1. JORDAN SPIETH
THE SET-UP: Spieth won the FedExCup title two years ago from the No. 2 spot. Now he’s seeking to become the first No. 1 seed since Tiger Woods in 2007 to win the TOUR Championship. Tiger also won the 2009 FedExCup title from the No. 1 spot but didn’t win at East Lake. If Spieth wins, he’ll join Tiger as the only two-time FedExCup champs.
PATH TO EAST LAKE: Lost in a playoff to Dustin Johnson at THE NORTHERN TRUST … Finished solo second by three strokes to Justin Thomas at the Dell Technologies Championship … Tied for seventh at the BMW Championship.
TAKING SIMILAR PATH AS … 2009 winner Tiger Woods. No FedExCup champ has ever finished top 10 in all four events of his winning year, but Woods came the closest with a T2, a T11 and a win before claiming the FedExCup title with a second-place finish to Phil Mickelson at East Lake. Of course, Spieth hasn’t won a Playoffs event yet, but his consistency has kept him atop the standings. Spieth has the best chance to finish second and still win the FedExCup — provided none of the other top-5 players win. If he does so, he would become the first FedExCup champ to win the title without winning a Playoffs event.
HISTORY AT EAST LAKE
2016 … Tie for 17th. Shot 68-72-72-68 to finish at even-par 280.
2015 … Won. Shot 68-66-68-69 to finish at 9-under 271
2014 … Tied for 27th. Shot 71-70-80-71 to finish at 12-over 292.
2013 … Tied for 2nd. Shot 68-67-71-64 to finish at 10-under 270.
IF HE DOESN’T WIN AT EAST LAKE … Spieth has a reasonable chance of winning the FedExCup title with a top-5 finish and can still finish as low as 29th and have a mathematical chance of winning the FedExCup.
PREVIOUS FEDEXCUP FINISHES
2016 … 9th
2015 … 1st
2014 … 15th
2013 … 7th