This week in Atlanta, Georgia at the East Lake Golf Course, the PGA Tour season reaches its explosive crescendo when the Top 30 players on the money list share the huge prize money as below.
With 10th-place-finish netting a seven-figure cheque there is plenty to play for.
That share of the prize pool favors the players in the PGA Tour money list, with a handicapping structure in place as explained in the table below.
FedExCup Standings – Top 10
- Scottie Scheffler
- Patrick Cantlay
- Will Zalatoris
- Xander Schauffele
- Sam Burns
- Cameron Smith
- Rory McIlroy
- Tony Finau
- Sepp Straka
- Sungjae Im
What Sort of Track is East Lake Golf Course?
East Lake golf course was originally designed by the well-respected Donald Ross in 1913 after opening in 1906. Rees Jones renovated the course in 1994 while still embracing the Ross theme into a more demanding test, to cope with the modern-day equipment.
Long off the tee, this tough par 70 requires accurate approach shots to the Bermuda Greens as the green surrounds are often heavily roughed up and require avoidance whenever possible.
Be Careful With Your Bets This Week
This week there are two outright markets to bet on.
The first is the FedEx Cup one, where starting strokes or handicapping is applied.
The second is the more traditional 72-hole strokeplay market that golf bettors will easily recognize.
Who Can Win the FedEx Cup?
With the starting strokes applied as above, the number of potential winners appears limited.
Scottie Scheffler takes a two-stroke lead into the FedEx Cup from Patrick Cantlay.
Three shots back in third place is Will Zalatoris, who arrives here under an injury cloud having been forced to withdraw in round 2 of the BMW Championship with a back complaint.
As unfortunate as that is for Zalatoris, it means for betting purposes we can rule his chances of winning out a little easier.
The next player up in the handicapping structure is Xander Schauffele who loves it here in Atlanta but is giving Scheffler four strokes start over the four rounds but…
If Anyone Can, Xander Can!
Xander Schauffele is the best at East Lake in recent seasons. Let’s look at the reasons why.
In five renewals of the Tour Championship that Schauffele has competed in, he’s never been worse than 7th in the stroke-play market.
Amazingly, four of those five, have seen the San Diego man finish in the top 3 illustrating a remarkable consistency in this limited-field event. Let’s not forget, that it’s not just a limited field, it’s the top 30 players from each season on the PGA Tour.
The 28-year-old has been in cracking recent form with wins at the Travelers Championship and the Scottish Open back-to-back before the Open Championship. Last week, Schauffele was back close to his best at the BMW Championship where he finished third despite an average putting display.
FedEx Cup Winner and Prop Predictions
If anyone could hunt the leader down from four shots behind at East Lake, it’s Xander Schauffele, so add him to your best golf bets at BetMGM with OddsTrader.
Let’s also add Xander to our props bets to sure up our position this week. Bet365 has a funky selection of prop bets this week on the 2022 Tour Championship.
We’ve gone the speculative route above, but for those wanting to sure up their action with a banker bet this week, take a look at the Bet365 market, 3 vs. the field.
Remarkably, we can add in Scottie Scheffler and Patrick Cantlay at the cracking price of -138 on this golf pick.
Golf Pick: Xander Schauffele – FedEx Cup Winner (+750) at BetMGM
Golf Pick: Xander Schauffele – FedEx Top 5 (+105) at Bet365
Golf Prop Pick: 3 vs. the Field – Scheffler, Cantlay, Schauffele (-138) at Bet365
Rory for Top British Looks Like a Banker
For our final prop bet of the Tour Championship 2022, we are going to take Rory McIlroy to prevail over Matthew Fitzpatrick in the Top British market with Bet365.
This will be Matthew Fitzpatrick’s debut at the East Lake Golf Course and in recent weeks he’s begun to look a little jaded. There’s little wonder given the young Englishman won the US Open in the heart of the summer.
Rory McIlroy has won twice here in 2016 and 2019, and last week at the BMW Championship, he appeared to be trending into form nicely.
The real caveat for the bet is that Rory McIlroy starts with a one-shot advantage over Fitzpatrick so -200 with Bet365 makes huge appeal as a props-bet this week at OddsTrader.
Golf Prop Pick: Rory McIlroy – Top British (-200) at Bet365
