What’s at stake in Atlanta at the 2022 Tour Championship?
Money, money and more money.
The PGA Tour upped the ante in the FedEx Cup Playoffs this season, which comes to a close at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
All the money won in the final event of a 47-tournament season is considered bonus money and does not count towards a golfer’s official money earnings. But it’ll spend just the same.
Patrick Cantlay is the defending champion and this year looks to join Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy as the only two-time winners. McIlroy, meanwhile, would be the first to win three titles if he were to win in Atlanta.
Tour Championship: See the top 30 in final points
The winner of the Tour Championship is declared the FedEx Cup champion. This is the 16th year of the playoffs.
Only 30 remain
The top 125 in points made the 2022 postseason. The top 70 after the first event—the FedEx St. Jude Championship—advanced to the BMW Champinship, with only the top 30 from there making the field in Atlanta.
Another perk of making the Tour Championship is an invitation to all four majors in 2023, if a golfer isn’t already qualified for those events.
Big money
A year ago, there was $60 million total up for grabs, with $15 million going to the winner. Here in 2022, those numbers are $75 million and $18 million.
The increased bonus pool means that the top-10 finishers will bank seven-figure paydays and the 30th-place finisher will make $500,000.
The breakdown
| Finish | Money |
| 1 | $18,000,000 |
| 2 | $6,500,000 |
| 3 | $5,000,000 |
| 4 | $4,000,000 |
| 5 | $3,000,000 |
| 6 | $2,500,000 |
| 7 | $2,000,000 |
| 8 | $1,500,000 |
| 9 | $1,250,000 |
| 10 | $1,000,000 |
| 11 | $950,000 |
| 12 | $900,000 |
| 13 | $850,000 |
| 14 | $800,000 |
| 15 | $760,000 |
| 16 | $720,000 |
| 17 | $700,000 |
| 18 | $680,000 |
| 19 | $660,000 |
| 20 | $640,000 |
| 21 | $620,000 |
| 22 | $600,000 |
| 23 | $580,000 |
| 24 | $565,000 |
| 25 | $550,000 |
| 26 | $540,000 |
| 27 | $530,000 |
| 28 | $520,000 |
| 29 | $510,000 |
| 30 | $500,000 |
There is no longer a purse—like there is at all the other tournaments—for the Tour Championship. The FedEx Cup Playoffs bonus money is the only money that players earn at East Lake.
The format
The PGA Tour will continue to utilize the FedEx Cup Starting Strokes, 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.
| Player | Starting strokes |
| 1 | 10 under |
| 2 | 8 under |
| 3 | 7 under |
| 4 | 6 under |
| 5 | 5 under |
| 6-10 | 4 under |
| 11-15 | 3 under |
| 16-20 | 2 under |
| 21-25 | 1 under |
| 26-30 | Even |
This system was established to give players at the top of the points list the reward of a starting advantage in the Tour Championship.
