World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler will open the Tour Championship at 10 under par when the final leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs kicks off Thursday at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
Scheffler moved back into first place in the FedEx Cup standings by tying for third at the BMW Championship on Sunday in Wilmington, Del. He leads the field of 30 players who qualified for the Tour Championship, where an $18 million bonus is at stake for the winner of the season-long points race.
Patrick Cantlay, the reigning FedEx Cup champion, will begin the Tour Championship in second at 8 under after he won the BMW Championship for the second year in a row -- the first player to defend his title at a playoff event in the 16-year history of the format.
Will Zalatoris will start in third. He won the first leg of the playoffs at the FedEx St. Jude Championship a week ago before withdrawing from the BMW Championship midway through his third round to rest a sore back.
Xander Schauffele moved up to fourth by tying for third at the BMW, and Sam Burns will start in fifth.
Aaron Wise started the week in 31st place and barely snagged the 30th and final spot at the Tour Championship with his tied for 15th finish on Sunday. His gain was Shane Lowry's loss, as the Irishman finished 31st in points despite tying for 12th in Delaware.
The Tour Championship utilizes a staggered starting position to reward players with more FedEx Cup points and give them a better chance of winning the event.
The starting leaderboard for Tour Championship will be:
1. Scottie Scheffler (-10)
2. Patrick Cantlay (-8)
3. Will Zalatoris (-7)
4. Xander Schauffele (-6)
5. Sam Burns (-5)
6. Cameron Smith (-4)
7. Rory McIlroy (-4)
8. Tony Finau (-4)
9. Sepp Straka (-4)
10. Sungjae Im (-4)
11. Jon Rahm (-3)
12. Scott Stallings (-3)
13. Justin Thomas (-3)
14. Cameron Young (-3)
15. Matt Fitzpatrick (-3)
16. Max Homa (-2)
17. Hideki Matsuyama (-2)
18. Jordan Spieth (-2)
19. Joaquin Niemann (-2)
20. Viktor Hovland (-2)
21. Collin Morikawa (-1)
22. Billy Horschel (-1)
23. Tom Hoge (-1)
24. Corey Conners (-1)
25. Brian Harman (-1)
26. K.H. Lee (even)
27. J.T. Poston (even)
28. Sahith Theegala (even)
29. Adam Scott (even)
30. Aaron Wise (even)
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