Golf’s Best in Contention for FedEx Cup Title With Ryder Cup Spots Up for Grabs

ATLANTA – The FedEx Cup is often the subject of scrutiny, with all manner of opinions on how to make it better, especially as it relates to the season-ending event at East Lake Golf Club.

But one thing that is hard to argue: the format that began in 2007 has delivered meaningful golf at a time of year when PGA Tour golf typically limped into the wasteland of American football.

And so it is that we’ve come to the final day of the 2022-23 season. A schedule of official events that began last September will conclude Sunday with a FedEx Cup champion to be crowned and awarded with an $18 million bonus.

In the mix for the title are Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1-ranked player in the world; Jon Rahm, the reigning Masters champion; two-time major winner Collin Morikawa; perhaps the hottest player in golf, Viktor Hovland; Xander Schauffele, who twice shot the lowest 72-hole score here; and a few others will who will need a low round to have a chance at the FedEx title.

Here’s a look at how the final day of the PGA Tour season sets up.

Hovland has a chance to do what Patrick Cantlay did two years ago: capture the last two FedEx Cup playoff events and claim the title.

Hovland, who won the Memorial Tournament in June and contended at the Masters and PGA Championship, got hot last week outside of Chicago. He rode a back-nine 28 at Olympia Fields to a final-round 61 and victory at the BMW Championship. Then he began the week second in the FedEx Cup standings, meaning he was two strokes behind FedEx leader Scheffler when the strokes-adjusted Tour Championship began.

And Hovland, amid the high-90s temperatures in Atlanta, has hardly cooled off. He made just his second bogey of the tournament when he made a 5 at the 14th hole on Saturday, but he had a six-stroke lead at the time and that’s the advantage he will take into the final round.

“I don't think I've ever played this well before, with this stretch, just putting all the short game and stuff together,’’ Hovland said after shooting 4-under-par 66. “I've certainly hit the ball this good before. I feel like I've hit the ball better than I have this week and even last week.

“But it's just about putting it all together and it seemed like the good weeks that I've had before I've always managed to short-side myself or chip a couple times and end up out of contention. But the last few weeks have been—even this year I feel like I've just become a little bit more complete, and I don't have to hit it my best to be in contention. I don't have to hit every shot pure. I can miss it slightly and get up-and-down and move on.’’

It’s his tournament at this point and the golfer from Norway who went to Oklahoma State looks to be in great shape despite having Schauffele right behind him.

Schauffele won the Tour Championship in 2017. He shot the lowest 72-hole score in 2020 when there was no reward for such a feat unless you won the overall FedEx Cup title—which Dustin Johnson captured.

Something about East Lake brings out the best in him. This is his seventh consecutive appearance in the event, and he’s now managed 24 sub-par rounds in 27 tries. But he’s got ground to make up after a 68 which saw him miss a couple of putts he’d love to have back.

“Yeah, not good enough,’’ Schauffele said.

• Keegan Bradley could only manage an even-par round of 70 that leaves him seven strokes back. The winner of the Travelers Championship earlier this summer, Bradley has more to play for than the FedEx Cup, however. While one round is unlikely to make a difference, he’s still in the running for one of captain Zach Johnson’s U.S. Ryder Cup picks. A 63 like he shot on Thursday would help.

• Collin Morikawa had not made a bogey through two rounds, shooting 61-64. But he made a double at the fifth hole and added consecutive bogeys at the 10th and 11th holes. Without a victory this season, Morikawa will need a big final day to get his first since the 2021 DP World Tour Championship.

• Rahm and U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark probably find themselves too far back. They are tied for fifth with Scottie Scheffler at -11, nine behind Hovland. Rahm shot 71 a day after a 65.

• Scheffler seemed poised to exact some revenge for last year’s Tour Championship, where he blew a six-shot final-round lead to Rory McIlroy. But for the second time this week, Scheffler hit his tee shot in the water at the par-4 15th and his round of 73 saw four bogeys and just a single birdie.

The No. 1-ranked player in the world has had a phenomenal year, with a Players Championship victory and a good stretch of time atop the FedEx Cup standings. But he will need to put in some work to even match last year’s tie for second finish.

• Defending champion Rory McIlroy fell out of contention Saturday with a 71, leaving him 11 shots back. Dealing with a back injury suffered at home earlier in the week, McIlroy has clearly been off and admitted he’s not trying to do too much. A busy stretch ensues as he has the Irish Open and the BMW PGA Championship coming up after a one-week break. Then two weeks after the PGA comes the Ryder Cup.