Top 30 golfers who qualified for the 2022 Tour Championship

The PGA Tour season is already knocking on the door of the last tournament of the year. Starting Thursday, the top 30 will battle it out at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta for the FedEx Cup playoff trophy and a fabulous $18 million. All participants are guaranteed to win and plenty of other perks for next season. Who’s among them?

The most interesting story in this regard was experienced on Sunday by American golfer Sahith Theegala. Thanks to an excellent performance in the final round of the BMW Championship, where he played 68 shots, he finished in a tie for fifth, which is good enough for thirtieth, or the very last possible place, which means a ticket to the final event on the PGA Tour this season.

Twenty-nine other lucky players could feel like winners on Sunday in Wilmington. Qualifying among the top 30 means, among other things, a guaranteed minimum earnings of $500,000 for finishing last at the Tour Championship, a ticket to the Masters, US Open and Open Championship with a number of other invitations to the most important tournaments next season.

In other words, just being on the Tour Championship guarantees players a luxury position for the upcoming year, and they can already earn a hefty sum during this week’s tournament.

Adam Scott was also knocking about his position in the top 30 on the last hole at the BMW Championship, having to play the 18th hole for par, only to play his second shot into the bunker. However, he then sent the ball less than a foot from the hole, which the TV commentators called the shot of the year for Scott, which has a realistic payout of one to one and a half million dollars.

Adam Scott is one of only two players to have made it to all sixteen FedEx Cup playoffs since its inception in 2007.

But all eyes will be on the biggest favourites from Thursday in Atlanta. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who finished tied for third at the BMW Championship, will start from the top spot and with a luxurious score of -10.

Last year’s tournament winner Patrick Catlay secured the second position in the FedEx Cup rankings with and opening score of -8 at the Tour Championship. A shot behind him will be starting American talent Will Zalatoris, who won the first three FedEx Cup events this year. Although he withdrew from the BMW Championship due to a back injury, he should be ready for the final PGA Tour event.

Also likely to be ready is Australian Cameron Smith, who was completely absent from the BMW Championship starting list. But he wanted to nurse the injury that has limited him in recent weeks so he would be ready to fight for the FedEx Cup crown, even though he is being heavily criticized by the public for being swept up in a tempting financial offer from rival organization LIV Golf.

However, there are plenty of other interesting names in the fray, including Olympic champion Xander Schauffele and Irish darling Rory McIlroy. This is what the list of all thirty players for the 2022 Tour Championship looks like.

Scottie Scheffler, -10
Patrick Cantlay, -8
Will Zalatoris, -7
Xander Schauffele, -6
Sam Burns, -5
Cameron Smith, -4
Rory McIlroy, -4
Tony Finau, -4
Sepp Straka, -4
Sungjae Im, -4
Jon Rahm, -3
Scott Stallings, -3
Justin Thomas, -3
Camerson Young, -3
Matt Fitzpatrick, -3
Max Homa, -2
Hideki Matsuyama, -2
Jordan Spieth, -2
Joaquin Niemann, -2
Viktor Hovland, -2
Collin Morikawa, -1
Billy Horschel, -1
Tom Hoge, -1
Corey Conners, -1
Brian Harman, -1
K.H. Lee, E
J.T. Poston, E
Sahith Theegala, E
Adam Scott, E
Aaron Wise, E

Source: PGA Tour, Golf Digest