And just like that, the 2022 PGA Tour season has reached it’s climax, with the Tour Championship set to be played this week from East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. 30 players will be vying for the monster $18,000,000 first prize, and we have you covered with a full preview and betting tips for the event below.
Remember, when the PGA Tour season officially wraps up this weekend, it won’t mean the end of our golf coverage at BYB. Stay tuned to the Golf Tips page for regular updates throughout the off season across the Euro Tour, the LIV Golf Invitational as well as the Presidents Cup.
Tour Championship Betting Tips
East Lake Golf Course, Atlanta, Thursday 25th – Sunday 28th August
The Field
We started with 125 player in the first FedEx Cup playoffs event a few weeks ago and we are now left with just 30. The top 30 players in the FedEx Cup standings have advanced through to the Tour Championship and the top players will have an outright advantage when it comes to this week’s proceedings.
Scottie Scheffler, who currently sits at the top of the standings, will start the tournament at 10 under par, followed by Patrick Cantlay at 8 under with Will Zalatoris rounding out the top three at 7 under. The rest of the top 30 will all be placed accordingly, giving the top ranked players the best chance at remaining at the top throughout the four rounds.
-10 Scottie Scheffler
-8 Patrick Cantlay
-7 Will Zalatoris
-6 Xander Schauffele
-5 Sam Burns
-4 Rory McIlroy, Cameron Smith, Tony Finau, Sepp Straka, Jon Rahm
-3 Justin Thomas, Scott Stallings, Cameron Young, Matt Fitzpatrick, Sungjae Im
-2 Max Homa, Hideki Matsuyama, Jordan Spieth, Joaquin Niemann, Viktor Hovland
-1 Collin Morikawa, Tom Hoge, Corey Conners, Brian Harman
Even - K.H. Lee, J.T. Poston, Sahith Theegala, Adam Scott, Aaron Wise
In a FedEx Cup playoffs first, Adam Scott become the only player to play himself into the field in both the first and second playoff event. Other big movers include the tour playoff winners so far, Patrick Cantlay and Will Zalatoris.
The Course
East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia
Par 70 - 7,300 Yards
Designed by Donald Ross
East Lake Golf Club has been the home of the tour championship since the inception of the FedEx Cup playoffs format back in 2004. The course has been home to some famous moments including Rory McIlroy racing to beat the darkness in 2014 on his way to a FedEx Cup win as well as Tiger Woods monumental comeback victory in 2018.
The course is a true test of golfing ability, not particularly catering to one style of golfer and not severely punishing any other type. Key stats that we generally like to target at East Lake include SG from tee to green, overall SG and current form.
Power Rankings
(Note: We are not taking the starting handicaps into account in our Power Rankings, these rankings are based off everyone playing off scratch)
1 – Rory McIlroy
The only multiple winner of the Tour Championship in the field this week has to be No.1 on our rankings after bouncing back to form at the BMW Championship on the weekend. The Northern Irishman finished T6 at Wilmington and will be looking to become the first ever three-time FedEx Cup Champion.
2 – Patrick Cantlay
Cantlay is hoping to become just the 3rd two-time winner of the FedEx Cup and the first to do it in back-to-back seasons after his impressive victory at the Tour Championship last season. Cantlay won the event starting from the lowest marker of -10, so he’ll need to go one better this season as he starts behind No.3 on our list.
3 – Scottie Scheffler
The No.1 player in the world and the No.1 player on the FedEx Cup standings heading into this week. Has been a touch out of form recently but bounced back admirably at the BMW Championship with a T3 finish. The one thing going slightly against him this week, and the reason he is at No.3 and not No.1 in our rankings is a slight lack of experience at East Lake. Has made it to the Tour Championship on just two occasions compared to eight for McIlroy.
4 – Xander Schauffele
Starting at -6 this week, certainly within striking distance. Schauffele is arguably the in-form golfer in the world right now. He is also a former winner at East Lake, having lifted the trophy despite not winning the FedEx Cup itself back in 2016. He was the also the low aggregate in the 2020 event and has a ridiculous scoring average of 67.3 at East Lake.
5 – Jordan Spieth
If there is one player that cann come from the clouds to win this week I think it might be Jordan Spieth. Spieth has a lifetime of experience at East Lake, having played in the event six times. He is a prominent scorer, one that is capable of reeling in the low markers in a couple of rounds.
Betting Tips
Win Bets
Patrick Cantlay - 1 Unit ($5.00 at Ladbrokes)
Rory McIlroy - 0.5 Units ($11 at Ladbrokes)
Xander Schauffele - 0.5 Units ($8.00 at Ladbrokes)
Other Bets
Adam Scott Top 10 - 1 Unit ($5.50 at Ladbrokes)
Cameron Young Top 10 - 2 Unit ($2.70 at Ladbrokes)
Rory McIlroy Top 5 - 4 Units ($2.30 at Ladbrokes)
