Tag: 2023 FedEx Cup Playoffs

2023 Tour Championship Friday second-round tee times, TV/streaming info

Everything you need to know for the second round at East Lake.

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The first round of the 2023 Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta is in the books, and there are plenty of changes at the top of the leaderboard.

Scottie Scheffler started the day with a two-shot lead, but he’s ending it one shot back at 9 under after a 1-over 71. For the first time since 2019 when the Tour went to Starting Strokes format, the No. 1 seed is not holding at least a share of the first-round lead.

Meanwhile, there’s a three-way tied at the top. Collin Morikawa shot 9-under 61, the lowest score of his Tour career, to move to 10 under. Also at that number is Keegan Bradley, who shot 7-under 63 and Viktor Hovland, who won last week’s BMW Championship. He shot 2-under 68 in the first round and rounds out the group tied for the lead.

Rory McIlroy, dealing with a back injury, carded an even-par 70 and is three shots behind.

From tee times to TV and streaming info, here’s everything you need to know for the second round of the 2023 Tour Championship. All times Eastern.

Friday tee times

Tee time Players
11:26 a.m.
Nick Taylor, Emiliano Grillo
11:37 a.m.
Sungjae Im, Taylor Moore
11:48 a.m.
Tommy Fleetwood, Jordan Spieth
11:59 a.m.
Si Woo Kim, Tony Finau
12:10 p.m.
Lucas Glover, Corey Conners
12:21 p.m.
Sam Burns, Max Homa
12:32 p.m.
Sepp Straka, Jason Day
12:43 p.m.
Rickie Fowler, Patrick Cantlay
12:54 p.m.
Brian Harman, Tom Kim
1:05 p.m.
Xander Schauffele, Wyndham Clark
1:16 p.m.
Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton
1:27 p.m.
Matt Fitzpatrick, Rory McIlroy
1:38 p.m.
Adam Schenk, Russell Henley
1:49 p.m.
Viktor Hovland, Scottie Scheffler
2 p.m.
Collin Morikawa, Keegan Bradley

How to watch

You can watch Golf Channel for free on fuboTV. ESPN+ is the exclusive home for PGA Tour Live streaming. All times Eastern.

Friday, August 25

TV

Golf Channel: 1-6 p.m.

Radio

SiriusXM: 12-6 p.m.

STREAM

ESPN+: 11:15 a.m.-6 p.m.
Peacock: 1-6 p.m.

Saturday, August 26

TV

Golf Channel: 1-3 p.m.
CBS: 3-7 p.m.

Radio

SiriusXM: 2-7 p.m.

STREAM

ESPN+: 12-7 p.m.
Peacock: 1-3 p.m.

Sunday, August 27

TV

Golf Channel: 12-1:30 p.m.
CBS: 1:30-6 p.m.

Radio

SiriusXM: 1-6 p.m.

STREAM

ESPN+: 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
Peacock: 12-1:30 p.m.

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Defending champion Rory McIlroy playing Tour Championship despite back injury

As first reported by Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis, McIlroy is nursing an injury to his lower back.

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ATLANTA – Rory McIlroy teed off in the second to last group of the Tour Championship, but not without some concern.

As first reported by Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis, McIlroy, the defending champion in the FedEx Cup, is nursing an injury to his lower back suffered earlier this week at his home.

“It’s a muscular issue,” Lewis tweeted. “This morning he arrived at East Lake, received treatment and hit 20 balls, which was the first time he hit balls this week. He will it up today for Tour Championship but may have discomfort.”

McIlroy didn’t mention an injury during his pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday morning, but he also wasn’t asked if anything was ailing him. There is no pro-am at the Tour Championship and McIlroy took the last two days off to give his back a rest.

He finished third on Sunday at the BMW Championship and enters the Tour Championship in third place with a starting position of 7 under in the staggered-start tournament, three strokes behind Scottie Scheffler. Last year, McIlroy fell as many as 11 strokes behind before erasing a six-stroke deficit in the final round to become the first three-time champion of the FedEx Cup. He’s attempting to become the first player to win the Cup back-to-back.

McIlroy has $18 million reasons — the prize for winning the FedEx Cup — for attempting to play this week despite back trouble. There’s also a scenario where he could return to world No. 1.

McIlroy is expected to take next week off and then compete in the Horizon Irish Open (Sept. 7-10) followed by the BMW PGA Championship (Sept. 14-17) ahead of the Ryder Cup (Sept. 29-Oct. 1).

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Photos: Best merchandise at the 2023 Tour Championship in Atlanta

East Lake’s merch tent is loaded this week.

ATLANTA — The merchandise tent is one of the coolest places on property this week at East Lake Golf Club, home of the Tour Championship and the finale of the FedEx Cup.

Fans are literally hanging out there for the air conditioning. With temperatures expected to be in the upper 90s every day and the heat index to hit triple digits, I bumped into some friends on Wednesday who were doing just that — a veteran move if I’ve ever seen one.

But while fans are enjoying some cooler climes, they are also shopping with a plethora of brands to choose from —Peter Millar, Nike, Puma, Under Armour and adidas among the big names as well as Lululemon, Johnnie-O, Bobby Jones, Levelwear, TASC, Barstool Sports, Trap Golf, Ahead and Pukka. All your usual favorites can be found. Check out some of our favorites here.

Best 2023 Tour Championship gear and apparel

Check out our list of the best Tour Championship gear including brands like Nike, Adidas, Puma and more.

It’s the final week of the FedEx Cup Playoffs and now you too can look like you belong in the final 30 at East Lake.

We’ve done the digging and found the best Tour Championship apparel money can buy. Polos, pullovers, hats, t-shirts and more are featured on this list to help you find the perfect addition to your golf wardrobe.

If you’re looking for more than just Tour Championship gear, be sure to check out some of our favorite polos, shorts, pants, golf shoes, hats and more. Even though the summer is winding down, there’s still plenty of time to find your new favorite apparel item!

Jon Rahm or Scottie Scheffler? FedEx Cup finale may tip scales in PGA Tour Player of the Year race

“I’ve got to go with the guy who is winning more than the guy who is consistent,” Tony Finau said.

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ATLANTA – Tony Finau took a deep breath.

The question posed to him demanded some deep thought. Who would he be voting for as the PGA Tour Player of the Year? Some years, like when Tiger Woods wins three of four majors or 10 titles, it’s a cinch, but not this go-round.

“Man, I think that’s really hard,” Finau said. “This year, is it Jon Rahm or is it Scottie Scheffler?”

Finau wore a perplexed expression and it was evident that his mind was working double time to break it down.

“Scottie’s been unbelievable. He hasn’t finished outside the top 12 ever, right, and that’s an amazing accomplishment,” Finau said. “But because Rahm won a major and how hot Rahm’s year was, winning four alone in the calendar year and in the first four months, this year it’s got to be Rahmbo.”

Finau isn’t the only player who is torn in determining who will garner his vote for the Jack Nicklaus Award, which is voted on by the players. (The PGA of America gives its own Player of the Year award, which is based on a points system, and the Golf Writers Association of America chooses its own winner at the end of the calendar year.)

“It depends what you value,” Rory McIlroy said Wednesday during his pre-tournament press conference ahead of the Tour Championship at East Lake. “I think Scottie’s won twice this year, Jon’s won four times, Jon’s won the Masters, Scottie’s won the Players. If you go on total wins — it’s hard because how can you not — it’s going to be really difficult because Scottie’s had — he could end up with the best ball-striking season of all time. He’s hit the ball as good, if not better, than Tiger hit it in 2000, which is the benchmark for all of us. But I think Jon probably has a little more to show for his year. But I think it could come down to this week and who performs. But it’s a two-horse race between Jon and Scottie.”

Tour Championship: Picks to win | Thursday tee times, how to watch

Brian Harman, the Champion Golfer of the Year, agreed with that sentiment and predicted it would come down to the wire and depend on who wins the FedEx Cup. For Rahm, it could be déjà vu all over again. He narrowly lost the Player of the Year in 2021 to Patrick Cantlay, who won the FedEx Cup by a stroke over Rahm, but Rahm had captured the U.S. Open that season.

“Gosh, yeah, it’s so close,” Harman said. “Scottie’s had one of the most incredible stretches of ball striking that we’ve maybe ever seen in golf. And then Jon Rahm, especially at the beginning of the year, he just seemed almost unbeatable. They’re two incredible players and I don’t think there’s a bad choice for Player of the Year. I don’t have a specific opinion, no. They’re both really, really good. I certainly wouldn’t want to make one of ’em mad before I have to play against them week, so I’ll refrain.”

Xander Schauffele played Switzerland too.

“I think this week will be pretty important in determining who may win that,” he said.

Let’s go back to Finau, who came to his final answer on a difficult decision with the following logic: “I still believe the hardest thing to do on Tour is win; the second hardest thing is consistency,” he said. “I’ve got to go with the guy who is winning more than the guy who is consistent.”

But Finau left himself an out in case he changed his mind.

“If Scottie wins the FedEx Cup on Sunday,” he said, “I might be voting differently.”

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Photos: 2023 Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club

Check out some of the best photos from East Lake here.

The final event of the 2022-23 PGA Tour season is here as the top 30 in the FedEx Cup point standings are in Atlanta for the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club.

Under the Starting Strokes format, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler will begin the event at 10 under, two shots clear of Viktor Hovland, who is fresh off a win at the BMW Championship.

Three back of the Texan will be Rory McIlroy, the only three-time FedEx Cup winner. The Northern Irishman has now finished T-9 or better in nine straight starts thanks to his solo fourth at the BMW.

First place this week is worth a whopping $18 million in bonus money.

Here are some of the best photos from the week in the ATL.

A look back at every FedEx Cup Playoff champion, beginning with Tiger Woods

View all the former FedEx Cup Playoff champions, beginning with Tiger Woods in 2007.

The FedEx Cup Playoffs have gone through multiple format changes over the years, but one thing remains the same — a massive payout to the winner.

A total of $18 million goes to the winner of the PGA Tour’s season-long race. Only the top 30 players make their way to East Lake and are broken down into an aggregate scoring system that went into effect in 2019.

Since the FedEx Cup Playoffs began in 2007, 13 different champions have been crowned. Rory McIlroy leads the way with three FedEx Cups to his name, surpassing Tiger Woods’ record in 2019. The two all-time greats are the only players to claim multiple FedEx Cups.

Although the winner of the event has claimed an eight-figure prize since 2007, everyone who makes it to Atlanta goes home with a sizeable check in their back pocket.

Who will add their name to the list this year?

Scottie Scheffler has unfinished business at the 2023 Tour Championship

Scheffler is hoping to get his revenge this week at East Lake.

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ATLANTA – Scottie Scheffler has unfinished business this week at the Tour Championship.

A year ago, the world No. 1 squandered a six-stroke lead as Rory McIlroy mounted the largest final-round comeback in tournament history, shooting 66 to win the FedEx Cup by a stroke.

Scheffler helped McIlroy’s cause by making three bogeys in the first five holes.

“I don’t know if impatient is the right word, in the final round, but I just didn’t get off to a good start,” Scheffler recalled. “I remember walking down No. 8 and kind of just having a talk with myself about, you know, ‘This is why you practice, this is why you prepare,’ just kind of give yourself a little pump-up speech, and then after that I snapped right back in.”

Asked what he learned about that defeat, he said, “how much I like to fight out there.”

Tour Championship: Picks to win | Thursday tee times, how to watch

Scheffler returns to East Lake Golf Club this week feeling the sting of another close call on another Sunday. Scheffler looked poised to notch his third PGA Tour win of the season, and first since March, at the BMW Championship until Viktor Hovland closed with seven birdies in his final nine holes to race by him.

“I think it’s just quite difficult to win out here. I mean, like, last week I think is a great example, going into Sunday tied for the lead, and I think I was 5 under on 17 tee for the day on a golf course that’s hosted the U.S. Open and I got bypassed,” he said.

Scheffler has been a model of consistency all season, winning the WM Phoenix Open and the Players Championship and finishing T-12 or better in 19 of 22 starts. Stats guru Justin Ray noted on social media that if Scheffler hits 62 or more greens in regulation this week, he will be the first player to finish a Tour season with a greens-in-regulation percentage of 75 percent or higher since Tiger Woods in 2000.

“He could end up with the best ball-striking season of all time,” McIlroy noted on Wednesday. “He’s hit the ball as good, if not better, than Tiger hit it in 2000, which is the benchmark for all of us.”

Despite his otherworldly ball striking, Scheffler’s putter has kept him out of visiting the winner’s circle more often. Sunday will mark 168 days since Scheffler’s last win, during which he’s reeled off nine top-5 finishes in his last 12 starts.

“Any time I don’t win a tournament I’m disappointed, but being a professional golfer I think you try to find a way to live with that disappointment, because you just, you can’t win that often,” he said. “But I’m trying my best to do it every week.”

Don’t feel too bad for Scheffler – he’s earned more than $20 million this season, setting a Tour record and became the first player to enter the Tour Championship with the lead in the FedEx Cup two years in a row. He enters the tournament at 10 under in the staggered start, two strokes better than his closest pursuer Viktor Hovland. At the conclusion of the Tour Championship, the player with the lowest stroke total over 72 holes when combined with FedEx Cup starting strokes will be crowned the FedEx Cup champion.

“I feel like I’ve joked a decent amount about being No. 1, you don’t get any extra strokes and you show up this week and I do get some extra strokes. So it’s a bit strange, but it should be a fun week,” Scheffler said.

But starting in front is no guarantee of victory. As McIlroy noted, he fell as many as 11 strokes behind Scheffler after two holes of the opening round last year before completing his improbable comeback.

“If I can come back from 11 shots, I feel like everyone in this field should feel like they have a chance to win,” McIlroy said.

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Check the yardage book: East Lake for the 2023 Tour Championship

StrackaLine offers a hole-by-hole course guide for East Lake Golf Club.

East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta – site of the PGA Tour’s 2023 Tour Championship and the finale in the FedEx Cup Playoffs – originally was designed by Tom Bendelow and opened in 1908. Donald Ross redesigned the layout in 1913, and Rees Jones worked on the course in 1994.

Architect Andrew Green will begin another renovation, with a goal of returning many of the Ross features to East Lake, soon after the last putt drops in the Tour Championship.

East Lake ranks No. 5 on Golfweek’s Best 2023 list of top private clubs in Georgia, and it’s No. 92 on the list of top classic courses built before 1960 in the U.S.

The course will play to 7,346 yards and a par of 70 for the Tour Championship. Nos. 1 and 14 normally play as par 5s for members, but they will be listed as par 4s for the Tour Championship with only Nos. 6 and 18 playing as par 5s.

Thanks to yardage books provided by StrackaLine – the maker of detailed yardage books for thousands of courses around the world – we can see exactly the challenges the players face this week.

Jon Rahm on disruptive gambling fans: ‘I feel like we hear it every single round’

“It’s very easy, very, very easy in golf if you want to affect somebody,” Rahm said.

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During the third round of last week’s BMW Championship at Olympia Fields, gambling fans yelled at Max Homa and Chris Kirk in an attempt to influence their putting strokes.

Homa had some choice words for the fan after he signed his card: “He was cheering and yelling at Chris (Kirk) for missing his putt short, and he kept yelling that he had – one of them had $3 for me to make mine, and I got to the back of my back stroke, and he yelled, ‘pull it’ pretty loud[ly], and I made it right in the middle, and then I just started yelling at him, and then (caddie) Joe (Greiner) yelled at him.”

During his pre-tournament press conference at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Jon Rahm said that it happens a lot more than we may know.

“I feel like we hear it every single round,” Rahm said Tuesday ahead of this week’s Tour Championship. “That happens way more often than you guys may hear. I mean, it’s very, very present.

“In golf, spectators are very close, and even if they’re not directly talking to you, they’re close enough to where if they say to their buddy, I bet you 10 bucks he’s going to miss it, you hear it.

“So it happens more often than you think, yeah. But not only that, on the tee and down the fairway. I mean, luckily golf fans are pretty good for the most part and you’re hearing the positive, I got 20 bucks you make birdie here, things like that. But no, it’s more often than you think.”

Tour Championship: Picks to win | Thursday tee times, how to watch

When asked if the PGA Tour should step in and attempt to put an end to it, Rahm agreed.

“You know, in a game like this where you’re allowed to have your favorites, but it’s not a team aspect, right, it’s not a home team against a visiting team, I think the Tour maybe should look into it because you don’t want it to get out of hand, right? It’s very easy, very, very easy in golf if you want to affect somebody,” he said. “You’re so close, you can yell at the wrong time, and it’s very easy for that to happen.

“So I think they could look into it, but at the same time, it would be extremely difficult for the Tour to somehow control the 50,000 people scattered around the golf course, right? So it’s a complicated subject. You don’t want it to get out of control, but you also want to have the fans to have the experience they want to have.”

Rahm, who will begin the Tour Championship at 6 under, four back of Scottie Scheffler (10 under), is +800 (8/1) to win the FedEx Cup.

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