By way of his T2 finish at the BMW Championship this past Sunday at Olympia Fields, Scottie Scheffler vaulted into the top spot of the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup standings. What that means for the world's top-ranked player is that he'll begin this week's season-ending Tour Championship at Atlanta's East Lake Golf Club with a two-stroke lead for the second straight season.

For those new to the Tour Championship's staggered-stroke format, the player sitting atop the FedEx Cup standings following the first two playoff events kicks off his week at East Lake at 10-under. The No. 2 seed begins at 8-under, No. 3 begins at 7-under, No. 4 starts at 6-under, and No. 5 starts at 5-under.

The group of players seeded 6-10 start the week at 4-under, players 11-15 start at 3-under, players 16-20 start at 2-under, players 21-25 start at 1-under, and those seeded 26-30 begin at even par. After 72 holes, the player with the lowest score in relation to par wins the tournament and collects a cool $18 million paycheck, and earns a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour.

But as Scheffler knows all too well, entering the Tour Championship with that two-stroke lead certainly doesn't guarantee victory.

In fact, since the PGA Tour implemented the staggered-stroke format to the Tour Championship in 2019, just two of the top four No. 1 seeds have walked away with the FedEx Cup title and the big bonus check that comes with it.

In 2019, Justin Thomas was the top seed at East Lake but ultimately finished tied for third as fifth-seeded Rory McIlroy, who began the week five shots back, shot 66-67-68-66 to take a four-stroke victory over Xander Schauffele.

In 2020, Dustin Johnson came in as the No. 1 seed and maintained that position, shooting 11-under over 72 holes to finish at 21-under for the week, earning a three-shot win over Schauffele and Thomas, who tied for second at 18-under.

The following year, Patrick Cantlay entered the 2021 Tour Championship with a two-stroke lead and played just well enough to earn a one-stroke victory over Jon Rahm, who began the tourney four shots behind in the No. 4 spot.

With the top seed taking the Tour Championship two years in a row, Scottie Scheffler certainly had to feel good coming into last year's FedEx Cup finale in the top spot, especially with the season he'd had, one that featured four victories, including a win at The Masters.

And through 54 holes, Scheffler seemed to be well on his way to making it three consecutive top-seeded winners. But as he'd done three years earlier, Rory McIlroy, who started the week six shots back in the No. 7 spot, came from behind to win a record third FedEx Cup title.

While Scheffler struggled to a final-round 73 on the par-70 layout at East Lake, putting him at 20-under for the week, McIlroy fired a 4-under 66 on Sunday to take a one-shot win over Scheffler and Sungjae Im.

So, again, Scheffler knows all too well that coming into the Tour Championship as the top seed doesn't guarantee victory. And given the group of players right behind him, this is certainly anyone's tournament.

Viktor Hovland, who shot a blistering 61 at Olympia Fields to win the BMW Championship, starts just two back at 8-under. Naturally, McIlroy is right there in the No. 3 spot at 7-under. Then there's world No. 3 Jon Rahm in fourth at 6-under and red-hot Lucas Glover in fifth just five shots back.

Can Scottie Scheffler win the Tour Championship? Absolutely. But will he? We'll find out soon enough.

The world No. 1 kicks off his week at East Lake on Thursday afternoon alongside Hovland in the final pairing of the day at 2:00 p.m. Eastern.