After a week of shaking off the rust at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, Rory McIlroy bounced back nicely at the BMW Championship, finishing third. He was tied with Wyndham Clark after 10 holes on Sunday, but a bogey on 17 ultimately ended his chances of winning. He now turns to East Lake for the Tour Championship, a course where he has had tremendous success. McIlroy has recorded nine top-10 finishes, including three wins, in 12 trips here. He ranks eighth on Tour in strokes gained tee to green (+1.153 per round), 33rd on approach (+0.367), and 38th in putting (+0.242). He is also in the 95th percentile in proximity from 200+ yards, a range that accounted for 35.3% of all approach shots here last year. McIlroy enters East Lake in strong form and looks primed to contend for his fourth Tour Championship.

Collin Morikawa put together a strong week at the BMW Championship, finishing T4 for his fifth top-five result of the season. He now turns to the Tour Championship, where he has mixed results, with three finishes of T6 or better and three of T19 or worse. Total strokes gained tee to green, driving accuracy, and long iron play will be key at East Lake. Morikawa ranks seventh in strokes gained tee to green (+1.154 strokes per round), first on approach (+0.798), and 12th in driving accuracy. He is also in the 89th percentile in proximity from 200+ yards, a range that accounted for 35.3% of all approach shots here last year. At just $8,100 on DraftKings, Morikawa looks underpriced for a player with his ball-striking ability and offers plenty of upside to win his first Tour Championship.

Despite pressure from Patrick Cantlay and Rory McIlroy on Sunday, Wyndham Clark secured his third victory of the season by three strokes at the BMW Championship. The win puts him firmly in the Player of the Year conversation, and he now looks to keep it going at the Tour Championship. In his two previous appearances at East Lake, Clark has recorded a solo third and an eighth-place finish. Total strokes gained tee to green, driving accuracy, and long iron play will be key this week. Clark ranks 17th in strokes gained tee to green (+0.823 strokes per round) and 18th on approach (+0.489), though he is just 114th in driving accuracy. Clark has followed both of his previous wins this season with top-five finishes and looks to be in a strong position to contend for his first career Tour Championship.

After withdrawing from Memphis after a horrific opening round, Robert MacIntyre seemed like a different person in St. Louis on his way to T7. He's making his third consecutive appearance at East Lake this week, where he's finished T17 both times. Whatever happened two weeks ago is likely out of his system, but it's not as though he was setting the world on fire before. 2026 was easily the worst iron play year for the Scotsman since he made the jump from the DP World Tour in 2024, but he's handy in every other facet. Given the demand on approach shots at East Lake, it will be hard for the other parts of his game to make up for it should the struggle in that area continue. He isn't a full fade, but more a buyer beware.