PGA tips at $26 and $51: Tour Championship preview

This week we have the final event of the FedEx Cup, which takes the form of the Tour Championship.

Tour Championship

This used to be the grand finale to the PGA Tour season, now it’s the grand finale of the FedEx Cup, which started in 2007.

The event is effectively a play-off for the PGA’s Top 30 players as determined by the points (it used to be dollars) they have accumulated during the year – or what there’s been of a golfing year.

As such it has the feel of a mini-Major with most of the top players qualifying to play this week.

Prizemoney $75m ($18m to the winner. Yep, that’s right, $18 million!)

Field: 29

Highest ranked players: Scheffler (1), Smith (2), Cantlay (3), McIlroy (4), Schauffele (5), Rahm (6).

2021 result (Strokeplay market):

-14 Jon Rahm ($8)
-14 Kevin Na ($71)
-12 Xander Schauffele ($13)
-11 Patrick Cantlay ($19)
-11 Justin Thomas ($17)
-11 Viktor Hovland ($29)

Other recent winners (Strokeplay market): Xander Schauffele (2020), Rory McIlroy (2019), Tiger Woods (2018), Xander Schauffele (2017), Rory McIlroy (2016).

Tour Championship: The Course

East Lake Golf Club is a 7,385 yard, par 70. The course was opened in 1904, designed by Tom Bendelow, and was revamped five years later by Donald Ross. It’s located just outside Atlanta, Georgia and is a firm favourite with fans and players alike. It used to play relatively easy a few years back, but a number of recent tweaks to the greens now make it a much tougher track that will reward only the best players… don’t expect a birdie-fest here this week!

72-Hole Record 257: Tiger Woods (2007)

18-Hole Record 60: Zach Johnson (2007)

Tour Championship: The Weather

It will be a showery week with a daily precipitation forecast of 80%-60%-20%-40% over the course of the tournament. Temperatures though will be high, peaking at around 80 degrees, with plenty of cloud cover. Wind speeds will be low, around 5-7mph maximum for the four days.

Tour Championship: Outright value bets

The bets of interest in the Lowest 72 Hole Score (excluding Handicap)

Viktor Hovland $26 with TopSport

Despite the 24-year-old already having won three times on the PGA Tour, 2022 will go down as a bit of a disappointment for the Norwegian. Back-to-back wins late in 2021 (World Wide Technology Championship & Hero Challenge) haven’t been added to this year – in fact, Hovland has bagged just four Top 10 finishes, with three of those as far back as March. But he definitely likes it here (14-4 on two previous starts), and on the back of a quiet year, Hovland comes into the week with no pressure, and after signing off last week in Delaware with an impressive 65. In a small field, with no cut, the EW terms look a tad generous to me.

$26

Hideki Matsuyama $51 with TopSport

The former Masters champion is a hard one to predict on current form – having just returned to action after injury. But Matsuyama is hugely experienced, has played this event 8 times previously (best 4th 2018), and remains a player of huge ability. Like Hovland, the Japanese player comes here with no real chance of winning the FedEx Cup outright, so can simply play the course – one where he’s shot multiple low rounds in the past. Still a very effective tee-to-green performer, if Matsuyama is 100% fit then his price is certainly out of line with his chances of challenging in Georgia this week.

$51

The Golf Insider is a GUN. Look at these winners, all since the start of 2020...

Sebastian Garcia-Rodriguez $126, Roger Sloan $126, Mark Hubbard $126, Tom Hoge $101, Pablo Larrazabal $91, Jeff Winther $91, Nino Bertasio $81, Sam Burns $67, Jhonattan Vegas $67, Lucas Herbert $67, Haotong Li $67, Joaquin Niemann $58, Brian Stuard $51, Ted Potter Jr $51, Russell Henley $51, Victor Perez $51, Harold Varner $51, JT Poston $51, John Catlin $46, Pablo Larrazabal $46, Max Homa $41, Talor Gooch $41.

... and there's plenty more! GET INVOLVED HERE