20. Patrick Reed
The winner of February’s WGC-Mexico Championship, Reed posted a T10 at July’s Memorial Tournament, and a 69-66 weekend in San Francisco meant a T13 result at the PGA Championship. However, the former Masters winner has gotten cold in the playoffs, following a T49 at The Northern Trust with a T40 at the BMW Championship.
This will be the seventh consecutive year that Reed qualified for East Lake, but he has not played the event especially well, with the only sort-of exception being his T9 last year. If he is going to card 16 bogeys and two doubles in a tournament, like he did last week, he will need a lot more than 12 birdies.
World Rank: 9th
FedExCup Rank: 13th
Starting Strokes: -3
Odds (W, 5, 10): 70-1, 10-1, 5-1
Last Six: 40, 49, 9, 13, 47, 10
19. Joaquin Niemann (18)
The 21-year-old Chilean contended at last week’s BMW Championship, holding a late lead before settling into a T3. Niemann led the field at Olympia in greens in regulation and strokes gained: tee-to-green, and was one of just two players to make the Tour Championship after sitting outside the top 30 before the BMW.
If his irons click similarly well at East Lake, it would be a surprise if he is not a factor in his tournament debut, but he has been too all-or-nothing this season for us to be especially confident in his chances. He are absurdly high on his future prospects though.
World Rank: 52nd
FedExCup Rank: 18th
Starting Strokes: -2
Odds (W, 5, 10): 150-1, 33-1, 12-1
Last Six: 3, MC, 42, MC, 52, MC
18. Billy Horschel
The man most well-remembered for his stellar FedExCup playoff run in 2014, which culminated with a three-stroke victory at East Lake, was fortunate to nab the last spot in this year’s field after he followed a missed cut at The Northern Trust with a T33 last week at the BMW Championship, carding just a single weekend birdie at Olympia Fields.
Horschel’s proclivity for running hot-and-cold makes him a difficult bet for this week, even with the positive course history (a win, a runner-up, and a T7 in three East Lake starts). If his history repeats itself, he should send a cut of his winnings to Adam Scott, who absolutely collapsed over the final few holes at the BMW, allowing Horschel to sneak into the top 30 of the standings.
World Rank: 32nd
FedExCup Rank: 30th
Starting Strokes: E
Odds (W, 5, 10): 225-1, 40-1, 16-1
Last Six: 33, MC, 2, 43, 25, 13
17. Scottie Scheffler
The 24-year-old presumptive Tour Rookie of the Year, should not be feeling considerable pressure in his East Lake debut, as he has more than exceeded expectations this season. After a rough Tour restart (a T55 followed by three missed cuts), Scheffler has posted five consecutive finishes of T22 or better, including contending at the PGA Championship and shooting a Friday 59 at The Northern Trust.
Scheffler struggled at Olympia Fields, but is trending back upwards after a closing 66 meant a T20 result. He ranks ninth on Tour in strokes gained: off-the-tee, and has the 14th best scoring average.
World Rank: 36th
FedExCup Rank: 17th
Starting Strokes: -2
Odds (W, 5, 10): 90-1, 16-1, 7-1
Last Six: 20, 4, 4, 15, 22, MC
16. Harris English
The 31-year-old who sits at 51st in the world rankings after beginning the year 183rd is probably the biggest surprise among those in the top 10. Remarkable consistency (nine finishes inside the top 23 in his last ten starts before a T40 at Olympia Fields), and a stellar all-around game (inside the top 40 on Tour in every strokes gained: category) has him, perhaps shockingly, at sixth on Tour in strokes gained: total.
English has played this event just once, finishing T22 in 2015, where he closed with a 67. It feels a little disrespectful not having him higher, but this is a very strong field.
World Rank: 51st
FedExCup Rank: 7th
Starting Strokes: -4
Odds (W, 5, 10): 70-1, 10-1, 6-1
Last Six: 40, 2, 23, 19, 18, 13
15. Brendon Todd
Nobody saw Brendon Todd playing his way into East Lake, and ahead of Rory McIlroy at that, after he opened his season with four missed cuts and sat outside the world’s top 500. Since October though, he has two wins among ten top 25s, and has been a 54-hole co-leader on two other occasions.
The shoe-in for Comeback Player of the Year is a short hitter, but he just keeps finding ways to stay relevant on leaderboards, and is coming off a T8 at the BMW Championship.
The 35-year-old, who cannot seem to miss a fairway, has played the Tour Championship just once, using a final round 66 to post a T17 in the 2014 edition.
World Rank: 39th
FedExCup Rank: 11th
Starting Strokes: -3
Odds (W, 5, 10): 150-1, 40-1, 14-1
Last Six: 8, 64, MC, 17, 15, 22
14. Kevin Kisner
The world-class putter came into Olympia Fields off two consecutive top-4 finishes, but was cooled off by the brutal course setup, fading with a Sunday 74 and finishing T25. Six top 25s in his past seven starts should have Kisner optimistic about his East Lake chances though, and he does have recent positive course history, with two consecutive top 10s: a T9 last year and a T3 in 2017.
With his relative lack of length, Kisner is going to need to play better around the greens than he has for most of the season.
World Rank: 29th
FedExCup Rank: 21st
Starting Strokes: -1
Odds (W, 5, 10): 150-1, 33-1, 14-1
Last Six: 25, 4, 3, 19, 25, MC
13. Lanto Griffin
Griffin did not have a Tour card at this time last year, but in the 2020 season, finds himself at East Lake based on what he did late in 2019. He has cooled off since that torrid early season pace, which included a win in Houston, but may be coming back around.
Griffin was T19 at the PGA Championship, posting three rounds of 68, and T10 at last week’s BMW Championship, posting just one over-par round at a brutally difficult course.
World Rank: 73rd
FedExCup Rank: 16th
Starting Strokes: -2
Odds (W, 5, 10): 400-1, 100-1, 33-1
Last Six: 10, 58, 19, 58, 44, MC
12. Bryson DeChambeau
The talk of the Tour as recently as early July, DeChambeau is a lock if a long-drive contest breaks out, with his insane 325 yard average leading the Tour this season. In addition, he ranks fifth on Tour in strokes gained: putting, and getting it done on both the tees and the greens has gotten him the Tour’s second-ranked scoring average for the 2020 season.
However, outside of contending at the PGA Championship (finished T4), he has turned cold since his victory at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, with two missed cuts, a T30, and a solo-50th, the latter of which occurred at last week’s BMW Championship, a disappointment given his 2015 U.S. Amateur blowout victory at Olympia Fields.
The six-time Tour Champion has finished 19th and T12 respectively, the past two years in this event.
World Rank: 8th
FedExCup Rank: 8th
Starting Strokes: -4
Odds (W, 5, 10): 25-1, 6-1, 2-1
Last Six: 50, MC, 4, 30, MC, 1
11. Hideki Matsuyama
It has not been a career season for Matusyama, who is surprisingly still looking for his first Tour victory since the 2017 season. However, the Japan native might be peaking at the right time, tying with Dustin Johnson through 54 holes at least week’s BMW Championship before finishing T3.
A year ago, he also finished third at the BMW and followed it up with a T9 at the Tour Championship. It is also promising that he has two top-5s in this event, and is second on Tour in strokes gained: tee-to-green.
Matsuyama actually ranks inside the top 6 in three of the six strokes gained categories, but again finds his results hurt by dismal putting. After two consecutive seasons of finishing just in the positive numbers in strokes gained: putting, he finds himself at 178th on Tour this season.
He may need a repeat of his field leading rank in strokes gained: around-the-green to limit the length on his putt attempts, which he did a week ago at Olympia Fields.
World Rank: 20th
FedExCup Rank: 10th
Starting Strokes: -4
Odds (W, 5, 10): 35-1, 8-1, 4-1
Last Six: 3, 29, 22, 20, MC, 22
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