The final ‘War of Money’ of the PGA Tour season begins.
The Tour Championship, the final round of the PGA Tour playoffs, will be held at East Lake Golf Club (par 70) in Atlanta, Georgia, USA for four days from the 25th (Korean time). Only 30 players who survived through the first and second rounds of the playoffs held over the past two weeks can participate in this tournament.
As it is the final game of the season, the prize money is astronomical. The winner will receive a bonus prize of 18 million dollars (approximately 24.13 billion won). Even if you place 30th, the lowest, you will receive a prize of 500,000 dollars (approximately 670 million won).
The way the game is played is rather unique. The 30 players will start the game with bonus strokes based on FedEx rankings. The first place in the FedEx Cup rankings starts at 10 under par, and the second place starts at 8 under par.
3rd place is 7 under par, 4th place is 6 under par, 5th place is 5 under par, and 6th to 10th place is 4 under par. 11th to 15th place 3 under par, 16th to 20th place 2 under par, 21st to 25th place 1 under par, 26th to 30th place no bonus strokes.
The players at the top of the FedEx Cup rankings will start the match from an advantageous position. However, there is no guarantee that the first place in the rankings will win. Last year, Rory McIlroy started at 4 under par and overcame his 6-stroke lead to turn around.
This year’s Tour Championship will feature three Korean players: Lim Seong-jae, Kim Joo-hyung and Kim Si-woo. Im Seong-jae, ranked 17th in the FedEx Cup rankings, starts the game with a bonus stroke of 2 under par. Lim Seong-jae, who is participating in the final round of the playoffs for five consecutive years, tied for second place last year, the best Korean ever.
Im Seong-jae is showing good performance in the playoff series. He tied for 6th in the FedEx St. Jude Championship in the first leg and placed 7th in the BMW Championship in the second leg, ranking in the top 10 for two weeks in a row. The PGA Tour placed Lim Seong-jae in 7th place in the power rankings for predicting winning candidates.
Kim Joo-hyung will make his first appearance in the final match of the playoffs. He starts the game at 16th in the FedEx Cup rankings with two-under-par bonus strokes.
This season, Kim Joo-hyung won the championship once and made it to the top 10 eight times. It is also strong in driving, hitting 7 under par only in the final round of the BMW Championship last week.
Kim Joo-hyung was ranked 13th in the power rankings. The PGA evaluated, “I took revenge for being pushed out of the top 30 at last year’s BMW Championship.”안전놀이터
Kim Si-woo is 20th in the FedEx Cup rankings and goes to the Tour Championship. It is the last appearance in 7 years since 2016. Like Lim Seong-jae and Kim Joo-hyung, he gets a bonus stroke of 2 under par.
Kim Si-woo also won the championship this season and showed his potential. Kim Si-woo, who showed concentration at the end of the season, is ranked 16th in the power ranking.
FedEx Cup ranking No. 1 Scotty Scheffler will start the game at 10 under par again this year. Viktor Hoblan, who reached the top in the BMW Championship in the second leg of the playoffs, will receive a bonus stroke of 8 under par.
McIlroy, the “defending champion,” who starts the game with a 7-under par, will challenge for the 4th win in his career.