1. Jason Day, Australia — After claiming his first major title at the PGA Championship and winning four of his past six tournaments to grab the No. 1 spot in the World Golf Rankings, Day is the odds-on favorite to capture the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup. Included in his hot streak are six top-10 finishes in his past eight starts, with his only misses ties for 12th in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the Deutsche Bank Championship. The Aussie, who has won five times this season on the PGA Tour, has never finished out of the top 20 in the finale at East Lake, including a tie for fourth last year and a tie for sixth in 2011. Day can become the first player to win three times in the FedEx Cup playoffs in one season.
2. Henrik Stenson, Sweden — The 2013 FedEx Cup champion can join Tiger Woods (2007, 2009) as the only players to win the title twice if he wins the Tour Championship for the second time. Two years ago, he led all the way after opening with a 6-under-par 64 at East Lake and wound up winning by three strokes over Steve Stricker and Jordan Spieth. Even though he has not won, Stenson has been very good in the playoffs, finishing second in both The Barclays and the Deutsche Bank Championship before tying for 10th in the BMW Championship last week. The Swede, who is fourth in the point standings, has not won this year on the PGA Tour, but he has three runner-up finishes among his seven results in the top 10.
3. Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland — Despite losing his No. 1 ranking to Jason Day, McIlroy started playing the way he was before a left ankle injury in July when he tied for fourth in the BMW Championship last week. Even though he owns three wins this year, two on the PGA Tour, he is only ninth in the FedEx Cup standings and would need some help to take home the prize even if he wins the Tour Championship. McIlroy tied for second last year at East Lake, three shots behind FedEx Cup winner Billy Horschel, and he finished third in the points. Three years ago, he could have taken home the Cup with a victory in the finale, but he closed with a 74 to tie for 10th and finished second in the standings.
4. Jordan Spieth, United States — Finally starting to play a little like the guy who won four times during the regular season, including the Masters and the U.S. Open, Spieth tied for 13th in the BMW Championship. However, he was right in the hunt with a 65-66 start before fading on the weekend with 72-70. Still, he remains second in the FedEx Cup point standings, meaning he is guaranteed to take home the Cup if he wins the Tour Championship this week. Spieth tied for second in his first appearance at East Lake two years ago as a rookie, finishing three strokes behind Henrik Stenson and winding up seventh in the point standings. Last year, he tied for 27th in the finale and was 15th in the points.
5. Bubba Watson, United States — Holding down the final spot in the magic top five, Watson can claim the FedEx Cup with a victory this week in the Tour Championship. However, he has only one top-10 result in five appearances at East Lake, a tie for fifth in 2012, when he opened with 69-66 before falling back with 70-70 on the weekend. Last year, Watson was in line for another top-10 result, but he closed with a 73 and slid to solo 14th. He is enjoying a strong season, with victories in the WGC-HSBC Champions and the Travelers Championship among his career-high nine top-10 finishes. Watson has been solid in the FedEx Cup playoffs, too, finishing third in The Barclays and tying for 10th in the BMW Championship last week.
6. Rickie Fowler, United States — A breakthrough season, with victories in the Players Championship and the Deutsche Bank Championship in round two of the playoffs, has Fowler third in the point standings with a chance to take home the FedEx Cup with a victory in the Tour Championship this week. He wound up solo eighth in his second appearance at East Lake last year. He had a chance to win before closing with a 71 that left him six strokes behind FedEx Cup champion Billy Horschel and ninth in the point standings. Fowler, who tied for fourth in the BMW Championship last week, was in good shape four years ago at East Lake before closing with a 76 and sliding to a tie for 23rd.
7. Zach Johnson, United States — Johnson is enjoying a strong second half of the season, including a win in the Open Championship at St. Andrews, but he still needs help to take home the FedEx Cup because he is seventh in the point standings. Only the top five are guaranteed the prize with a victory. Johnson finished outside the top 25 only four times in his past 17 tournaments, a stretch that includes a tie for fourth in The Barclays, a tie for 22nd in the Deutsche Bank Championship and a tie for 13th in the BMW Championship during the playoffs. He finished in the top 10 on three occasions in eight starts in the Tour Championship, including a tie for second in 2007, a tie for ninth in 2010 and a tie for seventh two years ago.
8. Justin Rose, England — The Englishman could be something of a sleeper this week in the Tour Championship, as he comes in at 12th in the FedEx Cup point standings off a string of solid recent performances and a very strong history at East Lake. He finished no worse than a tie for fourth in his last three starts in the season finale and was tied for the lead heading to the final round in 2012 before Brandt Snedeker shot 68 to his 71 to claim both titles. Rose finished outside the top 16 only once in his past seven starts, and he wound up in the top 10 in seven tournaments this season, including a victory in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and a playoff loss to David Lingmerth in the Memorial.
9. Bill Haas, United States — The 2011 FedEx Cup champion had a good week, being selected as a captain’s pick for the Presidents Cup after finishing one spot out of the automatic berths, then tying for 19th with a closing 66 in the BMW Championship to qualify for the 30-man field in the Tour Championship at No. 26. Five years ago, he came from the furthest back in the point standings, No. 24, to win the FedEx Cup by beating Hunter Mahan in a playoff with the help of a shot out of the shallow water of a greenside lake. Haas captured the Humana Challenge early this season, one of his five top-10 finishes during the 2015-16 season, but once again he will need a load of help to join Tiger Woods as the only two-time winners of the FedEx Cup.
10. Brandt Snedeker, United States — Another FedEx Cup champion in the field for the Tour Championship, Snedeker is simply glad to be back in the season finale after failing to qualify for the 30-man field last season. After winning the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am early this year, he battled a hip injury but still managed to finish solo eighth in the U.S. Open and tie for 12th in the PGA Championship. Three years ago at East Lake, he played the weekend in 66-68 to take home the double crown with a three-stroke victory over Justin Rose. Snedeker tied for 20th as the defending champion. His victory is the only time he finished in the top 10 in four appearances at East Lake.
–Courtesy of The Sports Xchange, TSX Golf Editor Tom LaMarre
