The PGA Tour wraps up its season with the top 30 golfers in the standings competing for the FedExCup title at the TOUR Championship starting Thursday. Accumulating points over the course of the season comes in handy this week with Patrick Cantlay jumping to the points lead after his thrilling win in the BMW Championship. That gives Cantlay a head start on the field and has him positioned as co-betting favorite with Jon Rahm on the opening line. Cantlay opens the tournament at famed East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta at 10-under with second place Tony Finau at 8-under in the staggered leaderboard format. There is a gradual decline to the bottom five, who all start at even-par. Visit BookMaker.eu for a complete updated list of betting odds when you’re ready to make a wager.
Odds to Win TOUR Championship
Jon Rahm +400
Patrick Cantlay +400
Bryson DeChambeau +450
Tony Finau +550
Justin Thomas +1600
Dustin Johnson +2000
Cameron Smith +2200
Jordan Spieth +2200
Rory McIlroy +2500
Abraham Ancer +2800
Sam Burns +3000
Collin Morikawa +3300
Harris English +3300
Xander Schauffele +3300
Sungjae Im +3500
Louis Oosthuizen +4500
Viktor Hovland +4500
Brooks Koepka +5500
Jason Kokrak +8000
Scottie Scheffler +9000
Hideki Matsuyama +10000
Kevin Na +10000
Corey Conners +11000
Daniel Berger +12500
Joaquin Niemann +14000
Sergio Garcia +14000
Erik van Rooyen +20000
Billy Horschel +25000
Stewart Cink +30000
Odds Analysis
Tony Finau +550
Finally getting the monkey off his back winning The Northern Trust a few weeks ago, Finau is the closest to Cantlay at the start of the tournament. It’s a small sample size, but no one below fifth has made up enough ground to win the title. That also puts Finau in a good spot. And being over the elation of that victory with $15 million carrot on the end of the string, Finau is in a good spot. He followed up his first win in five years with a T15 in the BMW and remains one of the most consistent players on Tour.
Dustin Johnson +2000
The defending champ starts further down the list than he did last year making his chances of a repeat more difficult. There are other betting markets and leaning on DJ for the win without the starting strokes is an option. He comes in feeling much better about his game after a T6 at Caves Valley giving him three top-10s in his last five starts. It’s been hit or miss for him recently with a pair of MCs sprinkled in, but he closed last year at East Lake going 64-68 for the 3-shot victory.
Collin Morikawa +3300
Just when you think Morikawa is out of the picture he sneaks back in with a marvelous performance. At No. 11 in the standings he’s in the same spot as DJ starting 7-shots back. While that may seem insurmountable consider that he went 9-under over the final three rounds last year bouncing back from an opening 71. He can’t afford a round like that this week and Morikawa always seems to rise to the occasion on the biggest stage.
Jon Rahm +400
There is little value on Rahm considering he’s starting four shots off the pace. Like DJ he’s a good bet in an alternate market, but there isn’t much value there either. Rahm is listed as the +600 favorite to win without the starting strokes factored in. So why go with the Spaniard at all? Well, he’s a safe bet with five top-10s in his last five completed starts, including a win in the U.S. Open. The tournament he didn’t complete likely would have yielded a victory, but he was forced to withdraw ahead of the final round at the Memorial with a six-shot advantage.
Xander Schauffele +3300
A T49 last week cost Schauffele four spots in the standings and one stroke in the staggered start. It would have been difficult enough to make up seven shots now he has to make up eight just to tie the leader. That’s a monumental chore in such a strong field, so leaning toward an alternate market makes more sense. He’s listed at +1200 to win without the starting strokes and a prop for low round comes into play. He’s been par or better in all eight rounds played at East Lake going 65 or lower three times. He has no problem with the course making him a good bet in that market.
Course: East Lake Golf Club – 7,346 yards, Par 70
The staggered start format is in use for the third straight year, but the host venue remains the same. East Lake became the tournament’s permanent home in 2004. At over 7,300 yards it’s an easy course as long as you keep the ball in the fairway, but aren’t they all. In terms of width, the fairways rank in the bottom 10 and along with firm grass it becomes difficult to keep the golf ball on the fairways. Straight off the tee with a strong short game and you’ll be just fine. That’s easier said than done, though. On average the field hits fairways here a little over 50 percent of the time. In 11 playings before the staggered-start format winning scores ranged between -7 and -13 making it difficult for players at the bottom of the pack to make up enough ground. The last two winners started first (Dustin Johnson) and fifth (Rory McIlroy) in the staggered start format.
TV Coverage: Golf Channel, NBC
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