(Image by: scottie.scheffler)
The Tour Championship is finally here and after this weekend we will know who has taken home the $25 million bonus that is up for grabs.
Whilst all of the focus will be on the battle at the top, there is huge money on offer for each of the thirty men who have made it through this far in the Playoffs.
Once again, Eastlake will be the home of the Tour Championship and there is added excitement this year as the course will be showing off a range of new features which organisers will hope will make this already iconic course even tougher.
With a different format to get your head around as well as the latest renovations that have taken place, here is everything you need to know.
What is The Format of The Tour Championship?
After twelve long months and a gruelling three weeks of the Playoffs, this is where the remaining thirty men will hope that their hard work will pay off.
Unlike normal stroke play events, the top thirty have been assigned a prefixed score that they will start their opening round from. Designed to reward those who have finished at the top of the FedEx standings, this is what everyone’s starting position is set to be.
Scottie Scheffler -10
Xander Schauffele - 8
Hideki Matsuyama - 7
Keegan Bradley - 6
Ludvig Aberg - 5
Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark, Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay - 4
Sungjae Im, Sahith Theegala, Shane Lowry, Adam Scott and Tony Finau - 3
H An, Viktor Hovland, Russell Henley, Akshay Bhatia and Robert MacIntyre - 2
Billy Horschel, Tommy Fleetwood, Sepp Straka, Mathieu Pavon and Taylor Pendrith - 1
Chris Kirk, Tom Hoge, Aaron Rai, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Justin Thomas - Evens
As you can see from the list above, there is a huge disparity between Scottie Scheffler in first and Justin Thomas in last, with Thomas starting ten strokes worse off than his compatriot.
Despite the staggered start, the tournament will then play out as a regular event. Bettors usually have two different markets that can be bet on, the market which includes the staggered scoring and the market which places all the players on a level score.
This week can be a lot to get your head round!
The Course
The Tour Championship was born in 1987 and since 2004 the tournament's permanent home has been at Eastlake which is just outside of Atalanta, Georgia.
Playing at just under 7,500 yards, Eastlake will play as a par 71 this week. Whereas the players have been used to how Eastlake plays, this year they will have a different look.
New grass will be present on both the fairways and greens throughout the course and the 14th hole has been moved to a par 5 from its previous par 4
With water and big vast bunkers playing a part across the course accuracy is what will win the day. If a player is seeking birdies they will need to ensure that they are swinging the club well as any mistake has the ability to cost a player millions.
(Image by: luddeaberg)
Who Should we be Keeping an Eye on This Week?
From a betting angle there is much more value to be found by betting on the tournament with every player starting from scratch and for the purpose of this section, we will be recommending players from this perspective.
For the third successive week of the playoffs it is Scottie Scheffler who will start the week as the favourite victory. It's been an odd few weeks for the world number one. Dogged by the pressures of trying to win the FedEx Championship for the very first time, Scheffler hasn’t been his usual laid back self over the past few weeks and you can see how badly the world number one wants to win this title.
A fourth place finish at the St Jude ensured that he would head to Eastlake as the number one player in the standings, but he was out of sorts at last week’s BMW Championship and was only able to finish well down the field in 33rd.
Despite Scheffler having the game to succeed at Eastlake, the course does bear a few bad memories as the Texan has been pipped to the title in each of the last two years by Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland.
Scheffler will be hoping that this week will produce a much kinder outcome. The winner of six PGA Tour events this season, Scheffler has comfortably been the best player on Tour this season, he will be hoping to confirm his dominance by taking home his first FedEx title.
Hoping to take advantage of any nerves that Scheffler might display is Xander Schauffele. Whilst Schauffele hasn’t won as many times as Scheffler this season, he has managed to eclipse his rival by winning both the PGA and Open Championships.
Having made Scheffler fight for the right to be crowned to be FedEx Champion right up until the final week of the season, oddly Schauffele will head into this week with nothing to lose. With the superb season he has had, all the pressure is on the world number one to finish the job, however if he stutters in any way, Schauffele will do his best to take advantage.
Outside of the top two, Keegan Bradley will want to cap off a memorable few weeks. The 2011 PGA Champion, his win at last week’s BMW Championship was his biggest win since he captured his maiden title. Having started last week ranked 50th and last in the standings, Bradley’s win has seen him rise a monumental 46 places in the rankings. Heading into this week ranked fourth, Bradley is in line for a huge payday.
Like Schauffele, Bradley can’t have imagined to find himself in this position and he has nothing to lose. Although a win this week might be beyond him, another big week could be expected.
Rory McIlroy is one of the players in the field who will have hugely fond memories of Eastlake having tasted FedEx glory a record three times. It's been a strange few weeks for the world number three, having finished 68th out of 70 at the St Jude, he was much improved at the BMW Championship where he finished 11th.
McIlroy could be a player to back this week for a couple of reasons. Firstly he doesn’t need the money so he won’t be impacted by any of the financial pressures that are up for grabs this week. Secondly with attentions set to be on the battle between the top two, it is rare that McIlroy arrives at any tournament as an afterthought, but that is exactly the situation he finds himself in this week.
McIlroy can’t win the FedEx this week but he will look to go out on a high. With the pressures well and truly off, he could be one that you have to back this week.
(Image by: xanderschauffele)
FedEx betting
As we mentioned at the top of this article, there are two different markets that you can get involved with this week. Below are the odds for the staggered start and the betting without strokes.
Betting With Staggered Strokes
Scottie Scheffler - 11/10
Xander Schauffele - 9/4
Hideki Matsuyama - 11/1
Ludvig Aberg - 20/1
Rory McIlroy - 20/1
Collin Morikawa - 30/1
Keegan Bradley - 30/1
Patrick Cantlay - 30/1
Wyndham Clark - 40/1
Sam Burns - 40/1
Betting Without Staggered Strokes
Scottie Scheffler - 4/1
Xander Schauffele - 5/1
Rory McIlroy - 10/1
Hideki Matsuyama - 16/1
Collin Morikawa - 16/1
Viktor Hovland - 16/1
Ludvig Aberg - 16/1
Patrick Cantlay - 18/1
Tommy Fleetwood - 20/1
Sam Burns - 22/1
Jack Hartman
A keen golfer and huge fan of the game, Jack has been covering golf for the last five years. Bringing you all the latest coverage and news from the PGA, LIV, LPGA and DP World Tours, never before has golf been so popular and Jack can’t wait to bring all the excitement to his readers.
