Tour Championship: Betting Tips, TV Times
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The winner of the Tour Championship will be crowned FedEx Cup Champion this week: Here’s who to back, and how to watch
The final event of the PGA Tour season ends with the Tour Championship at East Lake, where the top 30 players in the standings compete to be crowned FedEx Cup Champion.
This year marks a big change in the format, where a new staggered scoring system based on current standings has been adopted and sees leader Justin Thomas start the tournament on -10. Patrick Cantlay will begin on -8, Brooks Koepka on -7, Patrick Reed on -6 and Rory McIlroy on -5. From there, players in position 6-10 will start on -4, 11-15 on -3, 16-20 on -2, 21-25 on -1 and 26-30 on level par. (Click here for the full explanation of how it works).
It means there are no complicated calculations involved and no separate winners of the FedEx Cup and Tour Championship as there have been in years gone by: In 2019, the person holding the Tour Championship trophy at the end of the week will also be the FedEx Cup champion.
There is also an increased prize fund that will see the winner take home a bonus of $15million from a $70 million bonus fund.
Below, find out how to watch the action unfold on the PGA Tour, and read on for a run down of each of the top 30 players teeing up at East Lake this week.
Tour Championship TV Times
• Wednesday: On the range – Live PGA Tour, Sky Sports Golf (19:00)
• Thursday: Sky Sports Golf (18:00)
• Friday: Sky Sports Golf (18:00)
• Saturday: Sky Sports Golf (18:00), Sky Sports Main Event (20:30)
• Sunday: Sky Sports Golf (17:00), Sky Sports Main Event (19:30)
Betting Tips: Tour Championship (Positions 1-30)
Over the last 10 years, the winning score at East Lake has been between -8 (’10) and -13 (’13), meaning it’s not going to be as easy to post birdies around this layout as it was last week at Medinah. Here, we take a closer look at each player, their position in the FedEx Cup standings and their odds of winning the Tour Championship
The Top 5
Justin Thomas will hold a two stroke advantage over Cantlay and five shot lead over 5th place Rory McIlroy – but it’s still likely any of these five could walk away as the FedEx Cup Champion.
Justin Thomas: 2/1
• Starting Position: -10
• Past Tour Championship: T7 (’18), 2 (’17), T6 (’16)
• Ranks: 2nd SG: Approach and SG: Tee to green, 5th GIR and Scoring average, 19th SG: Around the green and 24th SG: Off the tee
2017 FedEx Cup Champion Thomas fired a course record 11-under 61 on Saturday and won his 10th PGA Tour title by three shots at Medinah last week, earning him a two-shot advantage over the field at East Lake. Hasn’t finished worse than T12 in his last five starts, and T7 is his worst result in three starts at the Tour Championship – meaning he’s going to be exceptionally tough to beat.
Patrick Cantlay: 9/2
• Starting Position: -8
• Past Tour Championship: T21 (’18), T20 (’17)
• Ranks: 1st scoring average, 3rd SG: Tee to green, 6th SG: Around the green, 12th SG: Approach, 13th SG: Off the tee, 14th SG: Putting
Cantlay has the lowest scoring average on the PGA Tour, and posted a final round seven-under 65 at Medinah to finish three shots behind Thomas for his seventh top 10 of 2019 (which includes his win at Memorial). Two shots really isn’t a lot in the grand scheme of things to make-up despite two lacklustre Tour Championship performances to date, and he’s in the best position of all challengers to catch up to Thomas.
Brooks Koepka: 5/1
• Starting Position: -7
• Past Tour Championship: T26 (’18), 6 (’17), T18 (’15),
• Ranks: 4th scoring av, 11th GIR and SG: Tee to green, 16th SG: Approach and SG: Off the tee
Koepka followed up his T4 at The Open (his worst major finish of the year!) with a win at the WGC FedEx St Jude, but has since gone T30 and T24 at the first two playoff events of the year. The World No.1 has shown he performs well under the pressure on the biggest stage, and he has plenty of motivation after JT’s victory pushed him out of the top spot in the FedEx rankings. Three shots to make up over four days is more than doable.
Patrick Reed: 18/1
• Starting Position: -6
• Past Tour Championship: 28 (’18), T13 (’17), T24 (’16), 27 (’15), T19 (’14),
• Ranks: 15th SG: Around the green, 20th Scoring Average
A victory at the Northern Trust, two other top 10s and no worse finish than T32 in his last nine starts on Tour make Reed a consistent competitor. However, starting four shots back is a tough task for someone who has hasn’t cracked the top 10 here in five starts – and only once finished under par.
Rory McIlroy: 8/1
• Starting Position: -5
• Past Tour Championship: T7 (’18), 1 (’16), T16 (’15), T2 (’14), T10 (’12)
• Ranks: 1st SG: Tee to green and SG: Off the tee, 2nd scoring Average, 13th SG: Approach, 25th SG: Putting, 28th SG: Around the green
McIlroy starts five strokes behind, but he’s had his most consistent season to date this year with two wins among 13 top 10s, and East Lake is somewhere he has a record of playing well. It’s a tough task around here but doable, as he showed when he came from five shots back after 36 holes to win the 2016 FedEx Cup Championship.
Positions 6 – 10
Each of the next five players will start the tournament six shots behind Thomas on -4, and still have a chance to win as long as they have a little help from the players in front.
Jon Rahm: 12/1
• Starting Position: -4
• Past Tour Championship: T11 (’18), T7 (’17)
• Ranks: 2nd SG: Off the tee, 6th scoring Av, 10th SG: Tee to green, 27th SG: Putting and GIR
Playing the best golf of just about anyone right now, Rahm heads to East Lake following a T5 finish at Medinah – his sixth top 10 (including victory in Ireland) in his past seven starts. The other was a T11, which came at The Open. Has work to do, but also has two good results in his last two Tour Championship starts.
Matt Kuchar: 55/1
• Starting Position: -4
• Past Tour Championship: T10 (’17), T15 (’16), T10 (’15), 13 (’14), T26 (’13), T10 (’12), T20 (’11), T25 (’10)
• Ranks: 8th SG: Approach, 9TH GIR, 12th scoring av, 21st SG: Tee to green
Led the FedEx Cup early in the season but has slipped to 13th and hasn’t posted a top 10 since a T4 at the RBC Canadian Open in June. He also hasn’t bettered T41 in his last four starts on Tour, and in eight trips to East Lake has never finished higher than T10, making the huge jump in odds between him and Rahm more understandable.
Xander Schauffele: 30/1
• Starting Position: -4
• Past Tour Championship: T7 (’18), 1 (’17)
• Ranks: 14th SG: Tee to green, 15th scoring av
A T19 last week was his best finish since a T3 at the U.S. Open in June, having gone T41 at the Open, T27 at the WGC FedEx St Jude and missing the cut at the The Northern Trust in between. But while his form doesn’t indicate an immediate win, his game suits East Lake: He won the tournament as a rookie and finished inside the top 10 last year.
Webb Simpson: 25/1
• Starting Position: -4
• Past Tour Championship: T4 (’18), T13 (’17), T23 (’14), 4 (’13), T5 (’12), 22 (’11),
• Ranks: 3rd scoring av, 11th SG: Approach, 13th SG: Putting and SG: Tee to green, 16th SG: Around the green
Followed back-to-back runner-up finishes with two top 25s at The Northern Trust and BMW Championship, and is searching for his first win since the 2018 Players Championship. Ranks 3rd for scoring average on the PGA Tour this season and has three top 5 finishes at East Lake in six starts.
Abraham Ancer: 80/1
• Starting Position: -4
• Past Tour Championship: –
• Ranks: 10th SG: Off the tee
Ancer moved himself up the FedEx rankings with a runner up finish at The Northern Trust – his best finish to date on the PGA Tour, and followed it up with a T18 last week at Medinah. Making his first appearance at East Lake.
Positions 11 – 15
Players who sit in 11th-15th in the FedEx standings will start the tournament seven shots behind Thomas on -3, giving them a substantial amont of ground to make up – and 10 other players ahead of them.
Gary Woodland: 80/1
• Starting Position: -3
• Past Tour Championship: T11 (’18), 19 (’17), T10 (’16), T9 (’14), T22 (’13), T13 (’11)
• Ranks: 15th SG: Tee to green, 20th SG: Approach, 22nd scoring av, 25th GIR
Since his victory at the US Open Woodland has gone MC-MC-T55-T52-T31. It’s going to be a tough to overturn seven shots to win this week, and given that his best finish in six trips to East Lake is a T9 in 2014, it may be too big of an ask.
Tony Finau: 40/1
• Starting Position: -3
• Past Tour Championship: T15 (’18), T7 (’17)
• Ranks: 17th Scoring Average, 22nd SG: Off the tee, 23rd SG: Tee to green
A T4 last week was Finau’s second top 10 in four starts, and could have been even better if not for a handful of missed putts on Sunday. He’s become something of a top 10 machine over the last two seasons, but is still looking for his first win on the PGA Tour since 2016.
Adam Scott: 45/1
• Starting Position: -3
• Past Tour Championship: T8 (’16), T9 (’14), T14 (’13), 19 (’12), T6 (’11), 27 (’10), T26 (’07), 1 (’06), T21 (’04)
• Ranks: 4th SG: Approach and SG: Tee to green, 5th SG: Around the green, 10th scoring average
Playing in his first Tour Championship since a top 10 in 2016. There’s a lot of work to be done to catch Thomas, but Adam Scott finished T5-T9 at The Northern Trust and BMW Championship, and with has five top 10s in his last seven starts on Tour, he’s definitely in the right form to try.
Dustin Johnson: 25/1
• Starting Position: -3
• Past Tour Championship: 3 (’18), T17 (’17), T6 (’16), T5 (’15), 5 (’13), T10 (’12), T23 (’11), T22 (’10), 27 (’09)
• Ranks: 5th SG: Off the tee, 6th SG: Tee to green, 7th scoring av, 27th SG: Approach
The World No.2 was T57 out of 69 players at last week’s BMW Championship, and his odds seem surprisingly low considering he hasn’t finished better than T20 since a runner-up finish at the PGA Championship. His current form doesn’t scream that he’ll come from seven behind to win but if DJ finds his game he could well make a big move, and he does have five top 10s in his last six starts at East Lake.
Hideki Mastuyama: 40/1
• Starting Position: -3
• Past Tour Championship: T4 (’18), T26 (’17), 5 (’16), T12 (’15), 22 (’14),
• Ranks: 5th SG: Approach and SG: Tee to green, 11th scoring av, 13th SG: Around the green, 17th GIR
If Matsuyama can do what he did at Medinah and post a pair of nine-under 63s, there’s every chance he could contend this week and quickly recoup those seven shots. His form has been streaky this season, as it has been in his career performances at East Lake, so it feels like a bit of toss of the coin as to whether he will. Two top-five’s here the last three years provides plenty of inspiration.
Positions 16 – 20
Those who sit in 16th-20th in the FedEx standings will start the tournament eight shots behind Thomas on -2, making it increasingly unlikely they will manage to contend for the top spot this week without some very low scoring.
Paul Casey: 80/1
• Starting Position: -2
• Past Tour Championship: T11 (’18), 5 (’17), 4 (’16), T5 (’15), T4 (’10),
• Ranks: 6th GIR, 7th SG: Tee to green, 9th SG: Approach and SG: Off the tee, 13th scoring av
The World No.21 starts eight shots back, and his last four results read T57 at The Open, followed by a T27 in Mephis, T13 at the Wyndham Championship and T24 last week. But while those numbers don’t make for encouraging reading, his impressive record at East Lake does: In five starts, he’s finished inside the top 5 four times.
Justin Rose: 50/1
• Starting Position: -2
• Past Tour Championship: T4 (’18), T10 (’17), T2 (’15), T4 (’14), 6 (’13), 2 (’12), T20 (’11), T15 (’10),
• Ranks: 9th scoring av, 7th SG: Putting, 23rd SG: Approach, 28th SG: Tee to green.
The defending FedEx Cup champion finished T4 here last year, and hasn’t finished outside the top 10 in this event since 2011. Excluding last week’s T52, Rose has two top 10s and four top 20s in his last six starts – and he has twice come back from eight shots behind to win: Once after 18 holes at 2014 Quicken Loans National, and again after 54 holes at the 2017 WGC-HSBC Champions.
Brandt Snedeker: 100/1
• Starting Position: -2
• Past Tour Championship: T17 (’16), T22 (’15), T20 (’14), 1 (’12), T16 (’11), T29 (’07)
• Ranks: 3rd SG: Around the green, 6th SG: Putting
Another exceptional week with the putter at Medinah saw Snedeker record his second top 10 in a row, and he’s definitely heading in to the final event of the season in excellent form. The big drawback to Snedeker is that he’s returning to the Tour Championship for the first since in two years and has only finished inside the top 10 at East Lake once – which was when he won back in 2012.
Rickie Fowler: 66/1
• Starting Position: -2
• Past Tour Championship: T7 (’18), T26 (’17), T12 (’15), 8 (’14), T23 (’12)
• Ranks: 14th scoring Average, 18th SG: Putting
A T11 at Medinah and T6 at The Open make up two of his last three starts (the other a MC at The Northern Trust), and that sort of form could see him climb the leaderboard. He has a mixed bag of results at East Lake, but that does include two top 10s in the last four years.
Kevin Kisner: 125/1
• Starting Position: -2
• Past Tour Championship: T3 (’17), 26 (’16), 28 (’15),
• Ranks: 26th SG: Putting
A T9 last week was Kisner’s first top 10 on Tour since his victory at the WGC Dell Match Play earlier this year, and followed a T12 at Liberty National the week before. T3 here in 2017 but missed out on the qualifying for the Tour Championship last year.
Positions 21 – 25
Players on 21st-25th in the FedEx standings will start the tournament nine shots behind Thomas on -1.
Marc Leishman: 200/1
• Starting Position: -1
• Past Tour Championship: T21 (’18), T24 (’17),
• Ranks: 22nd SG: Approach, 30th SG: Putting
After a strong start to the wrap around season that included a win and multiple top 10s Leishman wilted a little with a mixed bag of results that includes two MC’s in his last four: Still, his top 3 at the WGC FedEx St Jude was one of six in 2019, and he also finished T19 last week. However, 200/1 odds aren’t overly surprising for Leishman, as he has struggled in both previous Tour Championship starts.
Tommy Fleetwood: 80/1
• Starting Position: -1
• Past Tour Championship: T11 (’18)
• Ranks: 8th scoring av, 12th SG: Tee to green and SG: Off the tee, 19th SG: Around the green
Was the runner-up at The Open, T4 at the FedEx St Jude and T11 last week, showcasing the form that also saw him record top 10s at both the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship earlier in the year. Fleetwood is definitely playing solid golf right now, but he also has a lot of shots to make up if he wants to contend.
Corey Conners: 400/1
• Starting Position: -1
• Past Tour Championship: –
• Ranks: 1st GIR, 8th SG: Off the tee, 9th SG: Tee to green, 10th SG: Approach
Conners had a win at the Valero Texas Open earlier but has struggled slightly on Tour since until the last few weeks, where he has recorded three top 30s and a T7 at last week’s BMW Championship. Making his debut this week.
Sungjae Im: 300/1
• Starting Position: -1
• Past Tour Championship: –
• Ranks: 18th SG: Around the green
The talented youngster is the only rookie to be playing this week, which is an impressive feat in itself. Has had six top 10s this year including a T6 at the Wyndham Championship, and was T11 at Medinah, and still searching for his first win.
Chez Reavie: 300/1
• Starting Position: -1
• Past Tour Championship: T26 (’11)
• Ranks:
Reavie had a brilliant spell of form around May/June that helped him to a T3 at the US Open and victory at the Travelers Championship, but in his six starts since he’s missed two cuts and had a best finish of T27. Have to go back to 2011 for his only previous start in the Tour Championship, where he finished T26.
Positions 26 – 30
Players on 26th-30th in the FedEx standings will start the tournament ten shots behind Thomas on -1, giving them an incredibly slim chance of walking away as champion this week.
Bryson DeChambeau: 250/1
• Starting Position: E
• Past Tour Championship: 19 (’18)
• Ranks: 23rd Scoring Av, 25th SG: Off the tee
DeChambeau had a period of dominance on both Tour’s early in the season with wins at the Shriners and in Dubai after two playoff wins last year, but despite back-to-back top 10s at the Travelers Championship and U.S Open, he has failed to retain any momentum in to later stage of the season. His last four starts read MC-T48-T24-T48. Finished 19th out of 30 on his Tour Championship debut last year at 1-under.
Louis Oosthuizen: 200/1
• Starting Position: E
• Past Tour Championship: WD (’15), T23 (’12),
• Ranks: 9th SG: Around the green
Oosthuizen had a pair of T20s at Royal Portrush and Memphis before a T6 and The Northern Trust and T11 at the BMW Championship, and he’s going to have to keep that form going if he wants a chance this week. Playing for the first time since he WD in 2015.
Charles Howell III: 400/1
• Starting Position: E
• Past Tour Championship: T6 (’11)
• Ranks: 4th GIR
Earned his third PGA Tour win at the RSM Classic at the start of the season last year, and has had three top 10s since then – the latest a T6 at the John Deere Classic. Two other top 25s in his last five starts, which also includes a missed cut at the Northern Trust, a T35 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and T37 last week. The last time he made it to the Tour Championship, he finished T6.
Lucas Glover: 300/1
• Starting Position: E
• Past Tour Championship: T10 (’09), T8 (’06), T29 (’05)
• Ranks: 16th scoring av, 18th SG: Tee to green, 29th SG: Approach, 30th GIR
Glover earned his way in to 29th spot with a T7 last week – his third top 10 in his last six starts and sixth in 2019. Last played in the Tour Championship in 2009, before it was part of the FedEx Cup.
Jason Kokrak: 300/1
• Starting Position: E
• Past Tour Championship: –
• Ranks: 7th SG: Approach, 11th SG: Off the tee, 17th SG: Tee to green
On a great run of form that includes a T6 at the Wyndham, T12 at the Northern Trust and T19 at the BMW Championship. Made it in to the Tour Championship thanks to a final-hole birdie at Medinah and five top 10s this year, but still searching for his maiden win. Making his first appearance here.
