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Tour Championship: Expert Picks

Give me Xander to close out the season with a win

By Mark Abell
TOUR Championship - Round One Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Tournament Information

Tour Championship
Date: August 21st- 24th
Course: East Lake Golf Club
Purse: $9.2MM ($1.6MM to winner)
FedEx points: 2000 to winner(s)
2018 Winner: Tiger Woods (-11)

Course

East Lake Golf Club. This par 70, 7,385 yard course in Atlanta hosts the FedEx Championship. It was created in 1904 and built by Donald Ross and Reese Jones with a 76.2 course rating. It underwent a transformation from one of the worst project areas to a beautiful and vibrant bucolic area. The fairways are generous with a few rolling hills, traps and lakes sprinkled throughout. I’m partial to hole 8 with a nice lake running alongside and traps to complement. Hole 8 provides a great visual for the beauty that is in this course.

TOUR Championship - Final Round Photo by Stan Badz/PGA TOUR

My Starting 4

Xander Schauffele (3rd selection this year) — He has the best average here over the last two years winning in 2017 and finishing 7th last year. When it’s an important tournament, count on Xander to be in contention.

Justin Thomas (5th selection this year) — The 2nd player with top 10 finishes both of the last two years. He comes in fresh off a win at the BMW Championship to boot!

Webb Simpson (4th selection this year) — Keep this train going, he finished top 15 each of the last two years here. Add that to his four consecutive top 25 finishes coming into this weekend.

Justin Rose (4th selection this year) — The third player who has top 10 finishes each of the last two years here – 10th in 2017 and 4th last year including a FedEx Cup Championship. H

My Bench 2

Tony Finau (5th selection this year) — 7th here in 2017 and 15th here last year, Tony has looked good with a fourth place finish in BMW bringing him into this week.

Dustin Johnson (5th selection this year) — He’s been in the top 20 each of the last two years here, he’s among the best golfers but he comes into this tournament with two 50th place finishes in his last four tournaments.

2019 Stats

Starting 4: Avg finish 46th (35th percentile)
Bench 2: Avg finish 63th (49th percentile)