Tour Championship 2011: TV Schedule, Tee Times, Pairings For Thursday

It all comes down to this: 30 players remain in what was once a 125-player field to decide the FedEx Cup champion. Webb Simpson currently leads the field with after finishing with the most points in the previous three FedEx Cup playoff events. He’ll start this tournament with 2,500 points, but any of the 30 players in the field can win the title.

As the leader, Simpson will tee off last on Thursday and be paired with Dustin Johnson, who is currently second in the standings. Accordingly, Bo Van Pelt and Fredrik Jacobson are first off the tee, as they are the Nos. 30 and 29 players, respectively. The players will be re-paired after each round in order of their standing on the leaderboard.

The lowest ranked player to ever win the FedEx Cup in its four previous years was Vijay Singh, who came into the 2008 final ranked No. 7. Tiger Woods is the Cup’s only multiple winner, winning the 2007 and 2009 editions after coming in ranked No. 1 both years.

The winner of the FedEx Cup, who won’t necessarily be the winner of the Tour Championship, will win $10 million. Each of the top 5 finishers will win at least $1 million. Almost as importantly, the winner will also receive a five-year PGA Tour exemption, meaning they can play in any tournament regardless of their ranking.