2020 Tour Championship Betting Preview
The FedExCup concludes this week with the top 30 players in the standings teeing off in the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Course.
The Tour Championship is played a little differently than other tournaments on the PGA Tour. With a small 30-player field, every player is seeded based on their place in the FedExCup standings and given a stroke advantage heading into the first round. For example, the No. 1 seed starts the tournament at 10 under par. The No. 2 seed starts at 8 under par and so forth to the No. 26-30 seeds, which start at even par.
Johnson is +200 favorite to win Tour Championship
The No. 1 seed and favorite to win the Tour Championship and FedExCup at Bovada Sportsbook is Dustin Johnson at +200. He’s followed by Jon Rahm, the No. 2 seed at +300.
Last week at the BMW Championship, Johnson and Rahm delivered an amazing finish. After Johnson dropped a 43-foot putt to force a playoff, Rahm nailed a 66-foot putt on the first playoff hole to win the tournament. If either were to win this week, it would be their first Tour Championship win and first FedExCup win.
Following Johnson and Rahm on the odds list are Justin Thomas at +600, Webb Simpson at +1200 and Collin Morikawa and Rory McIlroy, both at +2000.
Third seed Thomas trying to end recent struggles
Thomas, the 2017 FedExCup champ, will start as the No. 3 seed this week. Despite his high seeding, he hasn’t lived up to that ranking lately with three straight disappointing finishes, including tying for 25th last week at the BMW.
Simpson surprisingly withdrew from the BMW last week, which caused him to drop from third in the standings to fourth. Before skipping the BMW, he had put together solid back-to-back tournaments, finishing tied for third at the Wyndham Championship and tied for sixth at the Northern Trust.
Since winning his first major at the PGA Championship, Morikawa has missed the cut at the Northern Trust and finished tied for 20th at the BMW. This marks his first appearance in the Tour Championship.
McIlroy +2000 to become three-time winner
McIlroy is getting pretty good odds considering he’s the No. 12 seed this week. He’s also the defending champ of this tournament, which he also won in 2016. McIlroy finished tied for 12th last week and still has not posted a top-10 finish since the tour resumed play following the COVID-19 break.
The only other former Tour Championship winner in this week’s field is Xander Schauffele at +2500. The No. 14 seed won at East Lake in 2017 and finished second behind McIlroy last year.
The odds on a few other notables include Bryson DeChambeau at +2200, Hideki Matsuyama at +2800, Daniel Berger at +3300 and Harris English at +5000.