Everything you need to know about the format of the Tour Championship at East Lake, which will crown the 2024 FedEx Cup champion.

The best players of the 2024 PGA Tour class will come to the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta for the highlight of the season – the Tour Championship, where 30 players will compete for the title of FedExCup champion.

However, unlike the other 36 official FedEx Cup events, the qualified players for the Tour Championship do not start on an equal footing; instead, the players are awarded different starting times for their respective season performances.

The tournament will use a unique “starting stroke” system, meaning the FedEx Cup leaders will begin the event with a lead over the competition and those just creeping into the field will start close to or even on par. From here, a no-cut 72-hole stroke play competition will begin.

Scottie Scheffler, a seven-time winner in 2024, has the largest lead as number one in the overall standings, starting the first round at 10 under par, while Xander Schauffele begins the second round at 8 under par.

Despite entering the race with a buffer, Scheffler considers the format “silly” and reiterates his comments from 2022 about the contradictory nature of reducing a season-long race to a tournament.

“Say we get to East Lake, my neck is burning and not healing like it did at the Players, and I end up 30th in the FedEx Cup because I had to withdraw from the last tournament? Is that really the race of the entire season? No, it is what it is.”

The two-time Masters champion will have to save his best golf for the PGA Tour finals. Scheffler had a 10-under-par lead in the last two editions, but still lost to Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland in a performance very uncharacteristic of Scheffler.

Billy Horschel, Troon’s runner-up and 2014 FedEx Cup champion, sees things differently. He compares the risk-reward format to the excitement of an NFL playoff season, where it’s all about putting in the best performance at the right time.

“I won the FedEx Cup in 2014. Rory McIlroy was clearly the best player that year. He had won two majors. He had a good start. I was 69th at the FedEx and missed the first cut. I finish second, win, win and win the FedEx Cup,” said Horschel.

“It’s no different than the New York Giants beating the New England Patriots and starting the playoffs 9-7 and the Patriots going undefeated and then winning the Super Bowl.”

But no matter which side of the argument you’re on, concerns about declining ratings are hard to ignore. These concerns have been with us all season, especially at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, where numbers were down 30% compared to 2023.

A Yellow Jacket-style victory march is not exactly what golf fans want to see, even if Scheffler’s coronation as champion is a fitting end to 2024 in the eyes of many – perhaps also in the eyes of Xander Schauffele, who has a legitimate claim to the FedEx Cup throne after two major victories.

In sports, however, little emphasis is placed on the attitude of who is most deserving, and with a $25 million bonus waiting for the winner of East Lake, there is plenty of incentive for an unexpected opponent to go all out this week.

This is what the leaderboard will look like when the first round begins in East Lake.

Starting strokes in the FedEx Cup	FedEx Cup Ranking
10 under	No. 1
8 under	No. 2
7 under	No. 3
6 under	No. 4
5 under	No. 5
4 under	No. 6 – No. 10
3 under	No. 11 – No. 15
2 under	No. 16 – No. 20
1 under	No. 21 – No. 25
Even par	No. 26 – No. 30

About the author

Ross Tugwood – Senior Digital Writer

Ross Tugwood is a Senior Digital Writer for todays-golfer.com, specializing in data, analytics, science and innovation.

Ross is passionate about optimising sporting performance and has ten years’ experience working with professional athletes and coaches for British Athletics, the UK Sports Institute and Team GB.

He is an NCTJ accredited journalist with postgraduate degrees in performance analysis and sports journalism, enabling him to critically analyse and review the latest golf equipment and technology to help you make more informed purchasing decisions.