PGA Tour's best arrive at new-look East Lake to decide FedEx Cup

ATLANTA - Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele have been the two best golfers in the world in 2024, head and shoulders above their competition. But neither of their decorated resumes includes a FedEx Cup.

That's something both men will try to change this week at the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club. The winner after 72 holes will claim the season-long championship and an eye-popping $25 million prize.

For the sixth straight year, the tournament will feature a staggered scoring start based on the FedEx Cup points standings. Thursday's final pairing of Scheffler and Schauffele will tee off at 10 under and 8 under par, respectively.

Hideki Matsuyama of Japan (starting at 7 under) and Keegan Bradley (6 under) moved into third and fourth place by winning the first two playoff events, the FedEx St. Jude Championship and the BMW Championship, respectively. The 30-man field wraps up with Justin Thomas and four other players starting from even par.

Scheffler has spent plenty of time with Schauffele this summer, from competing at the Olympics together to being paired up at each FedEx Cup playoff event due to their positions atop the standings. Schauffele won two majors, the PGA Championship and Open Championship, while Scheffler took home the Masters and five other tournaments.

"I'm just grateful for the year that I've had," Scheffler, the gold-medal winner at the Paris Olympics, said. "I'm grateful for Xander's year. I'm looking forward to competing for the FedEx Cup with (29) other guys. I think it's something that we should just enjoy instead of focusing on the comparisons all the time."

Schauffele has established himself as an East Lake expert. He won the 2017 Tour Championship, before the playoff format changed, and he's