PGA Tour Championship Golf Odds and Betting Picks

The 2015-16 PGA Tour wraparound season comes to a close this weekend from East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta as the 30 players in the field compete not just for the prestigious tournament title but also the FedExCup and its $10 million (U.S.) prize. The No. 1 player in the points, Dustin Johnson, is the +429 tournament favourite on Sports Interaction’s golf odds.

Top 5 Can Double Up With Win In Tour Championship

Any player in the Top 5 of the points would win the FedExCup by taking the Tour Championship. Those are Top 5 are Americans Johnson and Patrick Reed, Australians Adam Scott and Jason Day, and England’s Paul Casey. Every player in the field — there is no cut — has a mathematical chance at the Fed ExCup. Each of the past six FedExCup champions have done it by winning the Tour Championship.

The FedExCup field was narrowed from 70 players to the Top 30 at the BMW Championship, which was won by Johnson on Sept. 11. It was his third victory of the year, a career high. Johnson, who has a whopping 14 Top-10 finishes overall this season, is also the leading contender for PGA Tour Player of the Year and would lock that down with a victory this weekend. Johnson hasn’t won this tournament previously but was fifth last year and in 2013 (he didn’t play in 2014). He has a good chance of winning the FedEx Cup with a Top-5 finish as long as Reed, Scott, Day or Casey don’t win.

Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy is sixth in the points and the +624 second-favourite. To win the FedExCup, McIlroy would have to win the tournament and have Johnson finish tied for second or worse. McIlroy won the second FedExCup playoff event, the Deutsche Bank Championship, for his first PGA Tour victory of the season. He followed that up with a 42nd-place finish at the BMW Championship. McIlroy has a best finish of second at the Tour Championship (2014).

Can Jordan Spieth Be First To Repeat?

Defending tournament and FedExCup champion Jordan Spieth is +800 on golf odds. Last year, Spieth shot a final-round 1-under 69 to finish at 9 under and win by four strokes over Danny Lee, Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson. Spieth was also a runner-up in Atlanta in 2013. He’s seventh in the points and needs a win and Johnson to finish in a three-way tie for second or worse and Reed to finish in a tie for second or worse to repeat as FedExCup champion. No player has won the FedEx Cup twice or the Tour Championship twice since it became part of the playoff in 2007.

The only player who could take PGA Tour Player of the Year honors from Johnson is Day, the world No. 1. He is +1000 this week along with his countryman Scott. Day had to pull out after nine holes of his final round of the BMW Championship after tweaking his back. If not for the week off, Day might not have played this week. Day was 10th in Atlanta in 2015 and fourth the year before.

Scott is working on a unique string of three straight fourth-place finishes on the PGA Tour in these playoffs. He won the Tour Championship back in 2006. Scott last played the tournament in 2014 and was ninth.

There will be news made after the final round of this tournament as U.S. Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III will make his last captain’s pick for next week’s competition against Europe.

Tour Championship Odds & Predictions

Take Johnson (-399) and Scott (-149) for Top-10 finishes, but I like Spieth to win the tournament and the FedEx Cup. He has a great track record at East Lake and the double repeat would be a great way to finish an otherwise disappointing year. Spieth is also priced at -175 for a Top-10 finish and +450 as top American.