The Tour Championship takes place at the East Lake Golf Course in Atlanta, Georgia this week where we will see the FedEx Cup Champion for the season crowned.
This is the 5th year since the FedEx Cup has made use of the handicap system which was introduced to try and make the final tournament of the FedEx Cup more exciting, but in my view, it just makes it more confusing.
Scottie Scheffler who tops the FedEx Cup rankings will start on -10 and other players’ scores are staggered below him all the way down to even par where positions 26 to 30 will start.
Here are the Tour Championship starting scores.
10 under: Scottie Scheffler
Eight under: Viktor Hovland
Seven under: Rory McIlroy
Six under: Jon Rahm
Five under: Lucas Glover
Four under: Max Homa, Patrick Cantlay, Brian Harman, Wyndham Clark, Matt Fitzpatrick
Three under: Tommy Fleetwood, Russell Henley, Keegan Bradley, Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele
Two under: Tom Kim, Sungjae Im, Tony Finau, Corey Conners, Si Woo Kim
One under: Taylor Moore, Nick Taylor, Adam Schenk, Collin Morikawa, Jason Day
Even: Sam Burns, Emiliano Grillo, Tyrrell Hatton, Jordan Spieth, Sepp Straka
EAST LAKE
East Lake plays to a par 70 and the winning score without the handicap is generally around the -11 or -12 mark although last year Rory came through to win the FedEx Cup shooting -17.
East Lake is a ball striker’s course and although distance off the tee is an advantage it is more important to put yourself in the position to hit the greens in regulation.
Here is a list of Tour Champs Winners since the handicap format was adopted in 2019:-
2019 – Rory McIlroy
2020 – Dustin Johnson
2021 – Patrick Cantlay
2022 – Rory McIlroy
THE BETTING
This is where things can get a bit confusing for punters as with a 72 hole market which is what a normal tournament would look like and no handicaps will apply, here we have Scottie Scheffler 11/2 favourite ahead of Mcilroy 6/1, and Jon Rahm at 8/1.
Click here to bet on 72 hole stroke play winner
But we also have a “To win Outright Market” which takes the handicap into account and here Scottie Scheffler who starts two shots ahead of the chasing pack is a 14/10 shot with Rory Mcilroy priced at 7/2.
I am something of a traditionalist and prefer the 72 hole betting although as I search for bets I will keep an eye out for someone who I think could make a charge through the field for victory.
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SELECTIONS:
Xander Schauffele to win outright at 40/1, to win over 72 holes at 12/1
Schauffele has great course form having won this Tournament twice in the last 6 years. He also has a runner-up finish, a 3rd place finish, and hasn’t finished worse than 7th.
Schauffele made a charge up the leaderboard in the final round of the BMW Championships, but he dropped away late to finish 8th.. He has been fairly consistent of late and overall he appears to be running into form at just the right time and although my bigger play will be in the 72 hole market I am going to have a nibble on him that he makes up the 7 shot deficit on Scottie Scheffler as well as shots on the others above him in the standings.
Tom Kim each way at 28/1
Kim starts 2 under par and he really is a long shot at 150/1 to storm through and take the title. He finished very strongly last week though where he finished 10th and he was runner-up to Brian Harman in the Open Championship 3 starts back. Kim doesn’t have any course form as this is debut at this Tournament, but the way he plays I expect him to enjoy East Lake.
Russell Henley each way at 28/1
Henley has been playing some consistent golf and has had 3 Top 10’s in his last 3 starts including a runner-up finish three starts back and an 8th place finish last week. Henley hasn’t played here since finishing 3rd in 2017 so we know he will like the course and on current form must be in with a shout.
Prices correct at time of posting but subject to change
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