Tour Championship
Paddy Morgan looks ahead to the Tour Championship at East Lake
East Lake will host the final event of 2022/2023 PGA Tour season. The top 30 players in the FedEx Cup rankings qualify for this event. Everybody in the field will start on a different score before they start their first round with the leader starting on 10 under, second on eight under, third on seven under and all the way down to 30th on even par. 12 months ago was very dramatic as Rory McIlroy came from six behind on the final round to win his third FedEx Cup. The 54 hole leaders of the last two events which were FedEx ST Jude and BMW Championship failed to win the event.
Xander Schauffele will start the Tour Championship on three under. Schauffele finished in a tie for eight at the BMW Championship. Schauffele loves East Lake as he won in 2017, finished tied seventh in 2018, runner-up in 2019, tied second in 2020, tied fifth in 2021 and fourth in 2022. His good finish at the BMW Championship guaranteed a automatic pick for the 2023 Ryder Cup. I think Schauffele will continue his fantastic record and win the Tour Championship.
Rory McIlroy has won three FedEx Cup’s at East Lake in 2016, 2019 and 2022. His performances throughout the Summer have been very consistent which includes winning the Genesis Scottish Open. In the play-off events McIlroy finished in a tie for third at the FedEx ST Jude and fourth at the BMW Championship. Three Europeans are currently ranked in the FedEx Cup top five and it’s important that McIlroy plays well as he will be the leader for Luke Donald in Rome. At the BMW Championship McIlroy was hitting the ball well but missed a lot of putts on the green. I think McIlroy will finish in the top five.
Max Homa has impressed me every time he plays but especially this season on the PGA Tour. Homa was also an automatic pick for USA Ryder Cup team. Homa finished tied sixth at the FedEx ST Jude and tied fifth at the BMW Championship. Homa starts the Tour Championship on four under six behind Scottie Scheffler. I believe Homa will finish in the top five.
Sungjae Im finished second in the 2022 Tour Championship. Im will start the Tour Championship on two under. Im has performed very well in the play-off events as he finished in a tie for sixth at the FedEx ST Jude and seventh at the BMW Championship. I think Im will finish in the top 10.
Both Europeans Tyrrell Hatton and Sepp Straka were very lucky to make it into East Lake. They are both on even par 10 behind Scottie Scheffler. Straka had a great season which included winning on the PGA Tour and a runner-up finish at The Open. There is no pressure on both Europeans on even par and I think Straka will finish in the top 10.
It’s set up for a fantastic event with Scheffler leading on 10 under, Jon Rahm is also up there on six under and last week’s winner Viktor Hovland starts in second on eight under. I can’t wait for the Tour Championship to start and I hope you enjoy the action over the weekend.