FedEx Cup Starting Strokes: Where the golfers will start, how much bonus money is on the line

August 30, 2021

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The Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta starts Thursday and it marks the end of the 50-event “super” season on the 2020-21 PGA Tour schedule.

The Tour Championship is also the final stop in the three-tournament FedEx Cup Playoffs, where a $15 million bonus prize awaits the champion. There is a total of $60 million in bonus money up for grabs at East Lake. Even the last-place player will pocket $395,000 this week.

This year marks the 15th season of the playoffs and the third time the Tour has used its Starting Strokes format, which was introduced for the first time in 2019.

It’s a staggered system whereby the golfer in the top position will start the Tour Championship at 10 under, the No. 2 golfer will start at 8 under and so on from there. This system was established to give players at the top of the points list the reward of a starting advantage in the Tour Championship.

By virtue of his playoff win over Bryson DeChambeau at Sunday’s BMW Championship, Patrick Cantlay will start in the top position.

Player	Starting position
Patrick Cantlay	-10
Tony Finau	-8
Bryson DeChambeau	-7
Jon Rahm	-6
Cameron Smith	-5
Justin Thomas	-4
Harris English	-4
Abraham Ancer	-4
Jordan Spieth	-4
Sam Burns	-4
Collin Morikawa	-3
Sungjae Im	-3
Viktor Hovland	-3
Louis Oosthuizen	-3
Dustin Johnson	-3
Rory McIlroy	-2
Xander Schauffele	-2
Jason Kokrak	-2
Kevin Na	-2
Brooks Koepka	-2
Corey Conners	-1
Hideki Matsuyama	-1
Stewart Cink	-1
Joaquinn Niemann	-1
Scottie Scheffler	-1
Daniel Berger	E
Erik van Rooyen	E
Sergio Garcia	E
Billy Horschel	E
Patrick Reed	E

Bonus money payout

1. $15,000,000
2. $5,000,000
3. $4,000,000
4. $3,000,000
5. $2,500,000
6. $1,900,000
7. $1,300,000
8. $1,100,000
9. $950,000
10. $830,000
11. $750,000
12. $705,000
13. $660,000
14. $620,000
15. $595,000
16. $570,000
17. $550,000
18. $535,000
19. $520,000
20. $505,000
21. $490,000
22. $478,000
23. $466,000
24. $456,000
25. $445,000
26. $435,000
27. $425,000
28. $415,000
29. $405,000
30. $395,000

Dustin Johnson won the FedEx Cup a year ago. Only two golfers have won multiple FedEx Cup titles: Tiger Woods in 2007 and 2009, and Rory McIlroy in 2016 and 2019.