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TOUR Championship 2019: Leaders remain bunched in hunt for the FedEx Cup

By Kathlene Bissell

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - AUGUST 23: Justin Thomas of the United States and Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland react on the 18th green during the second round of the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club on August 23, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - AUGUST 23: Justin Thomas of the United States and Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland react on the 18th green during the second round of the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club on August 23, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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The TOUR Championship has been delayed yet again due to poor weather at East Lake. Here’s a look at how the top of the leaderboard is shaking out in the race for the FedEx Cup.

In evaluating how this new staggered start of the FedEx Cup / Tour Championship is going, let’s look at where the contenders began and where they are now, after play was halted due to incoming weather.

At this juncture, serious contenders Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka and Xander Schauffele are tightly bunched, within two shots of each other. They didn’t start that close together, though.

Justin Thomas started the Tour Championship ranked No. 1, with an adjusted score of 10-under par. Through 41 holes, he is 12-under par, leading the tournament, still by a narrow margin.

Brooks Koepka walked off the first tee Thursday at 7-under par, in 3rd place in the FedEx Cup rankings. After 41 holes, he’s 11-under par, tied with Rory McIlroy for second.

Rory McIlroy began the Tour Championship ranked 5th in points.  He was at 5-under par then, but is now 11-under par with the same number of holes played as Thomas and Koepka.

Xander Schauffele has made a much bigger move. He began the Tour Championship in 8th place in the FedEx points. After 41 holes, he’s 10-under par, in 4th place.

Three others are very much within striking distance on Sunday including Chez Reavie, Paul Casey and Patrick Reed.

Reavie began the week in the lowest rank of the current contenders at 25th in the points and 1-under par.  Buoyed by a hole-in-one at the 9th in the second round, where he shot 64, he is currently tied 5th at 10-under.

Paul Casey started the Tour Championship in 16th place at 2-under par. He’s made the second biggest move as he’s now 9-under, tied for 5th with Reavie.

Patrick Reed began the Tour Championship in 4th place at 6-under par.  After 43 holes, he’s in 7th alone at 7-under par.

Patrick Cantlay, second in the FedEx Cup standings starting the week, has fallen from his 8-under start to 5-under through 42 holes. He’s tied for eighth with Adam Scott (started 13th), Matt Kuchar (started 7th) and Gary Woodland (started 11th).

Cantlay, Scott, Kuchar and Woodland are each seven shots back of the leader, and while that is a lot to make up, two golfers have posted 64s this week.  If everyone else stayed close to where they are now, any one of the four might be able to take over the lead with the number of holes remaining.

Lower on the leaderboard, the 4-unders, have finished more holes. Hideki Matsuyama is through 13. Kevin Kisner is through 12. However, Tony Finau is through only eight holes, and Jon Rahm has finished 10. They are eight shots back of the lead.

A 64 over 18 holes (par 70) and another 3-under par for anyone with nine holes remaining, might be the lowest score available on Sunday. A challenger eight shots back would really have to golf his ball to win.

So how is the new Tour Championship system working?

Commissioner Jay Monahan said to a few members of the media on Tuesday that this year’s staggered start system is “within a percentage point” of the previous year’s points system. But the radical idea of any golfer starting at 10-under par while others started at even par was a lot for competitors and media to wrap their collective heads around.

However, as Paul Casey noted after round two, “The year Bill Haas won, bless him, he didn’t know he won.”

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It seemed ridiculous to everybody at the time, but that’s the system that was in place. As Casey also added, not knowing can affect how a golfer plays.

“For a guy not to know where he stands or not to know that he won a FedEx Cup and not face that pressure and deal with that pressure, that, I think – that’s why I’m glad we’ve got the system we’ve got,” he said after two rounds of play.

What he didn’t say is some players are more susceptible to pressure than others. Some players – like Tiger Woods — eat pressure for lunch.

However, Casey’s comments show that the new scoring is still an adjustment.

“J.T.  (Justin Thomas) was 13-under a minute ago, and he’s really only 3-under,” Casey said. “I’m 7-under, and I’m still behind.” However, Casey’s score though 42 holes was 9-under.

Rory McIlroy is also using real scoring in his head, not the staggered start.

“I played well the last two days at 7-under par,” he said. “If we were all starting even par, I think that would be tied for the lead right now with Paul Casey.”

McIlroy was 12-under at the time.

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Whether the eventual winner admits to having thought about the $15 million prize will be interesting, just as interesting as seeing what are sure to be final round nerves take hold. Who will miss the fairways? Who will miss the putts? Who will overcome the stress and win? I can’t wait because with the staggered start, love it or hate it, we finally have a scoring system we can understand.

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