Tour Championship Preview
Tips for the Week:
Hideki Matsuyama (33/1 Paddy Power) 1pt E/W 1-4
Bill Haas (70/1 Betfred) 1pt E/W 1-4
Harris English (90/1 Betfred) 1pt E/W 1-4
The PGA Tour season draws to a close this weekend with the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club, an event which combines an elite field and a whole lot of money. To be exact a total purse of $8.25m and a winner’s cheque of nearly $1.5m is on offer. Not to forget a $10m bonus for the winner of the Fed Ex Cup!
Jason Day went wire to wire at the BMW last weekend and with it secured the number 1 world ranking spot and the number 1 spot in the Fed Ex Cup going in to the final event. The Fed Ex Cup points are reset for this final showdown to give all 30 golfers a chance of winning the ultimate cash prize, however Day, Spieth, Fowler, Stenson and Watson all go into this week knowing a win would guarantee them the $10m dollar bonus and the Fed Ex Cup.
The course is a 7307 yard par 70 layout and has been the annual host of the Tour Championship since 2004. Winners at East Lake don’t give us a stand out pattern. Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson are all past winners reflecting some of the more powerful hitters on the tour. However Jim Furyk and Brandt Snedeker have also won on this layout showing that you don’t need to be a bomber to win this event. What is more telling in recent years is form coming in to this event seems to dictate a champion at East Lake. The last five winners of this event have also won the Fed Ex Cup along with the Tour Championship, most notably Billy Horschel winning the BMW and Tour Championship back to back last year, securing him a whole lot of money. Even his caddie walked away with a $1m bonus!
Picks:
On current form it’s hard to look past Jason Day the runaway leader of last week. I have a feeling however that he might have peaked too early. The long term goal of reaching the number 1 spot has been achieved and I think winning again this week is asking too much of the Australian. At best odds of 18/5 (Betfred) I would avoid him this week. The reduced field and added pressure of the $10m up for grabs means that there is lower odds than usual for the front runners this week and none of these players grab my attention on the outright market. A past champion to avoid this week is Jim Furyk. He pulled out last week in his first round with a wrist injury. This is the first time Furyk withdrew from a tournament since 1995 so it can’t be good. With best odds of 40/1 I would stay well away!
My first pick is Hideki Matsuyama (33/1 Paddy Power). Matsuyama will be looking to climb up the Fed Ex rankings this week. A solid 66 at the BMW on Sunday saw him take a tie for 7th. Matsuyama regularly contends in big events and often is a solid shout for an each way place. The distraction of the $10m on offer for the leaders of the Fed Ex Cup might prove enough for Hideki to get over the line for a big win to cap off a solid season.
Finally, I can’t ignore some longer shots bringing up the rear of the betting market this week. A smaller field offers these contenders a fantastic chance to place highly this week. Bill Haas (70/1 Betfred) is a past champion who played well last week at the BMW finishing T19 with a solid 66 to close. Haas has won the Fed Ex Cup at East Lake before and look for him as a solid each way bet. Along with Haas I fancy the ‘bubble boy’ Harris English (90/1 Betfred) to go well. Harris made the top 30 bubble just and his play was nervous over the weekend at the BMW. He still managed to finish a credible T19 last week despite a final round 72. Now he has made his first Tour Championship look for him to play with some of the freedom we saw on Thursday and Friday last week.
It should be a good weekend at East Lake with a premium 30 man field in what is Boston Gamblers first betting preview. With a range of value as well as an established pick we hope to bring you success at the end of this PGA Tour season.