FedEx Cup Standings 2021: Points Leaderboard Before Tour Championship

The top 30 golfers on the PGA Tour are set to play for the FedEx Cup this weekend at the Tour Championship.

Over the past two weeks, the playoff field was trimmed from 125, and now the best golfers in the world will square off for the $15 million prize at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

Patrick Cantlay sits atop the FedEx Cup standings after he won the BMW Championship following a playoff against Bryson DeChambeau. Cantlay's position earned him a two-shot advantage over his closest competition to start the Tour Championship.

The staggered scoring start handed an advantage to the top five players in the FedEx Cup standings, who will all start at six-under or better.

After fifth-place Cameron Smith at five-under, five players were grouped together on the same score based off their FedEx Cup placing. The five men who sit from 26th to 30th are at the biggest disadvantage because they start at even par.

FedEx Cup Standings

1. Patrick Cantlay: 4,302 points

2. Tony Finau: 3,564

3. Bryson DeChambeau: 3,189

4. Jon Rahm: 3,063

5. Cameron Smith: 2,821

6. Justin Thomas: 2,371

7. Harris English: 2,248

8. Abraham Ancer: 2,241

9. Jordan Spieth: 2,232

10. Sam Burns: 2,214

Full leaderboard can be found here on PGATour.com.

The top five players in the playoff standings earned their positions through high finishes over the past two weeks.

Cantlay beat out DeChambeau to win the BMW Championship, and Tony Finau outlasted Cameron Smith in a playoff at the Northern Trust. Cantlay's victory moved him well above Finau for first place, and his overall consistency on the PGA Tour this season sees him in front by almost 800 points.

The Tour Championship works a bit differently than the previous two playoff tournaments.

For starters, the staggered scoring system allows Cantlay to start with a two-shot cushion over Finau.

Finau, DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Smith all have advantages over the rest of the field. Smith is the lowest starter of the top five at six-under.

The set leaderboard puts Cantlay and the rest of the top five in the best position possible to win the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup, but they still have to play four rounds and win the event.

The PGA Tour's official website outlined how a winner will be determined with the staggered start.

"At the Tour Championship, the player with the lowest aggregate score over 72 holes when combined with his FedExCup Starting Strokes will win the Tour Championship and also be crowned FedExCup Champion. The Tour Championship win will be considered an official victory and the FedExCup Champion will also earn a bonus of $15 million and a five-year PGA Tour exemption."

A year ago, Dustin Johnson took advantage of his No. 1 spot in the FedEx Cup rankings to win the Tour Championship and the postseason prize.

In 2019, Rory McIlroy shot 13-under at the Tour Championship to move up from fifth to first and capture the FedEx Cup in the then-new format.

Rahm and Xander Schauffele should be viewed as the two biggest threats to Cantlay. Rahm backed up his No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking throughout the season, and he is in some of the best form of anyone in the field.

Schauffele, who starts in 17th place, produced back-to-back second-place finishes at the Tour Championship. A year ago, he turned a 15-under weekend to recover from his low starting position.  

Finau, DeChambeau and Smith could all turn in solid rounds as well, but they need to match the consistency that Rahm and Cantlay have displayed all season. Rahm has five straight top-10 finishes. Cantlay, meanwhile, has top-25 finishes in seven of his past eight starts. His only missed cut came at The Open.