Tour Championship Betting Preview
The FedEx Cup playoffs conclude this week with the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Tour Championship has a small field of only 30 and starts out differently than most tournaments with each player being given starting strokes. For example, the leader in the FedEx Cup standings Scottie Scheffler will begin the tournament at minus-10. Other starting strokes include minus-8 for Viktor Hovland, minus-7 for Rory McIlroy, minus-6 for Jon Rahm, and minus-5 for Lucas Glover.
With a head start on some of the field it’s no surprise that Scheffler is the tournament favorite at the Bovada Sportsbook at +150. Scheffler posted another Top-5 finish last week in the BMW Championship after tying for second place. That was his eighth Top-5 finish in his last 10 tournaments. At last year’s Tour Championship Scheffler also tied for second place, finishing one stroke behind the leader.
McIlroy, Hovland, Rahm follow the betting favorite
Following Scheffler on the odds are McIlroy at +350, Hovland at +500, and Rahm at +850.
McIlroy won the Tour Championship and his third FedEx Cup title last season. He shot 21-under par at East Lake to finish one stroke ahead of Scheffler and Sung-jae Im. McIlroy had to really fight for last year’s win as he started in seventh place at only minus-4, and at one point was 10 strokes behind the leader.
Hovland turned in arguably the best round of his pro career last week to win the BMW Championship. He shot a nine-under 61 in the final round to finish at 17-under, two strokes ahead of Scheffler and Matt Fitzpatrick. That was Hovland’s second win this year following the Memorial in June, and his fifth Top-5 finish of the season.
Rahm has failed to deliver so far in the playoffs. He tied for 31st place in the BMW Championship last week and tied for 37th place a week earlier in the FedEx St. Jude Championship. He’ll need to be much better this week to have a shot at winning after starting four strokes behind.
Cantlay among next golfers on the tournament odds
After Rahm the odds for the week begin to climb quickly including 2021 TOUR Championship winner Patrick Cantlay at +2000, Xander Schauffele at +3000, Glover at +3500, Fitzpatrick at +4000, and U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark at +5000.
Bettors at the sportsbook can also get odds on who’ll post the best score in the tournament without the starting strokes. On that odds list Scheffler remains that favorite at +550, followed by McIlroy at +600, and Rahm and Hovland both at +900.