Golf

What to know ahead of the 2026 Tour Championship at East Lake

Get the scoop on the odds, the prize and the players to watch as the FedEx Cup playoffs conclude in Atlanta.
Scottie Scheffler tees off from the fifth hole during the PGA Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Atlanta. Top-ranked Scheffler enters the weekend as the favorite for the fifth straight year. (Jason Getz/AJC)
Scottie Scheffler tees off from the fifth hole during the PGA Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Atlanta. Top-ranked Scheffler enters the weekend as the favorite for the fifth straight year. (Jason Getz/AJC)
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The 2026 Tour Championship will take place this weekend at East Lake Golf Club.

Here’s what to know as the FedEx Cup playoffs conclude in Atlanta from Thursday through Sunday:

The odds

Thirty players are competing to become the season-long champion. Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler enters the weekend as the favorite for the fifth straight year (+330 odds per BetMGM).

He’s followed by three-time winner Rory McIlroy (+850), Ludvig Åberg (+1400), Wyndham Clark (+1400) — who just won the BMW Championship — and Xander Schauffele (+1400).

While Scheffler hasn’t been quite as dominant this year, he has a chance at his third victory that would likely earn his fifth consecutive Player of Year award (putting him in Tiger Woods’ company). Other players — namely Clark, who has three wins — would have cases for the award should they come out on top this weekend.

The prize

The FedEx Cup champion wins $10 million upon the weekend’s end. It’s the biggest winner’s share and purse ($40 million) for the 2026 PGA Tour season.

The newcomers

There are six newcomers in the field: Ryan Gerard; Alex Fitzpatrick; Alex Smalley; Kristoffer Reitan; Min Woo Lee; and Ryan Fox, who won the British Open for his first major title last month.

The multitime champs

Only Woods (2007, 2009) and McIlroy (2016, 2019, 2022) have won the event multiple times. Could someone like Scheffler or Patrick Cantlay join them this weekend?

The defending champ

Tommy Fleetwood, who visited with the Braves at Truist Park on Tuesday, is trying to become the first back-to-back FedEx Cup champion. He has +1600 odds. Before Fleetwood shot 2 over in the BMW Championship, he’d posted consecutive top-seven finishes. He’s missed only one cut in 2026, but he hasn’t won since he was at East Lake a year ago.

The local

Russell Henley is the lone Georgia native in this year’s field. The Macon native and University of Georgia product is No. 6 in the world rankings, but he isn’t among the favorites this weekend (+2500). Henley has six PGA Tour wins, but none in Georgia.

The future

The Tour Championship is leaving East Lake as its permanent home beginning in 2028. Instead, it will be a two-week match-play event with rotating hosts. East Lake could still be part of that plan. It’s hosted the event 25 times, including every year since 2005.

“East Lake is very much in the consideration set for future Tour Championship events for sure,” PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said. “We’ve had conversations with them. We’ll have more meetings this week.”