May the best man win. The PGA Tour has reached its season finale, the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
Luckily for us, the Tour has done away with the starting strokes we saw the last few seasons, and now whoever wins this week, regardless of current FedEx Cup standing going into this week, will be crowned the FedEx Cup champion.
To me, it feels like an overcorrection from the starting strokes days, because what do you mean there's a 29 in 30 chance that Scottie Scheffler, with five wins and two majors, won't be the champion of the season-long points race because of one tournament in August?
I get that this is the best way to build drama for the viewing audience this week, but Scheffler has legitimately lapped the field in FedEx Cup points this year. Put his name on the trophy.
East Lake also offers some change via regression this week, as it will once again be a par-70 instead of the par-71 that it played as last year (just now getting word that Sahith Theegala finished third last year, so do with that what you will).
As is always the case with East Lake, driving accuracy and supreme ball striking will be the key to success here this week. Because it's only a 30-man field, the rankings this week are being limited to a top five 5 instead of the nine we usually throw out there during the year.
Let's end the season with another win, which would give us 16 winners on the season if we can pull it off. Man, dominant forces make this pretty easy. I do want to be on the record that, although he's not in the rankings, a Tommy Fleetwood win this week feels like the second-most likely outcome.
5. Ludvig Aberg
There was a point where I was worried about Ludvig's chances of making the Ryder Cup team this year, but this past month has solidified his spot at Bethpage.
With three top-10s in his last four starts, the 25-year-old Swede is finding his form again at exactly the right time. He made his debut at East Lake last year, and a cold putter kept him from threatening more than he did, but now the putter has been a weapon for Aberg lately.
The Swede's comeback is nearly complete, and a win at East Lake would fully return him to top five in the world conversations.
4. Ben Griffin
Here's hoping that Ben Griffin's creatine intake is a bit more regulated this week.
In all seriousness, being able to bounce back and shoot 1-under for the round after starting 6-over in your first three holes is extremely impressive, it's like when Tiger when 5-under on his last six after making a 10 on 12 at the 2020 Masters.
My affinity for Ben Griffin and those aviators has been well-trodden throughout this season, but his performance has justified the love. Griffin has established himself as a top-10 player in the world, he will be a net positive at Bethpage, and there's no reason why he won't be able to threaten for the FedEx Cup title this week.
3. Russell Henley
Quick congratulations to Russell Henley for getting one of the auto-qualified spots for Bethpage, where he'll make his Ryder Cup debut. Depending on how the captain's picks turn out, sticking an elite short game player like Henley with a Bryson or Scottie might make for a dominant U.S. pairing, the likes of which we haven't seen since the Spieth-Reed days.
Henley finished T3 the last time all 30 players started at even at East Lake, and he hasn't finished outside of the top 20 since the PGA Championship. When Henley's on, he plays really well, and of course, the home game models for the Macon-born Georgia alum are off the charts this week.
2. Rory McIlroy
The guy has only won here three times before. So, I genuinely don't care what McIlroy's form is coming into East Lake, as he'll always threaten.
On a run of five straight top-20s, McIlroy's putter has been the catalyst for his strong performances, not his usual driving prowess. If he can take the pressure off the driver, then McIlroy is going to have a field day walking around East Lake this week.
1. Scottie Scheffler
Just put his name on the trophy.
To me, it kind of invalidates the whole purpose of the FedEx Cup to not actually award the player who has performed the best throughout the entire season. It doesn't matter because Scottie is probably just going to go out and win by five or something this week.
He has that Tiger aura that rattles his competitors to their core. Look at how poorly Robert MacIntyre played in the final round at the BMW. The Scotsman was seeing ghosts out there, namely one phantom named Scottie Scheffler. Give the man the trophy, give the man his money, get the updates ready for the Bennett Scheffler graphics.