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ATLANTA – The top 30 players in the FedEx Cup standings have arrived at East Lake, where they’ll be playing for a season-long trophy and a stupid amount of money at this week’s Tour Championship in Atlanta.
This is the first year of the new staggered scoring system, which does away with the points projection of old and boils it down to a simple numbers game. Justin Thomas starts the week at 10 under after moving to No. 1 in the standings with his BMW victory. Patrick Cantlay is No. 2 and starts the week at 8 under, Brooks Koepka is No. 3 and starts at 7 under, so on and so forth.
The player who finishes at the top of the handicapped leaderboard takes the $15 million prize as FedEx Cup Champion, regardless of where they started the week.
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That’s a twist for fantasy purposes, but the bottom line is still the same – find the guys playing the best golf at the right time and everything takes care of itself. Our rankings below do not take the staggered scoring into account, and should be weighed as such when settling on lineups for the week.
Here are my rankings for the entire field at the 2019 Tour Championship.
30. Chez Reavie
Has now gone six starts without a top-25 since his victory at the Travelers.
29. Corey Conners
Making East Lake debut after T-7 finish at the BMW Championship, with no missed cuts since the British Open.
28. Charles Howell III
Back at East Lake for the first time since 2011, when he finished T-6.
27. Marc Leishman
Hasn’t played well at this venue and struggling to see consistent results in recent months.
26. Lucas Glover
First Tour Championship since 2009 for Glover, who capped a feel-good comeback season by securing his spot with a T-7 at the BMW.
25. Gary Woodland
T-31 at last week’s BMW was his best result in five starts since winning the U.S. Open.
24. Bryson DeChambeau
Lost out on a chance at the FedEx Cup here last year and hasn’t seen strong results over the past month.
23. Sungjae Im
Only rookie in the field this week and still going strong after making a remarkable 34 starts this season.
22. Kevin Kisner
Game is trending up with a T-9 at BMW and T-12 at Northern Trust. Finished T-3 here in 2017. Sneaky play.
21. Jason Kokrak
Riding three straight top-20 finishes and trending up entering his East Lake debut.
20. Abraham Ancer
Here for the first time in his young career thanks to that solo second at the Northern Trust.
19. Brandt Snedeker
Coming in hot after a T-5 at BMW and T-6 at Northern Trust. Won here in 2012.
18. Paul Casey
Very strong course history with four top-5 finishes and nothing worse than T-11.
17. Tony Finau
Solo fourth at BMW to lock up his third career Tour Championship appearance, with a T-15 and T-7 previously at East Lake.
16. Adam Scott
Won here way back in 2006 and boasts five top-10s in 11 career starts.
15. Tommy Fleetwood
Keeps putting himself in the mix from week-to-week and has been in good form all summer.
14. Louis Oosthuizen
Four straight starts of T-20 or better and back in a good spot after a post-U.S. Open dip.
13. Matt Kuchar
Enjoying his best season in years, but he’s never finished better than T-10 at East Lake in eight tries.
12. Rickie Fowler
Up-and-down of late, but the game looked good at Medinah and past experience here is always a plus.
11. Justin Rose
We’re more focused on six consecutive top-10 finishes at East lake than his down week at the BMW.
10. Xander Schauffele
Followed his breakthrough win at the 2017 Tour Championship with a T-7 last year.
9. Dustin Johnson
Five top-10s in nine starts at this venue, but DJ has definitely looked out of sorts since the U.S. Open.
8. Hideki Matsuyama
Putter was on fire at Medinah, and that’s generally the only thing missing from Matsuyama’s game. Look out this week.
7. Patrick Reed
Hasn’t played well at this venue, but game had been trending up for a while ahead of Northern Trust victory.
6. Webb Simpson
Comes in with 11 consecutive starts of T-30 or better, including two solo seconds in his last four.
5. Jon Rahm
Top-5 in each of the first two playoff events and ending the season on an absolute tear, including win at the Irish Open.
4. Brooks Koepka
Didn’t make much noise in the first two weeks, but finishing strong for a $15 million win at East Lake would be extremely on-brand.
3. Rory McIlroy
The 2016 champ might not be getting enough credit for a ridiculously good season, Players Championship included.
2. Patrick Cantlay
Solo second last week after a T-12 at the Northern Trust. Tough to find any weaknesses in the game right now.
1. Justin Thomas
Blitzed the BMW field to get back in the winner’s circle ahead of East Lake, where he’s finished T-7, solo second and T-6 in three prior starts.