The 2018 PGA Tour season draws to a conclusion this weekend in Atlanta, where the top five players in the FedExCup standings will be striving for a $10m bonus by winning the Tour Championship.
Bryson DeChambeau heads the FedExCup randings after he won the opening two events of the Play-Offs but the four players below him in the standings could overhaul the Californian with victory at East Lake. New World Number one England’s Justin Rose, Tony Finau, Dustin Johnson and defending champion Justin Thomas will all be encouraged that they would win the FedExCup trophy, and the huge cheque that accompanies it, if they win on Sunday, no matter where DeChambeau finishes in the tournament.
Given there are some big names hunting him down, DeChambeau will be under tremendous pressure at East Lake. He’s not got a lot of experience but a finish in the top six might well be enough. Taking that into account, it might be tempting to play safe though the 24-year-old remains in decent form. He’s finished in the top 26 in each of his last four tournament appearances and broken par each time. East Lake is a challenging course but has been criticised for lacking a real killer hole – ending now with a 600-yard par five seems to have settled that issue. The betting sees front-runner BRYSON DECHAMBEAU at a general 20/1 chance to win the Tour Championship and cement the FedExCup title.
A top-three placing for JUSTIN ROSE could be enough for him to head to the Ryder Cup as both world No 1 and FedExCup champion. That would be a huge psychological boost for the Europe team and the Englishman is 9/1 with William Hill to win at East Lake. JUSTIN THOMAS is a general 12/1 with the 2016 champion RORY MCILROY shorter in the market at 9/1 with 888sport – the same odds as DUSTIN JOHNSON.
TIGER WOODS’ eight-stroke victory at East Lake in 2007 remains the biggest-ever winning margin in this lucrative and now traditional season-ender and he enters this year’s tournament full of confidence. In 17 appearances this season, he has two second-place finishes and six top-10s. Those performance levels are surely going to see an 8oth PGA Tour victory sooner rather than later and we are keen to be on board with Tiger at 14/1 with Ladbrokes in this select 30-strong field. JASON DAY, at 25/1 with William Hill, could also be overpriced, given he already has a couple of wins this year on the PGA Tour.
PGA Tour Championship Current Best Odds
Rory McIlroy 9/1
Justin Rose 9/1
Dustin Johnson 9/1
Justin Thomas 12/1
Tiger Woods 14/1
Brooks Koepka 14/1
Bryson DeChambeau 20/1
Hideki Matsuyama 20/1
Rickie Fowler 20/1
Tony Finau 22/1
Francesco Molinari 25/1
Jason Day 25/1
Tommy Fleetwood 25/1
Billy Horschel 28/1
Jon Rahm 28/1
Webb Simpson 28/1
Xander Schauffele 33/1
Patrick Cantlay 40/1
Patrick Reed 40/1
Paul Casey 40/1
Bubba Watson 45/1
Gary Woodland 50/1
Keegan Bradley 50/1
Phil Mickelson 50/1
Marc Leishman 60/1
Aaron Wise 66/1
Cameron Smith 66/1
Kyle Stanley 66/1
Kevin Na 70/1
Patton Kizzire 300/1
(Odds Correct at 2.00pm September 18)
