By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
Only two PGA Tour players, two-time 2024 major championship winner Xander Schauffele and Choudrant resident Sam Burns, have posted top 5 finishes in both FedEx Cup playoff events heading into the first round of the Tour Championship today in Atlanta.
Obviously, that puts them among the prime golfers to watch, along with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, as 30 qualifiers tee off in the Tour’s final 2024 event at East Lake Country Club.
Burns, a Shreveport native who plays out of Squire Creek Country Club, enters the 72-hole finale ninth in the 2024 FedEx Cup standings. He tied for second last weekend at the FedEx BMW Championship in Castle Rock, Col., on the heels of a fifth-place tie in the opening week of the playoffs two weeks ago at Memphis in the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
Qualifying for the Tour Championship for the fourth straight year, the product of Calvary Baptist Academy and LSU will start at 4-under par when he tees off today at 12:16 CST with Patrick Cantlay. Schauffele begins at 8 under and Scheffler starts at 10 below, with the top 10 finishers in the FedEx Cup standings given strokes to reflect their season-long elite performances.
Writing for SI.com, Golf Intelligence president Jim Straka listed the 28-year-old Burns as the third-ranked contender. Mark Schlabach, golf writer for ESPN.com, ranks Burns fifth.
The two-time LSU All-American drove the ball very well last week, and has been red hot with his putter, always the best part of his game. Burns ranks second among the 30 finalists in strokes gained, putting 1.89 over his eight rounds during the two playoff events.
The stakes are juicy. The winner this weekend collects $25 million. Burns’ career PGA Tour earnings are $27.9 million. Purse money in the Tour Championship is “unofficial” and doesn’t stack on to the PGA’s count, but banks very well.
The runner-up takes home $12.5 million, third place earns $7.5 million, and the top 12 finishers take home at least $1 million. A $550,000 check goes to the 30th-place finisher.
Golf Channel and NBC are sharing coverage of the Tour Championship, beginning at noon today on Golf Channel.
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com
