Out of the Rough: TOUR Championship (2026)

The conclusion of the 2026 PGA TOUR season is here with one final stop at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia for this week’s TOUR Championship.

Across the last eight months, golfers on the PGA Tour acquired cumulative FedEx points each week with eyes on making the 70-man field for the FedEx Cup Playoffs beginning two weeks ago at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

From there, the top 50-golfers within the FedEx Cup Standings advanced to last week’s BMW Championship and now, just the top 30-golfers of the season-long FedEx Cup points standings remain for this week’s end-of-the-season TOUR Championship. 

Now, when it’s all said-and-done on Sunday, one man will stand on the 18th green at East Lake hoisting the FedEx Cup trophy and walking away with a lofty $10 million check.

The event has gone-away with the staggered-stroke starting format a season ago, that would see the higher-seeded golfer within the FedEx Cup Standings receiving various starting-strokes respective of their placement.

Now, each golfer starts with a level playing field. The previous installments too would pay out the massive $25 million to the winner of this event but with the changes, the $25 million for the FedEx Cup Standings was spread out. 

Scottie Scheffler received $10 million for ending the regular season as the leader and received an additional $5 million for being the top-seed at the Tour Championship. The remaining $10 million was spread out, but that is bonus funds and not related to this event.

This event now has a $40 million purse, the largest in the sport, by a long shot. The winner will receive $10 million which too, is the largest in the sport. 

The Field

At this point, if you’re reading this article, you know who is in and who is not for this week.

It’s rare that I get to do this, so here is the complete field for this week’s TOUR Championship.

• Scottie Scheffler

• Matt Fitzpatrick

• Wyndham Clark

• Cameron Young

• Si Woo Kim

• Chris Gotterup

• Collin Morikawa

• Sam Burns

• Tommy Fleetwood

• Ludvig Aberg

• Rory McIlroy

• Xander Schauffele

• Jacob Bridgeman

• Russell Henley

• Akshay Bhatia

• Hideki Matsuyama

• Ryan Gerard

• Gary Woodland

• Patrick Cantlay

• Kristoffer Reitan

• Min Woo Lee

• J.J. Spaun

• Alex Smalley

• Alex Fitzpatrick

• Robert MacIntyre

• Viktor Hovland

• Justin Rose

• Adam Scott

• Tom Kim

• Ryan Fox

Tommy Fleetwood comes in as the defending champion, having used last year’s TOUR Championship as his first victory on the PGA Tour.

The Course

East Lake Golf Club was established in 1904 and features a rich history. It has served as the permanent final stop of the PGA TOUR season since the TOUR Championship’s inception in 2004.

Along with being the permanent home to this end-of-the-season event, East Lake has hosted the Ryder Cup in 1963 and the 2001 U.S. Amateur. East Lake also hosts the East Lake Cup, a collegiate match play series that has seen notable individual medalist honors such as Scheffler and Hovland

East Lake is Donald Ross designed and plays as a par-70 at 7,319 yards. This puts the course slightly above the TOUR average in distance.

The track features six par-fours over 450-yards and three par-threes over 200-yards. These holes offer a slight advantage to the longer hitters of the TOUR, especially those with strong long irons.

Driving will be a premium here at East Lake which features the most narrow fairways on TOUR and annually holds a top-three placement in missed fairway penalty of all courses played on TOUR.

With the narrow fairways, this track still rewards golfers with above-average distance off-the-tee.

Over 30-percent of all approach shots taken this week will come from 200-plus yards, going along with the three par-threes over 200 yards, those with strong long irons will get a leg up this week.

The green complexes featured this week are nuanced, just as we’ve seen at other Ross designs on TOUR (Sedgefield Country Club and Detroit Golf Club.) The greens are also Bermuda, taking away some of the importance of strong-putting.

Scrambling too will be of the utmost importance this week with these extremely narrow fairways and the force of golfers playing from the rough. With such implications on the line, being able to scramble and then in turn, avoid bogeys, will be the difference.

Last year, the Tour adjusted some holes to bring more risk-reward type of shots into play. The idea was to bring more excitement to this end-of-the-season event and along with the removal of the staggered-scoring start, the Tour is set to add some fireworks on the golf course and score cards along the way. 

Overall, East Lake takes a complete tee-to-green game to be successful. Any hopeful winner will require a well-balanced attack.

Annually, half of the holes played at East Lake field hold a scoring average above par.

The Weather

As of the time of writing this, there is a 55-percent chance of scattered thunderstorms on Thursday. Friday is calling for a 65-percent chance of afternoon and evening thunderstorms. Saturday is calling for a 25-percent chance of precipitation and Sunday a 45-percent chance of morning showers. Temperatures will remain consistent with a high of 87-degrees for Thursday through Saturday. Sunday calls for a high of 88-degrees. Winds are set for just six miles-per-hour on Thursday, five miles-per-hour on Friday, six miles-per-hour on Saturday and seven miles-per-hour on Sunday.

Key Stats

• Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (SG: TTG)

• Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (SG: OTT) / Average Driving Distance

• Good Drives Percentage

• Ball Striking

• Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: APP)

• Par Four Average Scoring

• Par Three Average Scoring

• Proximity to the Hole from 200-plus Yards

• Strokes Gained: Putting on Bermuda (SG: PUTT Bermuda)

• Scrambling

• Bogey Avoidance

• Birdie or Better Percentage

Betting Card

Matt Fitzpatrick (+2000)

Outside of a guy named Scottie Scheffler, Fitzpatrick is my overall favorite to win this week. He is currently third on Tour in ball of SG: TTG, ball striking and SG: APP. He is also fifth in par-three average scoring, seventh in bogey avoidance, 12th in birdie-or-better percentage, 13th in par-four average scoring, 15th in good drives gained, 19th in proximity to the hole from 200-plus yards, 28th in scrambling, 55th in SG: OTT, 60th in SG: PUTT Bermuda and 84th in average driving distance. Fitzpatrick placed 28th last week at the BMW Championship but was also 12th at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. He missed the cut at The Open Championship but placed third at the Genesis Scottish Open, fourth at the Travelers Championship, 22nd at the U.S. Open and second at the RBC Canadian Open. He of course has the three victories on the season, winning the RBC Heritage, Valspar Championship and Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He last played the TOUR Championship in 2023 where he placed ninth. He was also 15th in 2022. 

Tom Kim (+5000)

This is insane value on a guy who topped a star-studded field at the Genesis Scottish Open in demanding fashion not that long ago. More recently, he placed 28th at the BMW Championship, 12th at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, fifth at the Wyndham Championship and 20th at the 3M Open. He’s played the TOUR Championship just once, placing 20th in 2023. Kim is currently second on Tour in par-four average scoring, fourth in SG: APP, sixth in bogey avoidance, tenth in good drives gained, 11th in scrambling, 17th in SG: TTG, 27th in birdie-or-better percentage, 28th in ball striking, 54th in par-three average scoring, 67th in SG: PUTT Bermuda, 75th in proximity to the hole from 200-plus yards, 94th in SG: OTT and 97th in average driving distance. 

2025 Betting Card

• J.J. Spaun (+3300) - T25th