3 must-follow storylines heading into weekend at East Lake
As Tiger Woods and Justin Rose sit atop the Tour Championship leaderboard after Round 2, the weekend at East Lake Golf Club is setting up to be appointment viewing.
Here are the three must-follow storylines heading into the weekend at the PGA Tour season's finale.
Tiger's best shot at win No. 80
This is an obvious one. With a share of the 36-hole lead, Woods is in great shape to pick up his first win since 2013 and career victory No. 80. Holding a two-shot edge with Justin Rose over the field gives Tiger a bit of wiggle room, but he will have to outduel the new No. 1 ranked player in the world to get the job done.
Tiger won at East Lake in 2007 and it's a course that rewards patience and the ability to grind out pars, which has been his trademark throughout his career. He's converted a 36-hole lead into a win 37 of 48 times. A Tiger win at the Tour Championship would easily be the golf the story of the year.
$10 million up for grabs
Rose is the front-runner to win the FedEx Cup. His current standing in a tie for first, as well as with Bryson DeChambeau's struggles through two rounds, give Rose a 63 percent chance to win the $10-million cheque according to Data Golf. However, doing some quick math, that means there's a 37 percent chance someone else wins all the money, which aren't the worst odds.
Justin Thomas is the next most likely to win the FedEx Cup, which would make him the first to win it in consecutive years. He sits just three shots back of the leaders with plenty of golf left to play. Tiger would need to win the Tour Championship and have Rose falter on the weekend to have a chance. According to Data Golf, there are still 23 golfers with a chance of winning the FedEx Cup. At this point next year, the playoff picture will be much clearer thanks to the PGA's new scoring format.
Final Ryder Cup prep
With the most anticipated Ryder Cup in years only a week away, the final two rounds at East Lake will be the last chance for members of Team USA and Europe to fine-tune their games during competitive rounds. Taking a quick peek at the Tour Championship leaderboard as it stands after Round 2, there are plenty of familiar names near the bottom. Brooks Koepka, DeChambeau, and Patrick Reed lock down the last three spots, with Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson not too far ahead.
Though Team USA owns plenty of firepower and remain heavy favorites to win the 42nd Ryder Cup, they will need every member to be playing well to beat Europe in Paris. Perhaps these struggling Americans are already looking ahead to next week, that could very well be the case. However, the American team likely feel more comfortable if these five can string together a couple of rounds in the 60s to close the Tour Championship.