If the PGA Tour is to continue with this , it can only hope that in subsequent years, the first two events of FedEx Cup Playoffs go as well as they have this time. Set aside concerns over scoring at the BMW Championship and you have a thoroughly engrossing tournament played out as head-to-head between two fascinating characters. Before that, Tony Finau secured the most popular victory of the year at the end of a dramatic Monday in New Jersey.
Not only have these two events gone the distance and played their part in the unfolding Ryder Cup story, but they leave us with a compelling stagger at East Lake, where FedEx Cup position dictates starting score. Last year, the world's best player was given a head start and never looked like losing. This time, Jon Rahm wears that crown and has four shots to find on Cantlay and Finau, with a punch-drunk DeChambeau in third place. The set-up is far more likely to produce something interesting from a fundamentally terrible system.
Whether it does or it doesn't, the PGA Tour has ultimately chosen a path which reduces the likelihood of close-knit Sundays. Perhaps they will get lucky this time. There is at least a stronger chance of that than there was in 2019, when Justin Thomas wore the target but Rory McIlroy ran away with the jackpot. In 2020, Johnson was shorter than 2/1 before hitting a shot. Every time you dared to consider that he might not win, he did something which made you feel foolish for having done so.
Sixth in birdie average, that also says much about how he goes about things and nobody has made more birdies than the 72-hole winner here since the staggered starts began. It's therefore no surprise that on his competitive debut at East Lake, where he had played a couple of times before, the Texan was second only to course specialist Schauffele, leading the field in strokes-gained approach and tee-to-green.
Scheffler started from eight behind as a rookie and is nine back here, meaning he will have no thoughts whatsoever about the $15m first prize. Nor should collecting his first official PGA Tour title come to mind and just as Schauffele was not burdened by a series of near-misses given that he was not the actual tournament leader, Scheffler is free to go out and play on the front foot.
That's not to say he's without something to sharpen focus, because the Ryder Cup team will be confirmed next week and this is his final chance to impress captain Steve Stricker. Surely, this has played a part in the performances of Finau and Cantlay, both outside automatic qualification before winning, and now the battle is on for wild card selection we should expect more candidates to strengthen their cases over the coming days.
McIlroy simply adores East Lake. He's won here twice, been second on another occasion, and played in the final group during Tiger Woods' tour de force in 2018, which probably cost him second or third as he fell to seventh. Last year, he got off to a fast start but couldn't kick on having arrived late following the birth of his daughter, and fourth place last week courtesy of a top-class driving performance sets him up perfectly for another strong bid.
Yes, his approach work still needs to get better and cost him the chance to challenge Cantlay and DeChambeau, but everything else is firing and it's been encouraging to see him putt better for returning to an old TaylorMade Spider which had been gathering dust in the garage.
McIlroy has contended here every single time he's played the TOUR Championship, leading at some stage in four of his seven appearances and sitting second, fifth and fourth through 54 holes of the others, and as we saw at Quail Hollow earlier in the year he's well capable of coming alive on courses where's he's enjoyed success before.
Throw in the fact he's further back than he would like, and that bar Schauffele those around him in the market have been far less effective here, and there's a lot to like.
The most recent of them came at Colonial, another tough par 70 with bermuda rough demanding strong driving, and while not quite at Garcia levels he is both long and well inside the top 30 off the tee this year. It's fair to say that his driver has been a little problematic lately but any improvement there would make him a big player, having ranked eighth in approaches and 12th in putting at the BMW Championship last week.
As with Scheffler, there's strong Ryder Cup motivation and as with McIlroy, he'll start the tournament eight shots behind. With plenty of form at similar courses to his name and his overall improvement on the greens having carried over to bermuda at Southwind recently, he can go well at 45/1.
It's been a good, solid run from the Spaniard from May onwards, with seven top-30 finishes in eight starts including dramatic improvement in majors, contending twice including at the Colonial in Texas, and rubber-stamping his Ryder Cup credentials.
The fact he's back at East Lake for the first time in four years tells you how well he's played bar a spring slump and a technical but long par 70 like this is perfect for him. We can't be sure he'll putt as well as he did last week, but any downturn could well be compensated by improved ball-striking and he can freewheel from down at the bottom of the leaderboard.
Posted at 1230 BST on 31/08/21
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at and .