It’s time to literally put your money where your mouth is when the PGA Tour Championship gets underway from East Lake Golf Club in Georgia this week.
A massive $25 million purse (USD) will be awarded to the victor of the final leg of the PGA Tour Playoffs, with the runner-up also walking away with a cool $12.5 million. The top 30 golfers in the FedEx Cup standings have been invited to the season finale, and even the last-place finisher will claim a $550,000 prize for a fantastic season.
Scottie Scheffler to win the Tour Championship
+110
Bettors should be aware that this isn’t your typical golf tournament, so it shouldn’t be handicapped like one. A staggered scoring system will be used, giving a distinct advantage to the players at the top of the FedEx Cup Standings by using Starting Strokes. Scottie Scheffler, the top points earner in the standings, will begin the tournament with a score of 10 under par, giving him a huge advantage on the field. The Starting Strokes value decreases for players ranked lower in the standings, making an ascension up the leaderboard more difficult. Scheffler is hard enough to beat on a level playing field, so he’s the clear favourite with around even-money odds at most online sportsbooks to win the Tour Championship.
Xander Schauffele is in a position to be Scheffler’s biggest challenger, starting with a score of 8-under par by virtue of being second in the FedEx Cup standings. He’s had a long track record of success at East Lake, finishing in the top five in each of the last five years without scoring a victory. His odds of winning the Tour Championship are around +230, depending on the online sportsbook.
The two Americans are the clear favourites to break away from the rest of the pack and battle for Tour supremacy. Still, for the purposes of this article, we’ll take a deeper look at the rest of the field and shed some light on potential long shots that could vault their way into the mix.
Canadians in the field
Taylor Pendrith (+50000 to win at bet365): Pendrith, who enters the season finale sitting 25th in the FedEx Cup standings, will be the only golfer in the field from Canada. Adam Hadwin and Corey Conners both qualified for last week’s BMW Championship but didn’t have the results necessary to crack the top 30 and earn a berth in the Tour Championship. Pendrith finished T13 at last week’s BMW Championship, but his strong overall result was really only because of his awesome second-round 65 (7-under) that shot him up the leaderboard. He finished with two rounds of 73 (1-over par), so he doesn’t have much momentum coming into this event. He’ll begin the tournament way back in Starting Strokes with a score of just 1-under, putting him nine strokes back of the leader, Scheffler, before he even tees it up. He’s not a threat to win the Tour Championship, but he does have a chance for a massive payday with a strong finish to pad his roughly $9 million in career PGA Tour earnings.
Best outright odds
| Golfer | Starting Strokes | Bet99 Odds | NorthStar Bets Odds | bet365 Odds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scottie Scheffler | -10 | +100 | -110 | +110 |
| Xander Schauffele | -8 | +230 | +225 | +240 |
| Hideki Matsuyama | -7 | +1050 | +1100 | +1000 |
| Ludvig Aberg | -5 | +1750 | +2500 | +1600 |
| Rory McIlroy | -4 | +2000 | +2500 | +2000 |
| Collin Morikawa | -4 | +2500 | +2800 | +2500 |
| Keegan Bradley | -6 | +2700 | +4000 | +2500 |
| Patrick Cantlay | -4 | +2700 | +3300 | +2500 |
| Sam Burns | -4 | +3000 | +4000 | +3000 |
| Wyndham Clark | -4 | +3300 | +5000 | +3000 |
| Tony Finau | -3 | +6000 | +8000 | +5000 |
| Viktor Hovland | -2 | +6000 | +8000 | +6000 |
| Sungjae Im | -3 | +6000 | +7000 | +6600 |
| Adam Scott | -3 | +5000 | +8000 | +5000 |
| Sahith Theegala | -3 | +25000 | +12500 | +10000 |
Three golfers to back other than Scheffler/Schauffele
Rory McIlroy (+2500 @ NorthStar Bets): McIlroy has some serious work to do, starting six strokes behind Scheffler, but he’s been an absolute beast at this event in the past, finishing outside of the top seven just twice in nine starts. The 35-year-old has previously won the FedEx Cup three times (2016, 2019, 2022), and he made a charge all the way up the leaderboard in 2022 with a starting score of 4-under, which is where he’ll start again this week. In the field, McIlroy ranks second in Strokes Gained: Total per round at East Lake and also second in Strokes Gained: Total per round at courses designed by Donald Ross. East Lake is perfectly suited to Rory’s game, so take a flyer and grab him at juicy +2500 odds to pull off an improbable upset.
Sam Burns (+4000 @ NorthStar Bets): Burns, one of our recommended golfers to back last week, didn’t disappoint at the BMW Championship with a T2 finish. And in the first leg of the PGA Tour Playoffs, Burns turned in a T5 result, which means he’s playing some incredible golf right now when it matters most. Last year, he finished T9 at East Lake, with strong showings (3-under or better) in three of his four rounds. Like McIlroy, Burns will be starting well back of the leaders at 4-under, but look for him to close the gap and make things interesting. Bettors also might want to consider him for a more realistic top-five finish at more modest +240 odds (bet365).
Viktor Hovland (+8000 @ NorthStar Bets): It’s been an incredibly disappointing season for Hovland, who is still searching for his first win on Tour this season after claiming four of them last year, including the Tour Championship. However, the Norwegian lit East Lake on fire to claim the 2023 Tour Championship, finishing with a score of 27-under par after starting with -8 Starting Strokes. He’s coming off a T26 result at the BMW Championship but did turn in an impressive T2 result in the first leg of the Playoffs at TPC Southwind. Hovland will start this Tour Championship eight strokes back of Scheffler with -2 Starting Strokes, but if he gets hot, he has the explosive game to pile up birdies and close the gap with his strong putting (eighth on Tour in putting average this season). You won’t find a more talented golfer to back at long +8000 odds with a recent sparkling track record at East Lake in this spot.
