Brandel Chamblee has highlighted a unique record at the Tour Championship that only Tiger Woods has achieved. Woods is the only FedEx Cup leader in 17 years to have shot the lowest score at the season finale after entering the tournament as the leader. This statistic puts the odds against Scottie Scheffler, who is currently leading the season-long standings.

The Tour Championship is set to tee off on Thursday, August 29, at East Lake Golf Club. Scheffler will enter the tournament as the FedEx Cup leader with a 10-stroke advantage.

However, Brandel Chamblee, the former PGA Tour professional-turned-golf analyst, believes that despite the significant advantage, the World No. 1 is not guaranteed to win.

“In the 17 year history of the FedExCup playoffs the leader going into the Tour Championship has only once shot the lowest score at East Lake. (Tiger Woods 2007 shot 23 under to win by 8),” he wrote on X. “In fact the average ‘raw’ finish of the FedExCup leader at the Tour Championship is just a shade under 12th in the 30 man field.”
“In ‘raw’ cscore Scheffler finished 21st last year and 13th the year before. Hard to explain the average poor performance of the FedExCup leader at the Tour Championship without considering the spotlight and the pressure of tens of millions of dollars,” he added.

Last year, too, Scheffler entered as the FedEx Cup leader but eventually finished sixth after the third playoff event. He will be determined to change the trend this time.

Past winners and scores at the Tour Championship explored

Here’s a look at the past winners at East Lake Golf Club and their scores:

2023: Viktor Hovland: −27 (−8)
2022: Rory McIlroy: −21 (−4)
2021: Patrick Cantlay: −21 (−10)
2020: Dustin Johnson: −21 (−10)
2019: Rory McIlroy: −18 (−5)
2018: Tiger Woods: −11
2017: Xander Schauffele: −12
2016: Rory McIlroy: −12
2015: Jordan Spieth: −9
2014: Billy Horschel: −11
2013: Henrik Stenson: −13
2012: Brandt Snedeker: −10
2011: Bill Haas: −8
2010: Jim Furyk: −8
2009: Phil Mickelson: −9
2008: Camilo Villegas: −7
2007: Tiger Woods: −23

Note: The new format was adopted in 2019. The starting scores of the winners from 2019 onwards are given in brackets.

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Edited by Shobhit Kukreti