Tour Championship 2025 Opens With Pairings

Tee times and opening round pairings for the Tour Championship at East Lake set the stage for the FedExCup finale.

Tour Championship 2025 Opens With Pairings and First Round Tee Times

The Tour Championship kicks off Thursday at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia. The event is the FedExCup playoff finale and crowns a champion after 72 holes of stroke play. All players start at even par with no points, so the race to the FedExCup is a pure hunt for four rounds of consistent golf.

Top seeds Scheffler and McIlroy are paired together on the opening day, a pairing that mirrors recent Playoff drama and keeps the spotlight on two global stars. After Round 1, Day 2 pairings will be adjusted based on the scores posted in Round 1, keeping the competition dynamic and the leaderboard moving. TV times for Round 1 are listed in Eastern Daylight Time, guiding fans who want to watch the start of the finale live.

The Tour Championship uses a straightforward, high stakes format: four rounds of golf to decide the season’s champion, with every player starting on equal footing. That setup emphasizes depth, steadiness, and the ability to handle pressure when the course reveals its quirks. Paired stars like Scheffler and McIlroy bring instant attention and can lift the level of play across the field. The logistics of pairing and re-pairing after each round also add a strategic layer, as players weigh patience against aggression as the leaderboard shifts.

Beyond the golf, the event carries local and national interest. East Lake tests precision off the tee and mid to short irons into tight greens, making the early rounds a contest of risk management as well as distance. Viewers should expect a blend of methodical grinding and sudden moves up or down the board as conditions change and rounds accumulate.

Highlights

The drama unfolds over four days at East Lake and will shape the season’s closing narrative.