ESPN Golf Experts' picks: Tour Championship

The Tour Championship

- Defending champion: Henrik Stenson

- Tee times, leaderboard | Experts' picks

- Photos from Tour Championship, golf tours

- Venue: East Lake Golf Club; par-70; 7,154 yards

- Location: Atlanta

- TV coverage: Thu., Fri. 1-6 p.m. ET on Golf Channel; Sat. 12-2:30 p.m. ET on Golf Channel, 2:30-6 p.m. ET on NBC; Sun. 12-1:30 p.m. ET on Golf Channel, 1:30-6 p.m. ET on NBC

- Payout: A 29-man field with winner taking $1.44 million of an $8 million purse

- FedEx Cup Playoffs: Top 100 players in FedEx Cup standings after the Barclays earn a spot at the Deutsche Bank Championship. The top 70 players after the DBC earn entry into the BMW Championship. The top 30 players after the BMW earn entry into the playoffs' finale, the Tour Championship.

- Format: 72-hole stroke play with no cut

- Money leaders | Schedule | Rankings

- Follow @ESPNGolf on Twitter

Each week of the season, our experts share their insights into which players fit the criteria for our four categories: Horse for the Course (a golfer who knows the track inside and out), Birdie Buster (a guy who could take it low), Super Sleeper (a player who could unexpectedly contend) and Winner.

This week, the PGA Tour heads to East Lake Golf Club for the Tour Championship in Atlanta.

Horse for the Course

Michael Collins, ESPN.com senior golf analyst: Sergio Garcia

Although he has never won this event, Garcia has finished second twice and posted a T-9 last year. Just like Billy Horschel finding the hazard on the final hole at Deutsche Bank, Garcia's triple-bogey on the 17th last week is just a blip on the radar.

Farrell Evans, ESPN.com senior golf writer: Bill Haas

In 2011, the 32-year-old son of Champions Tour player Jay Haas won the Tour Championship at East Lake on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff with Hunter Mahan in one of the most exciting finishes in playoffs history.

Bob Harig, ESPN.com senior golf writer: Justin Rose

The Englishman has never won the Tour Championship, but he has contended each of the past two years, with a runner-up finish in 2012.

Kevin Maguire, ESPN.com senior golf editor: Justin Rose

He's never finished outside the top 20 at East Lake! OK, so it's only a 30-man field (well, 29 this week). Rose did finish sixth last year and second in 2012, so he clearly can get around this track without too many issues. That $10 million bonus is probably a pipe dream as he starts the Tour Championship at No. 26 in the rankings.

Birdie Buster

Collins: Jordan Spieth

Last year as a rookie, he finished runner-up. Now in the throes of a sophomore slump (I write that very sarcastically), Spieth shows up 11th on the FedEx Cup points list with an outside shot to win the $10 million. Expect another top-5 finish coming off his T-8 last week.

Evans: Ryan Palmer

A tie for fifth in the PGA Championship vaulted the 37-year-old Texan into the conversation for a U.S. Ryder Cup captain's pick. But making it to the Tour Championship was always his primary goal. He fulfilled that objective with a tie for fourth at the BMW Championship.

Harig: Billy Horschel

You have to love the way his game has come around the last few weeks, following a second-place finish at the Barclays with a victory at the BMW Championship to put himself in contention for the FedEx Cup title.

Maguire: Bubba Watson

Any time you can get the big-hitting Bubba to focus, watch out. He's sitting there with $10 million dangling in the wings. That kind of coin will get his attention.

Super Sleeper FOLLOW GOLF ON ESPN

Stay up-to-date with the latest news, stories and analysis.

Follow ESPNGolf on Twitter

Collins: Morgan Hoffmann

If you're not rooting for this guy after starting the playoffs as the second-to-last man in, you must hate Cinderella, puppies, kittens and babies. He shot 62 on Saturday and followed it up by dropping a 63 on Sunday at the BMW Championship just to make it this far. Did I mention this was only his second top-10 of the year? His first was at the Barclays two weeks before!

Evans: Morgan Hoffmann

Making his first start in the Tour Championship, the former Oklahoma State star earned his way to Atlanta with a tie for ninth at the Barclays and third in Denver that included a 63 in the final round.

Harig: Hideki Matsuyama

Nobody in this field would be a surprise winner, but Matsuyama would rank as the biggest, longest shot given he barely got into the field at No. 29 (Dustin Johnson at 30 is not playing) with a tie for 20th at the BMW. He has not had a top-10 finish since winning the Memorial.

Maguire: Ryan Palmer

The Texas A&M Aggie, who is 23rd in the FedEx Cup standings, finishes a remarkably consistent season having missed just three cuts in 22 starts. He followed up his T-16 in Boston with a tie for fourth last week at the BMW Championship, so clearly Palmer is kicking it into high gear for the season's finishing run.

Winner

Collins: Rickie Fowler

Karma. I believe in it. How fitting will it be for this event to be Fowler's first win of the year? If there's a golf god, Fowler will take the FedEx Cup too. Since the U.S. Open, his only finish outside the top nine was a T-23 at Deutsche Bank. I'm thinking an extra $10 million will ease the pain of the PGA Championship loss just a little.

Evans: Jim Furyk

The last of Furyk's 16 tour wins came at East Lake in 2010, when he took the Tour Championship to earn the FedEx Cup playoffs crown. The oldest player in the field at 44, the former Arizona star is coming off a tie for fourth in Denver at the BMW Championship.

Harig: Rory McIlroy

What a way to finish the PGA Tour season. McIlroy has made it a priority to add the FedEx Cup title to all his other efforts this year. A victory at the Tour Championship guarantees it.

Maguire: Jim Furyk

Wouldn't it be amazing if Furyk, who hasn't been able to convert his last eight 54-hole leads on the PGA Tour into victory, finally broke through at the place of his last victory in 2010? Since he's No. 7 in the rankings, there's a pretty good chance that victory would also give him a second FedEx Cup title.