2024 Tour Championship: Top 5 power rankings at East Lake Golf Club

2) Rory McIlroy (four-under)

Majors are one thing, but nobody revels the Tour Championship quite like Rory McIlroy.

He won by four strokes at East Lake in 2019, when he started five shots back.

In 2022, he began six strokes back. On Sunday, he found himself in the final group with Scottie Scheffler, out-dueling him to win by a stroke.

He has an affinity for Ross-style tracks, and East Lake suits his eye like no other course. Over the past 36 rounds, he ranks second in the field in strokes gained on Donald Ross courses.

I mentioned Clark and Burns as players who are well-equipped to chase down the leaders, but McIlroy has demonstrated time and time again that he is the best man for the job.

Scheffler and Schauffele, sitting at ten and eight-under respectively, know that McIlroy is ready to hunt.

1) Xander Schauffele (eight-under)

Death, taxes, and Xander Schauffele at East Lake.

The 2024 Tour Championship marks Schauffele's eighth straight start at East Lake; Tony Finau is his only company (eight straight starts as well).

But unlike Finau, Schauffele has terrorized East Lake in the past, with a win in 2017 and three second-place finishes in his last six tries.

Few, if any, are striking the ball better than Xander right now. At eight-under, he is in the perfect position to capture his second win at East Lake.

As Xander's dad, Stefan Schauffele, said, "Seter tropfen höhlt den stein." A constant drip wears away the stone.

Xander conquered two stones this year; it's time he conquers another.