2020 Tour Championship: Viewer’s guide, TV times, how to watch

Golf Channel and NBC will televise PGA Tour's season finale, which will finish on Labor Day, at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta

While some golf fans might question the use of the word playoffs to describe the end of the PGA Tour season, this past week’s sudden-death playoff between Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm was some of the most exciting golf this season. The drama at the BMW Championship was due in large part to Johnson and then Rahm making putts that looked harder that most putt-putt holes. In the end, Rahm won with a serpentine 66-foot birdie putt on the 73rd hole, capping an impressive 66-64 weekend at a U.S. Open-like Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club.

This week, the Tour heads to East Lake Golf Club, just east of downtown Atlanta, for the season-ending Tour Championship. It will be the second year in which the top 30 from the FedEx Cup standings will play what amounts to a handicapped tournament. Johnson, by virtue of his No. 1 spot on the FedEx Cup points list, will be gifted a two-stroke advantage over Rahm, with the rest of the field shaking out like this:

Tour Championship ranking	FedEx Cup starting strokes
1	-10
2	-8
3	-7
4	-6
5	-5
6-10	-4
11-15	-3
16-20	-2
21-25	-1
26-30	Even

Last year, Rory McIlroy overcame a five-stroke deficit to beat Xander Schauffele by four shots. The leader going into the event was Justin Thomas, who tied for third with Brooks Koepka, who started in third place. Rounding out the top five last year was Paul Casey, who jumped all the way from a T-16 starting position to a solo fifth.

So, while the handicapping is funky, moves can be made by players to improve their fortunes. And, oh, what a fortune that will be at stake. The winner will pocket $15 million, and even eighth place will be worth more than $1 million. Last place will pay $395,000.

Just as with last week at the BMW Championship, TV viewers will turn to NBC Sports, with Golf Channel providing coverage for the first two rounds plus early duties for rounds 3 and 4, and NBC covering the action later in the day for the final two days. The tournament will begin Friday and finish on Labor Day.

The TV schedule (all times EDT):

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Network	Friday (Round 1)	Saturday (Round 2)	Sunday (Round 3)	Monday (Round 4)
Golf Channel	1-6 p.m.	1-6 p.m.	1-3 p.m.	Noon-1:30 p.m.
NBC			3-7 p.m.	1:30-6 p.m.