Preliminary results of the 2024 Tour Championship for all 30 players

New Year, same result. After a full season of PGA Tour golf (and a little shorter since the PGA Tour went back to a calendar-based schedule), Scottie Scheffler once again finds himself at the top of the FedEx Cup standings heading into the final event, the East Lake Tour Championship.

Scheffler has dominated this year, winning six times on the PGA Tour, including his second Masters title, plus he won Olympic gold earlier this month in Paris.

He leads second-ranked Xander Schauffele by more than 1,200 FedEx Cup points, and third-ranked Hideki Matsuyama by more than 2,700 points, roughly the same margin Matsuyama has over the No. 50 in the rankings, Eric Cole.

But even after a historic season, Scheffler will begin the tournament in the same position he has for the previous two editions: with a two-shot lead at 10 under.

This is the sixth year tournament championship handicap format where players are awarded starting points based on their position in the FedEx Cup standings entering the week. Scheffler will start this week at East Lake with a two-shot lead on Schauffele and a 10-shot lead over Justin Thomas. the last man on the field at number 30 in the rankings.

The change was made because under the old format, a player could win the tournament championship and not win the FedEx Cup. It was also difficult to calculate points and keep track for the viewer at home.

That way, there’s no more worrying about points, and whoever wins the tournament championship, including tee shots, wins the FedEx Cup and the $25 million first-place prize.

Here’s what the initial shots look like this year.

Preliminary results of the 2024 Touring Championship

10 under: Scottie Scheffler
Eight under: Xander Schauffele
Seven under: Hideki Matusyama
Six under: Keegan Bradley
Five under: Ludwig Aberg
Four sub: Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark, Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay
Three sub: Sungjae Im, Sahith Theegala, Shane Lowry, Adam Scott, Tony Finau
Two sub: Byeong Hun An, Viktor Hovland, Russell Henley, Akshay Bhatia, Robert MacIntyre
A sub: Billy Horschel, Tommy Fleetwood, Sepp Straka, Matthieu Pavon, Taylor Pendrith
Even: Chris Kirk, Tom Hoge, Aaron Rai, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Justin Thomas

Now you might think that the top seed might have a significant advantage, but in fact, the top seed has only won the tournament twice in the previous five editions of this format. Scheffler himself has yet to dominate when he has a two-hit lead in the past two seasons.

In his most recent two FedEx Cup victories, Rory McIlroy came back from five and six shots earlier in the week to lift the trophy (and the massive first-place payday) by Sunday night. Last year, Viktor Hovland was two shots behind Scheffler when he hit everyone at East Lake to win his first FedEx Cup.

You can follow the action from 1-6pm ET on Golf Channel on Thursday and Friday. Saturday’s broadcast is 1-2:30 p.m. on Golf Channel and 2:30-7 p.m. on NBC, and Sunday’s final round is 12-1:30 p.m. on Golf Channel and 1:30-6 p.m. on NBC.

Jack Hirsch

Editor of Golf.com

Jack Hirsh is an assistant editor at GOLF. A native of Pennsylvania, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State University, earning degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his high school golf team and recently returned to the program to serve as head coach. Jack also *tries* to remain competitive in the local amateurs. Prior to joining GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a television station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a multimedia journalist/reporter, but also producing, anchoring and even presenting the weather. He can be reached at jack.hirsh@golf.com.