Tiger Woods is on the course for second round of the Wells Fargo Championship

It’s the big 5-0! The 50-event super season concludes with this week’s TOUR Championship. If the playoff between Patrick Cantlay and Bryson DeChambeau at the BMW Championship was the pregame for the final celebration of 2020-21, then we’re in store for quite a show at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. After surviving six holes of sudden death to prevail on Sunday, Cantlay rose to No. 1 in the FedExCup standings, so he will start atop the leaderboard on Thursday. You’ll find the explanation for that, how Starting Strokes influenced the first two editions of the Playoffs finale and much more beneath the ranking. NOTE: This full-field Power Rankings includes starting score for every golfer in the field. POWER RANKINGS: TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP Tabulation of FedExCup points ended at the BMW Championship, so only scores matters now. Starting Strokes was introduced at the TOUR Championship in 2019. It’s the compromise between rewarding bodies of work in the long- and short-term, and the promise to crown the winner of the tournament as the FedExCup champion. Unlike all other stroke-play competitions, the golfer with the lowest 72-hole aggregate at the TOUR Championship isn’t necessarily going to be the winner, but that’s how it worked out when Rory McIlroy captured the title in 2019. As the 5-seed, he opened at 5-under, and then scored 13-under (267). His 72-hole aggregate was three better than the second-lowest, but all that mattered was that his final score in relation to par of 18-under (5-under + 13-under) was the best in the field. In fact, the winner is determined on score in relation to par with Starting Strokes contributing, and that did matter in the second spin. Starting Strokes aided Dustin Johnson in emerging with his first FedExCup title last year. He opened at 10-under, shot 11-under during the tournament and posted 21-under for a three-stroke victory. However, his 72-hole aggregate was 269 was good for just T3 without Starting Strokes contributing. Xander Schauffele was lowest at 15-under 265 but opened at just 3-under as the 14-seed, so he settled for co-runner-up (with Justin Thomas) at 18-under. Unlike trends based on FedExCup points and positions, which are unique to every season, Starting Strokes has laid the foundation for an apples-to-apples comparison between TOUR Championships. Consider that in each of the first two editions, exactly six golfers seeded 12th or worse upon arrival finished inside the top 10 in relation to par at the conclusion of their respective events. (That’s a total of 12 among the combined 21 top 10s.) The highest climb to date belongs to 25-seed Chez Reavie in 2019. He opened at 1-under, shot 5-under and finished eighth at 6-under. Last year’s biggest riser was Tyrrell Hatton, who opened at 2-under as the 19-seed, and then shot 10-under for a combined 12-under and seventh place. Of course, movement occurs in the other direction as well. Coincidentally given Sunday’s duel, the top drops of the first two TOUR Championships with Starting Strokes were Cantlay (2019) and DeChambeau (2020). Cantlay opened as the 2-seed and finished T21. DeChambeau finished 22nd last year as the 8-seed. After the unknown of Caves Valley, the familiar backdrop of East Lake awaits. It remains a stock par 70 at 7,346 yards with bermudagrass greens ready to roll up to 13 feet on the Stimpmeter. Primary rough again is 2½ inches high. Essentially, for the 28 who have given it a go here before, it’s an open-book examination. Yes, that means that debutants 10-seed Sam Burns and 27-seed Erik van Rooyen are cramming, but they aced the first two tests, anyway. After East Lake held up for a historically average 70.033 in 2019, it proved to be vulnerable last year at 68.917. It was its lowest scoring average since 2007, the last edition before Rees Jones’ second of three renovations to the course. (Course scoring averages are not influenced by Starting Strokes.) Despite that dip, because the course is the same, the objective is the same – hit greens and sink putts. However, setting up scoring opportunities also remains the primary challenge. East Lake held firm in allowing a customary 11.6 GIR per round last year, 12th-lowest among all courses last season. Getting the ball onto the putting surfaces is harder than getting it into the hole. Last year’s field converted one-third of GIR into par breakers. That also aligns with recent history, but it connected in salvaging par 60.81 percent of the time, a record high at East Lake. The pair of par 5s – Nos. 6 and 18 – are most vulnerable and always have been. En route to his victory, DJ recorded six birdies and two pars on the set to rank T5 in par-5 scoring for the week. He also supported the theme of how the long game trumps the accurate at East Lake. He was T2 in distance of all drives but 28th in fairways split, yet still finished T5 in GIR, T11 in proximity to the hole and third in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. His putting was good enough to total 20 birdies against nine bogeys. What’s left on the backside of Hurricane Ida that will skirt northern Georgia will be long gone by the time the turf on the first tee box is pierced on Thursday. Outstanding conditions throughout the tournament will allow for East Lake to present as planned. Daytime temperatures will climb into the 80s and winds will be light. A few pillows passing in the sky won’t develop into anything. In addition to forever being known as the 15th FedExCup champion, the winner also will record an official victory and a five-year PGA TOUR membership exemption. By qualifying for the Playoffs finale, all 30 in the field receive exemptions into the 2022 editions of the Masters, U.S. Open and The Open Championship if not already eligible. All prize money distributed is unofficial but very real. The winner pockets $15 million. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Fantasy Insider, Expert Picks SUNDAY: Qualifiers, Rookie Watch * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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NAPA, Calif. – During the award ceremony Sunday night after his second consecutive Safeway Open win, Brendan Steele saw celebrity chef Thomas Keller, who owns the award-winning The French Laundry. On Friday night, Steele had dined at the restaurant, which is 10 miles from the Silverado course. A year ago, Steele also dined at The French Laundry on Friday night. “The problem two years ago was I didn’t have dinner there on Friday night,â€� Steele said, referencing the last time he didn’t win at Silverado despite leading after 54 holes. “The last two years I had dinner there on Friday night and we got two wins out of it, so that’s definitely a tradition that’s not going to end.â€� Indeed, Steele would love nothing more than to continue filling up on whatever Silverado is willing to serve him. On Sunday, it was challenging scoring conditions, with Steele leaning on his knowledge and experience to shoot a 3-under 69 – one of just seven rounds in the 60s – to rally from a two-stroke deficit to start the day. He finished at 15 under, two strokes ahead of Tony Finau, who suffered a double bogey at the 14th hole that ultimately cost him a chance to force a playoff. After playing the front nine bogey free for the third straight day, Steele grabbed the lead for good, and then bounced back from a couple of bogeys by birdieing the par-5 16th and 18th holes. With short-game coach Chris Mason on his bag this week, Steele made the right adjustments with his club selection. “You can’t just figure out your shot a minute before you play it while somebody else is hitting because it changes by the time that comes up,â€� Steele said about the wind conditions. “So you have to have a sense as you’re getting into it whether you’ve got the right club or not. … Sometimes that works out, sometimes it doesn’t. Today it did.â€� Now Steele hopes to make the necessary adjustments that he hopes will pay off in, oh, about 10 months. After winning the Safeway Open a year ago, Steele maintained a solid position in the FedExCup standings for the entire regular season. He was 16th entering the Playoffs but failed to reach the TOUR Championship, eventually finishing 33rd in points. In retrospect, he blamed it on a focus shift. Instead of trying to win tournaments, he was simply trying to make cuts and gain points. “I really felt like at the end of the season through the summer, I definitely limited myself to what I was trying to achieve,â€� Steele explained. “I just wanted to make the TOUR Championship so bad, I was just trying to scratch and claw for every point I could … I wasn’t trying to win. I wasn’t trying to play my best. I was just trying to get whatever points I could – and I played right to that level where you could just barely miss. “I’m definitely going to try to not do that this year and just really move forward and try to win as many tournaments as I can and get myself into contention in majors and do all the things that everybody wants to do out here.â€� As for his dining plans for the Friday night of the 2018 Safeway Open? Well, The French Laundry is notoriously difficult to get a reservation, but Steele figures Keller might be able to set aside a table for the now two-time defending champ. “I hope so,â€� Steele said. “I hope I didn’t do anything to get myself kicked out.â€� OBSERVATIONS POSITIVES FOR FINAU. Tony Finau was at 14 under when he headed to the 14th hole, but any chance of winning seemed to evaporate when his drive finished under a tree, forcing him to punch out. It was indicative of his troubles off the tee – he hit just 6 of 14 fairways on Sunday – but the runner-up finish is his best result since winning the Puerto Rico Open 17 months ago. “Honestly I was happy with the way I hung in there,â€� Finau said. “I didn’t feel great over the ball. I didn’t hit a lot of quality shots off the tee coming in like I needed to.â€� TOUGH DAY FOR DUNCAN. Rookie Tyler Duncan, the leader after 36 and 54 holes, finished with a 3-over 75 after a rough start in which he bogeyed the first three holes. Duncan birdied the ninth hole to move to 11 under but could not manage a back-nine charge. He eventually finished tied for fifth. LEAVES FOR PHIL. On his second hole Sunday, Phil Mickelson backed away from his putt several times as leaves blew on the green near his ball. Afterward, Mickelson – who shot a 2-under 70 to finish tied for third at 12 under – was unclear about his options. “It’s blowing so that once you move (the leaves), they’re going to come back,â€� Mickelson said. “I don’t understand the rule that happened to somebody a couple weeks ago where a moving leaf hit a moving ball and you’re supposed to replay it. I don’t understand that. So now I’m wondering if I hit it and it hits a leaf, do I have to replay it? How does that all play out? I was not familiar with that rule and on that green, I kept thinking about it. It was a very awkward situation.” NOTABLES CHESSON HADLEY – Shared honors for most birdies this week with Mickelson, each one making 23 as they shared third place. Ten of those came when Hadley shot a course-record 61 in the second round. Hadley finished with a 73 on Sunday. GRAHAM DELAET – Shot an even-par 72 to finish tied for fifth. Sixteen of his 18 rounds at Silverado have been par or better. ANDREW LANDRY – His tie for seventh is his best result in 20 career PGA TOUR starts. He posted two eagles this week, including one on Sunday en route to his third consecutive round of 3-under 69. BRANDON HARKINS – The PGA TOUR rookie had the low round of the day, a 4-under 68 that included birdies in his last two holes. That moved him into a tie for ninth. QUOTABLES “It’s absolute carnage out there. … You couldn’t get it close. It was not possible to get the ball close to the hole unless there was some luck involved. The greens were chewed up. It was carnage. Carnage is the word for this afternoon.â€� – Chesson Hadley, discussing the challenging conditions Sunday “Being a West Coast guy, the greens are really good for me. I feel comfortable. I usually hole a lot of putts here.â€� – Brendan Steele, discussing his affinity for Silverado  SUPERLATIVES Low round: 4-under 68 by Brandon Hawkins. Longest drive: Kevin Tway, 411 yards at hole No. 18. Luke List had drives of 393 yards (at 13) and 390 yards (at 9). Longest putt: Andrew Landry, 39 feet, 7 inches at hole No. 18. Toughest hole: The 438-yard third hole, which played to a stroke average of 4.587. CALL OF THE DAY SHOT OF THE DAY BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA

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