The first round of the PGA Tour Championship will be broadcast at 1 p.m. Thursday on RDS2 and RDS.ca.
ATLANTA — World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler has six victories this season, including a Masters win in April, and captured a gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
World number 2 Xander Schauffele has won twice this season at two major tournaments, the PGA Championship and the British Open.
Starting Thursday at the PGA Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club, they will have another chance to settle the debate over who has been the best golfer on the PGA Tour this season, although Scheffler thinks they are both excellent.
“I think I get a little frustrated sometimes with the questions people ask, like, ‘What year would you rather have? Would you rather have Xander’s year or Scottie’s year?’” Scheffler said. “It’s like we can’t just enjoy the great golf that’s been played this year.”
“There was a guy who won multiple major titles and there was a season like mine where I was able to win a bunch of times. I think it’s one of those things where we should just sit back and enjoy it. I’m grateful for the year I had. I’m grateful for Xander’s year.”
Here’s a look at some of the top players who will be competing for the FedEx Cup and a $25 million prize this week:
Xander Schauffele
Schauffele has won the first two majors of his career, and his first FedEx Cup victory would be a fitting end to the season. He has three runner-up finishes at the PGA Tour Championship, and this is his best starting position in eight appearances.
His 66.96 average is the lowest in tournament history. His cumulative score of 85 under par at East Lake since 2017 is 30 shots better than the next player, Justin Thomas.
Scottie Scheffler
Perhaps the major course renovation at East Lake will benefit Scheffler, who will start with a two-shot lead for the third straight time. Last year, Scheffler started at 10 under and dropped just one shot through 72 holes, finishing sixth at 11 under.
In 2022, he blew a six-shot lead with a final-round 73 and fell one shot behind Rory McIlroy.
Ludvig Åberg
Åberg is a rookie on the PGA Tour Championship, but that hasn’t seemed to bother him in two seasons on the tour. He tied for second at the BMW Championship and finished runner-up at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Masters. He’s talented and confident enough to lift a FedEx Cup in his first attempt at East Lake.
Rory McIlroy
Yes, it has been a disappointing season for McIlroy, whose decade-plus drought without a major title will extend into the 2025 season after his late collapse at the U.S. Open.
But few golfers have been as good as McIlroy at East Lake, where he has finished in the top eight in six of his last seven starts. The three-time FedEx Cup champion started 5 under when he won by four shots in 2019 and 4 under when he won two years ago.
Sam Burns
Burns and Schauffele are the only two golfers to finish in the top 10 in the first two playoff events; Burns tied for fifth at the FedEx St. Jude Championship and finished second at the BMW Championship. Last year, he tied for ninth, his best finish at the PGA Tour Championship.
Viktor Hovland
The reigning FedEx Cup champion has struggled with his swing this season — and he’d have to come from behind — but he can do it at East Lake. He admits he preferred the old course, where he earned an $18 million purse with a five-shot win over Schauffele last year.
