Road to the Championship

This year brought some big changes to the FedEx Cup system. For starters, there’s only three playoff tournaments, including the Tour Championship, giving a much more “do-or-die” atmosphere to the system.

All season, golfers were awarded points based on the type of event.

• 500 points for winning a PGA Tour event (except for the ‘opposite field’ events, which are worth 300 points)
• 550 points for winning a World Golf Championship event
• 600 points for winning The Players Championship, Masters Tournament, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and The Open Championship

The top 125 made it to the Northern Trust, the first leg of the playoffs. From there, the top 70 played the BMW, and finally, only the 30 best players will have their shot at the Tour Championship.

Starting Strokes Scoring

Another major change is what is being called the FedEx Starting Strokes system. In the past, with complicated mid-round projections, the winner of the Tour Championship and the winner of the FedEx Cup could have been two different people. This year guarantees there will be no sharing of the trophy in Atlanta. The Tour winner will also be named FedEx Cup winner.

The FedEx Cup standings will be represented by the Tour Championship’s final leaderboard and the rankings heading into the final playoff has a major impact on the field. In an unprecedented staggered start, Justin Thomas, who catapulted to the top FedEx spot by winning at the BMW, will tee off on hole #1 this Thursday sitting at -10. The top 10 will have advantages from 10 under to 4 under, while the rest of the field will begin at the traditional even par.

STARTING STROKES	FEDEXCUP RANK/PLAYER
10 under	1. Justin Thomas
8 under	2. Patrick Cantlay
7 under	3. Brooks Koepka
6 under	4. Patrick Reed
5 under	5. Rory McIlroy
4 under	6. Jon Rahm 7. Matt Kuchar 8. Xander Schauffele 9. Webb Simpson 10. Abraham Ancer
3 under	11. Gary Woodland 12. Tony Finau 13. Adam Scott 14. Dustin Johnson 15. Hideki Matsuyama
2 under	16. Paul Casey 17. Justin Rose 18. Brandt Snedeker 19. Rickie Fowler 20. Kevin Kisner
1 under	21. Marc Leishman 22. Tommy Fleetwood 23. Corey Conners 24. Sungjae Im 25. Chez Reavie
Even par	26. Bryson DeChambeau 27. Louis Oosthuizen 28. Charles Howell III 29. Lucas Glover 30. Jason Kokrak

 

This staggered start has some golfers asking questions. Rory McIlroy, who will start the day at -5, is concerned over the situation.

“You can shoot the best score of the week and not win the golf tournament,” McIlroy said.

A Look Back at FedEx Cup Playoff Series

The Northern Trust tournament opened the postseason up with a bang. Patrick Reed won it over Abraham Ancer by one shot. His 16-under 268 at Liberty National Golf Club took him from 50th to second in the FedEx Cup standings.

Pos	Player		R4	Thru	Total
1		P. Reed	-2	F	-16
2		A. Ancer	-2	F	-15
T3		H. Varner III	-3	F	-14
T3		J. Rahm	-2	F	-14
5		A. Scott	-6	F	-13

BMW Championship

The BMW Championship brought the best of the best to Medina Country Club for the penultimate playoff tournament for the FedEx Cup. The field was narrowed to 70 for the event, with Justin Thomas coming away with his first win in over a year. This vaulted him to first on the FedEx Cup leaderboard and gives him that sweet, sweet 10 under par start in Georgia.

While Thomas was setting a course record 61 (third round), Brooks Koepka dropped from the top spot in the FedEx Cup standings after finishing 24^th at BMW. Golf’s No. 1 player will be starting at -7 and he’s had a great year so far, notching the most wins on Tour and finishing in the top 5 in all four Majors. Do not count Koepka out of the hunt.

Payout Breakdown

Since there will be no cut, all 30 players are guaranteed 72 holes. The winner will take home a ridiculous purse of $15 million USD. Second place gets $5 million. A top 8 finish will cash you over $1 million. It continues all the way down to dead last, where $395,000 will be awarded.

Tour Championship Odds

So, who should you put your money on? The starting strokes system is allowing bookmakers like BetOnline put huge numbers on some of the lower ranking players, who could have an incredible day, you never know!  Here are the latest odds for all 30 entrants at BetOnline.

• Justin Thomas +250
• Patrick Cantlay +450
• Brooks Koepka +500
• Rory McIlroy +800
• Jon Rahm +1400
• Patrick Reed +1400
• Webb Simpson +2200
• Dustin Johnson +2500
• Xander Schaufflele +2800
• Hideki Matsuyama +3300
• Tony Finau +3300
• Adam Scott +4000
• Justin Rose +4000
• Matt Kuchar +4000
• Rickie Fowler +6600
• Abraham Ancer +8000
• Gary Woodland +8000
• Paul Casey +8000
• Tommy Fleetwood +10000
• Brandt Snedeker +12500
• Kevin Kisner +12500
• Bryson DeChambeau +20000
• Louis Oosthuizen +20000
• Marc Leishman +20000
• Sungjae Im +20000
• Jason Kokrak +25000
• Chez Reavie +30000
• Corey Conners +30000
• Lucas Glover +30000
• Charles Howell III +35000