The Tour Championship 2024 is here! The Golfing Gazette explains how the FedEx Cup Starting Strokes work at the final Playoff event.
The top 70 players in the FedEx Cup standings qualified for the St Jude Championship a fortnight ago and the field was then reduced to 50 for last week’s BMW Championship.
Now, only the top 30 remain, with the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele competing to be the 2024 season champion.
However, the event is unlike any other in that players do not start on a level playing field.
Here we explain the FedEx Cup Starting Strokes and show the impact on each player at the Tour Championship 2024.
How do the FedEx Cup Starting Strokes work?
The other events on the PGA Tour are won by the best golfer on any given week. That’s why there are so many first-time winners each season.
In contrast, the Tour Championship is designed to reward play throughout the entire season as well as at the tournament itself.
Rather than everyone starting on even par, players are given different starting points based on their rank in the FedEx Cup standings. These are known as the FedEx Cup Starting Strokes.
The leader of the FedEx Cup standings starts the week at 10-under par; second at 8-under; third at 7-under; fourth at 6-under; and fifth at 5-under.
Positions 6-10 start at 4-under; 11-15 at 3-under; 16-20 at 2-under; 21-25 at 1-under; and 26-30 at even par.
Every player’s starting stroke at the Tour Championship 2024
Scottie Scheffler (-10) has an advantage before play starts at East Lake on Thursday. Meanwhile, Xander Schauffele (-8), Hideki Matsuyama (-7), Keegan Bradley (-6) and Ludvig Aberg (-5) all have good chances of contending.
| Position | Player | Score |
| 1st | Scottie Scheffler | -10 |
| 2nd | Xander Schauffele | -8 |
| 3rd | Hideki Matsuyama | -7 |
| 4th | Keegan Bradley | -6 |
| 5th | Ludvig Aberg | -5 |
| 6th | Rory McIlroy | -4 |
| 7th | Collin Morikawa | -4 |
| 8th | Wyndham Clark | -4 |
| 9th | Sam Burns | -4 |
| 10th | Patrick Cantlay | -4 |
| 11th | Sungjae Im | -3 |
| 12th | Sahith Theegala | -3 |
| 13th | Shane Lowry | -3 |
| 14th | Adam Scott | -3 |
| 15th | Tony Finau | -3 |
| 16th | Byeong Hun An | -2 |
| 17th | Viktor Hovland | -2 |
| 18th | Russell Henley | -2 |
| 19th | Akshay Bhatia | -2 |
| 20th | Robert MacIntyre | -2 |
| 21st | Billy Horschel | -1 |
| 22nd | Tommy Fleetwood | -1 |
| 23rd | Sepp Straka | -1 |
| 24th | Matthieu Pavon | -1 |
| 25th | Taylor Pendrith | -1 |
| 26th | Chris Kirk | Par |
| 27th | Tom Hoge | Par |
| 28th | Aaron Rai | Par |
| 29th | Christiaan Bezuidenhout | Par |
| 30th | Justin Thomas | Par |
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