The Tour Championship

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The Tour Championship (sometimes typeset as THE TOUR Championship) was historically the final event of golf's PGA Tour season. Starting in 2007, it will be the final event of the FedEx Cup, the competition for the first official championship trophy for the PGA Tour season. Beginning in 1997, the event alternated between Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas and East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia; since 2004, East Lake has been the event's permanent home. It is one of the richest tournaments on the tour.

Through 2006, the top 30 money winners on the PGA Tour after the penultimate event qualified for the event. It took place in early November, the week after the comparable event in Europe, the Volvo Masters, which allowed players who are members of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour to play in both end of season events. After the Tour Championship, the money list for the season was finalized. There were, and still are, a number of additional events between the Tour Championship and Christmas which are recognized by the PGA Tour, but prize money won in them is unofficial. Also, because this tournament's field is not as large as other golf tournaments, there is no 36-hole cut; all players who start the event are credited with making the cut and receive some prize money.

Since 1998, the Tour Championship winner, if not already exempt by other means, receives a 3-year PGA Tour exemption (Category-6)

In 2007, the Tour Championship will move from its November date to a date in mid-September, where it will end a four-tournament "Chase for the FedEx Cup", which was announced on the Wednesday of the week of the 2005 event. As in past years, 30 players will qualify for the event, but the basis for qualification will be FedEx Cup points amassed during the season instead of prize money. Despite the tournament's status as the final FedEx Cup event, the trophy will not necessarily be awarded to the winner of the Tour Championship. The FedEx Cup will instead go to the player who has accumulated the most FedEx Cup points for the entire season. The season, however, will not end there — a slate of seven events will be used in the Tour's inaugural Fall Series (also known as the "Quest for the Card") to determine the rest of the Top 125 players eligible for the FedEx Cup in 2008.

Year	Player	Country	Score	1st Prize ($)
The Tour Championship presented by Coca-Cola
2007	Tiger Woods	United States	257 (-23)	1,260,000
2006	Adam Scott	Australia	269 (-11)	1,170,000
2005	Bart Bryant	United States	263 (-17)	1,170,000
2004	Retief Goosen	South Africa	269 (-11)	1,080,000
2003	Chad Campbell	United States	268 (-16)	1,080,000
2002	Vijay Singh	Fiji	268 (-12)	900,000
The Tour Championship
2001	Mike Weir	Canada	270 (-14)	900,000
2000	Phil Mickelson	United States	267 (-13)	900,000
1999	Tiger Woods	United States	269 (-15)	900,000
1998	Hal Sutton	United States	274 (-6)	720,000
1997	David Duval	United States	273 (-11)	720,000
1996	Tom Lehman	United States	268 (-12)	540,000
1995	Billy Mayfair	United States	280 (E)	540,000
1994	Mark McCumber	United States	274 (-10)	540,000
1993	Jim Gallagher, Jr.	United States	277 (-7)	540,000
1992	Paul Azinger	United States	276 (-8)	360,000
1991	Craig Stadler	United States	277 (-7)	360,000
Nabisco Championship
1990	Jodie Mudd	United States	273 (-11)	450,000
1989	Tom Kite	United States	276 (-8)	450,000
1988	Curtis Strange	United States	279 (-9)	360,000
1987	Tom Watson	United States	268 (-12)	360,000

Breakdown of the $7,000,000 purse for the 2007 Tour Championship

Prizes shown below are awarded for finishes in the Tour Championship itself. See also: FedEx Cup bonus pool payouts

Finish	Earnings ($)	Finish	Earnings ($)	Finish	Earnings ($)
1	1,260,000	11	189,000	21	131,600
2	756,000	12	179,200	22	128,800
3	483,000	13	170,800	23	126,000
4	336,000	14	162,400	24	123,200
5	280,000	15	154,000	25	120,400
6	252,000	16	148,400	26	117,600
7	238,000	17	142,800	27	116,200
8	224,000	18	140,000	28	114,800
9	210,000	19	137,200	29	113,400
10	198,800	20	134,400	30	112,000