ATLANTA — They are on nearly opposite ends of the Tour Championship field.
The favorite: Scottie Scheffler enters as the FedEx Cup point standings leader, a familiar place for the world’s No. 1 golfer. The inspirational story: Gary Woodland made big moves during the playoffs and overcame adversity to enter 18th in the 30-player field.
Both have an equal chance of winning the tournament and the $10 million top prize. Thanks to the format change before last year’s playoff finale, there are no strokes given for starting position. Win the tournament and win the FedEx Cup championship.
East Lake Golf Club has meant a lot to Scheffler’s career — good and bad.
He had a heartbreaking loss in the 2022 Tour Championship, losing to Rory McIlroy. He finally broke through with a victory and the FedEx Cup title in 2024. Scheffler has been at the top of the points standings many times. He is there again as the Tour Championship begins Thursday.
Scheffler, recovering from hand, foot and mouth disease, has at least two more chances at East Lake Golf Club, as the new Tour Championship Series begins in 2028. The two-week, match-play playoff will be held at different venues. While East Lake’s run of consecutive Tour Championship finale sites will likely end at 24 next year, it remains under consideration for future Tour Championships.
“When I came here in 2024, I had the lead in the FedEx Cup for like six months. In order to win the FedEx Cup, you have to play good at a golf course that I hadn’t really played my best golf at yet,” Scheffler said Wednesday. “So, to come here in ‘24 the way I did and play well and win the tournament, that was a big moment for me in my career because it was a place I had a tough loss and hadn’t played my best golf yet.
“I had been the best golfer the whole year, and I really wanted to be able to win the FedEx Cup. And for me that was a big moment to finish off the year the right way, a year in which I won a bunch of times, to be able to finish off with a win and be the season-long winner on tour was really important to me.”
Scheffler has been a regular at the Tour Championship with seven consecutive appearances (with four top-five finishes). Woodland is back after a seven-year absence filled with trials and tribulations, including brain surgery.
In this return, Woodland won’t be giving strokes, especially to his friend Scheffler.
“You show up now, and everyone has a chance to win,” Woodland said. “I think that’s a big deal. … You’re spotting Scottie six or seven shots. We had a hard enough time not spotting him any shots.
“It gives you an attitude. I’m showing up here to win, there’s no doubt about it. I’m not here as a celebratory tour because I’m finishing top 30. I’m here playing with a purpose, and I’m expecting to go out and do that.”
Woodland is continuing his inspirational and emotional journey. He was in tears last week after moving from 31st, outside the Tour Championship field, to 18th with a tie for fourth place at the BMW Championship.
Woodland underwent brain surgery in 2023 to remove a tumor and has been battling PTSD since the operation. The battle continues. For example, Woodland said drones bothered him for 15 holes during Saturday’s third round of the BMW Championship. After he asked for help, Tour security and a rules official made them go away. On a scale of feeling well, there are days when he is a 10 and days when he is a one.
“This is the only dream I’ve ever had is to be a professional athlete,” Woodland said. “I owe it to my childhood self to fight every day. There’s a lot of days where I don’t want to do it. There’s a lot of days I don’t want to fight, but my wife reminds me why I am. It’s a tribute to my family who sacrificed so much and gave everything for me to go out and live my dreams.
“I owe it to everyone else. … This is way bigger than me now. I owe it to them, and I owe it to everyone else that is struggling. I had a kid in Memphis (at the playoff St. Jude Championship) who flew over from New Zealand who’s 11 years old and has an inoperable brain tumor, and he wanted to meet me. Wednesday through Sunday, he walked every hole with me. I owe it to him. This is a lot bigger than myself now, I realize that. So, when I’m struggling, I fight for them.”
Scheffler revealed after his final round at the BMW Championship that he had been diagnosed with hand, foot and mouth disease, a common viral illness that affects mostly children and causes sores in the mouth and a rash on the hands and feet. It made it very difficult to grip a golf club. Scheffler said Wednesday that he is “95%” recovered and now has only a few sores in his throat.
Tommy Fleetwood won the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup titles last year in the first without the starting-strokes format. If the strokes format had been used, Scheffler would have won that FedEx Cup title. What a difference a year makes.
Scheffler, as the standings leader, will be in the final pairing for the first round Thursday.
