PGA Best Bets: FedEx Cup Finale at Renovated East Lake Golf Club
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00:00It is the FedEx Cup postseason finale this week, where it always ends at the Tour Championship
00:09at Eastlake in Atlanta, Georgia.
00:11A man on the road throughout the FedEx Cup playoffs at the third and final spot, Keith
00:17Stewart joins us live right here on this Tuesday on the Early Line on SportsScreen.
00:21Keith, as always, we appreciate the time.
00:24Thanks for being here on the Spiz Grizz Network.
00:27Well, you know what, Donnie, Ben, it's great to be back with you on a Tuesday, but it's
00:31not great to be back in the heat and the humidity of sea level.
00:34Man, it was spectacular last week in Denver.
00:37I didn't know how good I had it, but we're back here in hot Atlanta and we're ready to
00:41go on a brand new, newly renovated Eastlake Golf Club.
00:46And we'll see what that means this week for the Tour Championship.
00:50Last week out in Castle Rock, Colorado at the BMW Championship, the second leg of three
00:56in the FedEx Cup playoffs, it was the United States Rider Cup captain in 2025, Keegan Bradley
01:01still doing it out there with the sticks, winning that second leg.
01:05He will enter Eastlake in fourth out of the 30 guys that have made it to the Tour Championship.
01:11And Keith, it looks a little bit different this week.
01:14You have the starting strokes, the staggered start component of the Tour Championship.
01:19As simply as you can, explain the format, please, to all of our viewers here on the
01:24Early Line.
01:26So all of these guys, the top 30 that have made their way here to Eastlake for the Tour
01:30Championship have been accumulating FedEx Cup points since January.
01:35Wherever you lie on the FedEx Cup list through the top 30 is where you get these staggered
01:41strokes.
01:42And the Tour did this back in 2019 in an effort to not have a winner at Eastlake, but also
01:47a FedEx Cup winner.
01:48So they're giving an advantage to those who have played the best.
01:51So number one at 10 under par, starting before the tournament even begins, is Scotty Scheffler.
01:56The number one player in the world, seven wins, a gold medal and a green jacket does
02:01get you something.
02:02It gets him two strokes over number two, which is Xander Schauffele, who's got those two
02:06major championships.
02:07He's back there at eight under par.
02:09And then it goes down the list from there.
02:11So this way, whoever wins on Sunday, whoever has the lowest score on the scoreboard will
02:17be your FedEx Cup champion and earn $25 million.
02:23Big time payday up for grabs.
02:24Keith, tell us a little bit about the Eastlake Golf Club there.
02:27Looks like a par 70, about 7,300 yards.
02:29How does this set up?
02:30And also, who might it benefit this golf course here during this tournament this week?
02:34Well, Donnie, here's the thing.
02:37It was a par 70, but since last year's tournament, they brought in architect Andrew Green.
02:42He redid Oak Hill for the PGA, famous name, up and comer in the architecture business.
02:48And they spent all year, and it's been a tight timeline, but they have redesigned the golf
02:53course.
02:54They have renovated back to those Donald Ross days.
02:56Forgotten are the muted moguls of Reese Jones, when he came in and he kind of turned this
03:02place into just a Bermuda Gardens.
03:05It's back.
03:06It's authentic.
03:07And it's back to that Donald design that everybody is going to love.
03:10He's opened up a lot of the view lines.
03:13He has given these guys the opportunity to now play a classic design with a little bit
03:18of a modern twist.
03:20We're going to add one par.
03:21It's going to be par 71.
03:22The 14th hole is going to go from a four to a five, and we're going to add 144 yards.
03:28But here's the kicker, and this is why Green knows what he's doing.
03:31He lengthened 14 holes, but he shortened three of them.
03:34And keep an eye on that eighth hole.
03:36It is along the East Lake, and it is a drivable par four now, which is going to be really,
03:41really entertaining.
03:42So, Keith, the last two years, Scotty Scheffler, world number one, has entered East Lake at
03:4810 under in the top spot in the FedEx Cup standings, but he has failed to win the FedEx
03:54Cup.
03:55Rory McIlroy back in 2022, Victor Hovland getting it done in 2023.
04:00In fact, Scheffler has struggled a little bit at the Tour Championship.
04:03He has called the staggered start, the starting strokes format, silly, even as recently as
04:09the last few weeks.
04:11Scotty Scheffler, for a third straight year, enters Atlanta in that top spot, the favorite
04:17to win the FedEx Cup.
04:18Will year number three be the charm for Scotty Scheffler?
04:22Ben, I'm not so sure.
04:25I think Scotty's in his own head, and we saw it last week out in Denver.
04:28He didn't play very well adjusting to the altitude, and it seems like when everything's
04:33cookie cutter, Scotty is no doubt the best player in the field, but when there's anything
04:37that throws him off just the slightest bit, oh boy, I would watch out for Xander.
04:42I mean, I think he is definitely the play to win the FedEx Cup.
04:45He's only two strokes behind, and you look at his history here at East Lake, and I know
04:50there's been a redesign, but in seven trips previously, he has won the gross low score
04:55three times, right?
04:57So even through the staggered start, this guy is still playing the best over four rounds
05:02and making the most birdies with him in second place, and last week in the press room, he
05:08was all fired up to get down here and get to one of his favorite places on tour.
05:13I think Scotty's in a lot of trouble.
05:15I think it's going to be three for three that Scotty loses the FedEx Cup on the final week
05:19of the year.
05:20How about that?
05:21You take a look at Scotty Scheffler at the FanBlue Sportsbook, plus 110 price to see
05:25Xander Schauffele at a plus 230 price, but you've got some big numbers for some really
05:28good golfers, Keith.
05:30Give me a guy or two maybe down the board that you might be hunting this week at East Lake.
05:35All right.
05:36So there's two different ways to play this, guys.
05:38There'll be a shadow tournament out there, which will be the 72 hole gross score.
05:42So forget the starting strokes, and that's where you're going to get the longer numbers.
05:46And there's a guy by the name of Sam Bermuda Burns, and we are down here where the Bermuda
05:51grass is just flourishing, especially on those greens, which are recently planted.
05:56And here's the thing.
05:57As a PGA professional, I'm here to tell you that when you plant those greens, when they
06:00first come out, they are super, super grainy.
06:03So this will be as Bermuda as it gets down here.
06:05And Sam Burns in the gross tournament, forget those staggered start strokes, right?
06:11That's going to cut everyone's numbers super, super short.
06:14Find it on FanDuel.
06:15Look for the shadow tournament for the 72 hole gross winner.
06:19And I like Sam Burns, right?
06:20Okay, guys, 12th at the 3M, 5th at the St. Jude on Bermuda grass, 2nd last week out there
06:28in Denver.
06:29The guy is playing great, and there's no doubt he can adjust to these new greens and make
06:34a ton of birdies.
06:36So Xander Schauffele at plus 230.
06:38Keith likes the look with the early leans here on the early line to be that FedExCup
06:43champion when all is said and done.
06:46And Sam Burns just to have the best week in Atlanta at Eastlake.
06:50That is the structure of the tour championship, the third and final spot at the FedExCup postseason.
06:56Keith, battle that humidity down there in Atlanta, and if you see Brent Key, the head
07:01coach of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, tell him congrats from both of us on a great
07:06outright victory over Florida State and Dublin.
07:09I'm going to spend some time over at Georgia Tech, no doubt, with the golf team.
07:13So I'll be sure to look him up and pass along your words on the early line.
07:18We appreciate the time, enjoy the week at Eastlake, more on the early line up next.