A look at the best bets for the Tour Championship this weekend
If you are new to the world of golf betting it is important to note going into the Tour Championship that some players start off with a stroke lead. As part of the Fed Ex Cup playoffs, each golfer is given some help based on their standings. This means top golfer Scottie Scheffler starts off at -10 with Patrick Cantlay 2 strokes behind at -8.
BETMGM has options for betting on the winner with the stroke lead included or excluding the stroke lead so be sure to pay attention to what type of bet you are placing. For my bets I am assuming bonus strokes are applied.
1 – The Boring Play – Scottie Scheffler +200
24 weeks atop the #FedExCup standings.
Scottie Scheffler will start the TOUR Championship at 10-under par. pic.twitter.com/uBBKDebBqh
— TOUR Championship (@TOURChamp) August 22, 2022
No reaching here. Scottie is the safest, but not guaranteed play. He has played some amazing golf this year with a record $14 Million plus in winnings. If you read nothing else then just take the simple…if a little boring…play of world number 1 to hold the top spot.
2 – The Safe Play – Patrick Cantlay +350
I’m still going chalk here, but don’t worry we will get more exciting soon. After his win at BMW and only down 2 strokes to start, I think Cantlay is a strong play for the Tour Championship if you want to get a little more juice out of your bet.
Let’s not forget that we could be looking at a Scott Stallings win last week (who yours truly had picked) if not for a fortunate bounce:
A fortuitous bounce on 17 leads to a birdie for Patrick Cantlay 👀
He takes a one-shot lead going into 18. pic.twitter.com/YxPpnKzIuk
— Golfbet (@Golfbet) August 21, 2022
Still Cantlay can play this course and I always like a golfer coming off a win.
3 – The Rory Play – Rory McIlroy +900
Rory starts at -4 which puts him a solid 6 strokes behind Scottie. The +900 is really giving Rory some extra love here for being Rory, but he has played some amazing golf recently. A heartbreaker at the Open Championship has left him hungry and I really believe that playing form behind suits him. Don’t sleep on the Irish.
4 – LIV Bound? – Cameron Smith +2500
Our Open Championship winner sat out last week, but made plenty of headlines with rumors of a move to LIV. He is without a doubt one of the best players on the planet and makes any putt look almost easy. 6 strokes is a tall order, but he was 4 behind going into the final round at St. Andrews and we all saw what happened there. Might we see a repeat at the Tour Championship?
5 – The Long Shots – Theegala, Lee, Poston +40000
OK this is insane and honestly you have to throw this bet out expecting to lose, but if you want to have some fun put a $1 on each of these guys for a shot at $400. Now only do this after placing a more realistic bet on one of the other options I said earlier, but if you want to go full fun degenerate like me then you have to have something crazy out there. Or you can save the money and put it towards PGA Tour 2k23.
Tour Championship Top 5 Picks
- Rory +100
- As I just stated I think Rory has a legitimate shot at getting the win, so a top 5 at +100 is a great bet no matter how you look at it
- Cameron Smith +225
- Xander Schauffele -120
- While I would shy away from Scottie or Patrick’s odds for top 5, I do think that Xander at -120 is a good play.
Note that I would pick either Rory or Cam and not both for top 5. Due to the nature of bonus strokes it will be hard pressed for Scottie, Patrick, and Xander to fall out of that top 5 spot. That leaves only room for 2 other positions. On the plus side BETMGM does pay ties in full. Be sure to check your book to make sure you know if ties are reduced.
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