After an exciting week in Colorado, the PGA Tour season concludes with the Tour Championship at the new-look East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. It all builds to this, as the top-30 players in the FedEx Cup standings look to capture the season-long prize of the FedEx Cup trophy and the $25 million that comes with it.

More from Golf Digest East Lake Revival Why the Tour Championship is going to look drastically different this year at East Lake

For those unfamiliar with the unique format this week, the player with the most FedEx Cup points heading into the week will start at 10-under par. The player with the second-most points starts at eight-under par. The third starts at seven under par, and so on all the way down to fifth at five-under par. Players ranked six through 10 begin at four under. Eleven through 15 at three under, and so on to numbers 26-30, who begin at even par. In two of the five years since the format change, the player starting at 10-under par has won the event, and no player starting below four under par has ever claimed the trophy.

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East Lake has been the Tour Championship host venue since the early 2000s, but the Donald Ross design will look awfully different in 2024. Andrew Green, who has completed highly regarded restorations of other championship golf courses such as Congressional, Inverness and Oak Hill, made a number of changes to East Lake ahead of the 2024 tournament. Changes include a full agronomy shift on the fairways and greens, and the switch of the 14th hole from a long par 4 to a short par 5. While I do not believe that Green’s restoration will demonstrably change the skill-set that we are looking for this week, I do expect the brand new greens to play incredibly firm this week, placing an increased emphasis on precise approach play. Let’s dive into the Tour Championship 2024 DFS slate for DraftKings contests.

$10,000 range Play: Scottie Scheffler, $12,200:

Coming off his worst performance since the U.S. Open, this might be as close to a buy-low opportunity as we get on Scottie Scheffler. I expect much of the ownership to go in the direction of Xander Schauffele this week, who possesses both better recent form and better course history, but the new-look East Lake, featuring rock hard greens and a heavy missed fairway penalty, should play perfectly for the reigning Masters champion.

Fade: Hideki Matsuyama, $10,100:

Icon Sportswire

I don’t know what to make of Hideki Matsuyama’s withdrawal last week from the BMW Championship. I won’t read too deeply into it, as his spot in the Tour Championship was already secured, but I still possess legitimate concerns about his fit at East Lake. Matsuyama has never really popped at this golf course, and the recent restoration raise further concerns about his inconsistencies off the tee.

Evan Schiller false Private East Lake Golf Club Atlanta, GA, United States 3.9 167 Panelists

• Second 100 Greatest
• Best In State

Tom Bendelow actually laid out the original course at East Lake, back when it was known as Atlanta Athletic Club, and that was the layout upon which Stewart Maiden taught the game to the now-legendary Bobby Jones. Donald Ross basically built a new course on the same spot in 1915, which remained untouched until changes were made before the 1963 Ryder Cup. When Atlanta Athletic moved to the suburbs in the late 1960s, the intown East Lake location fell on hard financial times until being rescued in the 1990s by businessman Tom Cousins, who made it a sterling fusion of corporate and inner-city involvement. Rees Jones redesigned most holes beginning in the mid-90s, making the course more reflective of his views of championship golf. After the PGA Tour reversed the nines for the 2016 Tour Championship (flipping the unpopular par-3 finish into the ninth hole), the club made the new routing permanent for regular play. East Lake underwent another major restoration following the 2023 Tour Championship, this time by Andrew Green, highlighting the course’s Donald Ross heritage. View Course $9,000 range Play: Patrick Cantlay, $9,400:

Harry How

Patrick Cantlay has been undeniably playing some solid golf over the last few months, yet he’s been just a few minor details off from truly contending. The former FedEx Cup champion gained strokes in all four major categories again last week at the BMW Championship, and now he returns to a comfortable spot in East Lake, where he has seen considerable success over the years.

Fade: Collin Morikawa, $9,100:

As much as I like this golf course for Collin Morikawa, something appears to be off for the two-time major winner. Morikawa is coming off back-to-back middling finishes in the first two events of the FedEx Cup playoffs with lackluster approach play. Morikawa will need his greatest weapon to find any form of success at East Lake, and I’m not sure we can count on that at the moment.

$8,000 range Play: Viktor Hovland, $8,300:

Christian Petersen

I continue to believe that Viktor Hovland is far closer than his results would suggest. Hovland gained another five strokes on approach last week at the BMW Championship, and he gained strokes around the green for the first time since the PGA Championship. Hovland shot the low score to win at East Lake last year, and I expect him to come out firing again.

Fade: Wyndham Clark, $8,100:

While Wyndham Clark is certainly playing some better golf to close the season, I still have concerns about his recent approach play and general fit at East Lake. Clark lost another four strokes on approach last week, and East Lake generally skews far more heavily in favor of accuracy over distance, and I prefer Clark on more bomber-friendly tracks.

$7,000 range Play: Sungjae Im, $7,500:

Christian Petersen

Sungjae Im feels like the ideal fit for East Lake, and he has already recorded a runner-up finish at this track. Im is also coming off an 11th at the BMW Championship where he gained over a stroke in both ball-striking categories, and he now returns to Southeastern Bermuda, where he has experienced considerable success over the course of his career.

Fade: Shane Lowry, $7,300:

Shane Lowry rallied last week to finish top 20 at the BMW Championship, but this will be his first appearance at East Lake. We have seen a downtick in ball-striking from Lowry since his top-10 at the Open Championship, and I wouldn’t be too keen to count on his putter here either.

$6,000 range Play: Sepp Straka, $6,700:

Dylan Buell

I always have interest in Sepp Straka on accuracy-biased courses that feature a high missed fairway penalty, and it should not come as a surprise that Straka has performed admirably before at East Lake. Straka is coming off a 13th-place finish at the BMW Championship, and I expect him to continue his momentum this week in Atlanta.

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Andy Lack is a PGA Tour writer and podcaster from New York City who now resides in Los Angeles. He hosts Inside Golf, a twice weekly podcast focused on the PGA Tour, betting, daily fantasy, golf course architecture, and interviews, as part of the BlueWire podcast network. As well as contributing to Golf Digest, Andy is also a data analyst and writer for Run Pure Sports, where he covers PGA Tour betting and daily fantasy. He came to Golf Digest’s betting panel after previously writing for RickRunGood.com, the Score and GolfWRX. In his free time, Andy can likely be found on a golf course. Follow him on Twitter: @adplacksports

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