This weekend’s TOUR Championship marks the culmination of the 2023-2024 PGA Tour season, and will see the top 30 golfers in the FedEx Cup standings play for the chance to be crowned the FedExCup champion and receive an eye-watering $36.90 million ($25 million US).
It is set to be the the richest golf tournament ever played, with a prize pool of $147.5 million ($100 million US) on offer.
The TOUR Championship has a much different format to the usual tournaments in that it is a staggered scoring start based on the FedEx Cup standings of that season.
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For the third straight year, world number one Scottie Scheffler will begin the TOUR Championship with a two-shot lead on the second-placed Xander Schauffele.
A TOUR Championship has so far eluded Scheffler, who this year broke the record for prizemoney won in a single season and has won just about every tournament.
Below is an explainer of the unique format of the TOUR Championship, how scoring works, tee times and a breakdown of the eye-watering prizemoney on offer.
WHAT IS THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP?
The TOUR Championship is the final tournament of the three-tournament FedEx Cup playoffs.
Golfers accrue FedEx Cup points throughout the course of the PGA Tour season which culminates with the FedEx Cup playoffs.
The top 70 players in the FedEx Cup standings are eligible for the playoff’s first tournament, the St. Jude Championship.
The top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings following the St. Jude contest the BMW Championship, which then decides the final 30 to tackle the TOUR Championship a week later.
Both the St. Jude and BMW are worth four times the amount of FedEx Cup points than regular events on tour during the season.
The staggered scoring format at the TOUR Championship awards those at the top of the standings for their consistent play over the course of the season.
THE FIELD
Scheffler led the FedEx Cup standings in 2022 and 2023 entering the TOUR Championship, starting with a two shot buffer, but was chased down both years.
He’ll start at -10 for being atop the standings while the second-placed Schauffele is two shots back on -8.
St. Jude winner Hideki Matsuyama will begin at -7 and last week’s BMW victor Keegan Bradley to start in fourth place on -6.
Adam Scott, fresh off his T-2 in last week’s BMW Championship, had catapulted himself to 14th on the FedEx standings.
He is the sole Aussie in the field and will start at -3.
Scottie Scheffler -10
Xander Schauffele -8
Hideki Matsuyama, -7
Keegan Bradley, -6
Ludvig Åberg, -5
Rory McIlroy, -4
Collin Morikawa, -4
Wyndham Clark, -4
Sam Burns, -4
Patrick Cantlay, -4
Sungjae Im, -3
Sahith Theegala, -3
Shane Lowry, -3
Adam Scott, -3
Tony Finau, -3
Byeong Hun An, -2
Viktor Hovland, -2
Russell Henley, -2
Akshay Bhatia, -2
Robert MacIntyre, -2
Billy Horschel, -1
Tommy Fleetwood, -1
Sepp Straka, -1
Matthieu Pavon, -1
Taylor Pendrith, -1
Chris Kirk, E
Tom Hoge, E
Aaron Rai, E
Christiaan Bezuidenhout, E
Justin Thomas, E
PRIZEMONEY
The total prizemoney pool for the TOUR Championship is $147.5 million ($100 million USD). The winner will pocket a cool $36.9 million ($25 million USD).
Finish last, and you’ll still win a shade over $800k (AUD) while two thirds of the field (top 20) will walk away with at least $1 million (AUD).
The prizemoney pool is up US $7 million from last year’s TOUR Championship and it’s set to be the richest golf tournament of all time.
Prizemoney breakdown in US dollars (AUD in brackets)
1 – $25 million ($36.90 million)
2 – $12.5 million ($18.45 million)
3 – $7.5 million ($11.06 million)
4 – $6 million ($8.85 million)
5 – $5 million ($7.38 million)
6 – $3.5 million ($5.16 million)
7 – $2.75 million ($4.06 million)
8 – $2.25 million ($3.32 million)
9 – $2 million ($2.95 million)
10 – $1.75 million ($2.58 million)
11 – $1.075 million ($1.59 million)
12 – $1.025 million ($1.51 million)
13 – $975,000 ($1.44 million)
14 – $925,000 ($1.36 million)
15 – $885,000 ($1.30 million)
16 – $795,000 ($1.17 million)
17 – $775,000 ($1.14 million)
18 – $755,000 ($1.11 million)
19 – $735,000 ($1.08 million)
20 – $715,000 ($1.05 million)
21 – $670,000 ($989,000)
22 – $650,000 ($959,182)
23 – $630,000 ($929,669)
24 – $615,000 ($907,534)
25 – $600,000 ($885,399)
26 – $590,000 ($870,642)
27 – $580,000 ($855,886)
28 – $570,000 ($841,129)
29 – $560,000 ($826,372)
30 – $550,000 ($811,616)
TEE TIMES (all AEST)
The first of 15 pairings will tee off on Friday morning at just after 1am AEST, with the final pairing of Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele.
As you’ll notice, tee times/groupings for Round 1 are based on the position in the FedEx Cup standings.
1:16 a.m. — Christiaan Bezuitenhout, Justin Thomas
1:27 a.m. — Tom Hoge, Aaron Rai
1:38 a.m. — Taylor Pendrith, Chris Kirk
1:49 a.m. — Sepp Straka, Matthieu Pavon
2:00 a.m. — Billy Horschel, Tommy Fleetwood
2:16 a.m. — Akshay Bhatia, Robert MacIntyre
2:27 a.m. — Viktor Hovland, Russell Henley
2:38 a.m. — Tony Finau, Ben An
2:49 a.m. — Shane Lowry, Adam Scott
3:00 a.m. — Sungjae Im, Sahith Theegala
3:16 a.m. — Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay
3:27 a.m. — Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark
3:38 a.m. — Ludvig Åberg, Rory McIlroy
3:49 a.m. — Hideki Matsuyama, Keegan Bradley
4:00 a.m. — Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele
ODDS
$2.10 – Scottie Scheffler
$3.30 – Xander Schauffele
$13 – Hideki Matsuyama
$17 – Rory McIlroy
$19 – Ludvig Aberg
$26 – Collin Morikawa
$36 – Keegan Bradley
$36 – Patrick Cantlay
$41 – Sam Burns
$41 – Wyndham Clark
$67 – Victor Hovland
$81 – Adam Scott
$81 – Tony Finau
$91+ – Others
WHEN/WHERE IS IT?
The 30 golfers will tee off on Friday morning (AEST) at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia, where it’s been held since 2004.
PAST WINNERS
It’s worth noting that since 2019, the tournament adopted the staggered scoring format so that the winner of the TOUR Championship would be crowned the FedEx Cup champ as well.
Rory McIlroy (3), Tiger Woods (3) and Phil Mickelson (2) are the only multiple winners of the event.
2023 – Victor Hovland
2022 – Rory McIlroy
2021 – Patrick Cantlay
2020 – Dustin Johnson
2019 – Rory McIlroy
2018 – Tiger Woods
2017 – Xander Schauffele
2016 – Rory McIlroy
2015 – Jordan Speith
2014 – Billy Horschel
2013 – Henrik Stenson
2012 – Brandt Sneadeker
2011 – Bill Haas
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