year Scheffler has entered the Tour Championship at No 1.
The world No 1 has won six tournaments on the PGA Tour this year, including The Masters and Players Championship, as well as adding an Olympic gold medal for good measure.
“Yeah, it’s good to be back. In a nice position going into the week,” Scheffler said.
“It’s obviously everybody’s goal at the beginning of the year to have a chance, and going in the first spot, no better opportunity than where I’m sitting. Looking forward to the week.”
Since the format changed in 2019, no player who has started the Tour Championship at the top the leaderboard has gone on to win it, but Scheffler believes the staggered format provides volatility to the game.
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“If you want to just have a player that’s playing the best at the end of the year, I think the Playoffs will definitely identify that player. In terms of the season-long race, it’s maybe not always going to be the guy that plays the best the whole season; it’s going to be the guy that plays the best in these Playoff events,” Scheffler added.
“That’s really what you’re identifying is the guy that plays the best in these last three events. It’s a format that’s changed a bunch or a few times over the past few years.
“In terms of when it first got started you had a year where I think it was Padraig Harrington won two majors and maybe didn’t make the BMW, and I know he didn’t make this tournament. So arguably it wasn’t really a great set-up then.
“I think it provides a little bit of volatility, which is good for the fans, and I think it’s also good for some players that didn’t have their best years leading up to get into the Playoffs, and all of a sudden turn a year that’s not their best into somewhat of a career year in terms of winning the FedExCup.
“A lot of volatility, but at the end of the day, golf is golf. The easiest way to solve an issue that you don’t like in the game of golf is to play better. That’s really all it comes down to in our game. At the end of the day, if you play good enough golf, it will take care of itself.”
Plenty of changes at East Lake
The 30-man field will be playing on a dramatically different course at East Lake after it underwent an extensive renovation by architect Andrew Green, who most notably refurbished Oak Hill for the PGA Championship last year.
Green used 1949 aerials of East Lake in restoring the course that dates to 1904 with every tee, fairway, green and bunker being rebuilt.
The bunkers around the 18th green are deep. The bunker left of the peninsula green on the par-three 15th has been removed. The eighth hole has been shortened and the 14th hole has been lengthened and now plays as a par-five.
The changes also include replacing the circular putting surfaces with unique slopes and shapes and there is also more movement in the fairways as well as added humps and hollows.
“The renovation is definitely interesting,” added Scheffler.
“It’s basically a new golf course from what it was before. It’s not really at all the same. The greens, since they’re new, are extremely firm, which I think makes it more challenging.
“It’ll be tough to access some of the hole locations. I think we’ll have a bit to learn in terms of golf course set-up.
“But overall we’ll see how it plays. It’s so new right now that it’s really hard to tell exactly how – all I know is it’s way different.
“This was a golf course I always really liked. I felt like I hadn’t played my best golf here. So coming here this year, seeing a fresh golf course that I think is going to be really challenging I think will suit me pretty well out there.”
Schauffele: New course will bring different challenges
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Watch all six of Xander Schauffele’s birdies from the final round of The Open at Royal Troon as he claimed a second major title
Schauffele already has two majors in the bag this year after winning The Open and PGA Championship and has a good record at East Lake, but he admits the new course will bring challenges.
“I mean, it’s just a new golf course. Kind of a glass half full guy, so I’ve played a lot of new courses this year that I’ve done okay at, and this is a brand new property,” Schauffele said.
“Literally the bunkers are new, the grasses are new in the fairways, the greens are new, the grass on the greens are new, the runouts are different, the slopes are different. I think the only thing that’s the same are the directions of the hole.
“Whatever record I had is the past. I have no memory or anything really on any hole to go off of, not even a tree I could aim at that I used to aim at. It’s just that different.
“It’s new. It’s firm. It’s fast. Needs to settle in. It’s a very brand new – I’m not huge in agronomy, but I’ve played some new courses before, and they’re a little bouncy.
“However it was designed to be played, it’s going to be a little bit different for the first two years just because it hasn’t settled in.”
Watch the FedExCup Playoffs Tour Championship live on Sky Sports+ on Thursday August 29 at 4:15pm and on Sky Sports Golf at 6pm.
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