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The FedExCup Playoffs will wrap up on Sunday afternoon at the 2023 Tour Championship, where a new FedExCup champion will be crowned at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. The 1st round begins on Thursday morning for the 30 players left in the field.
Below, we look at the 2023 Tour Championship odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions.
The Tour Championship is different than other events because it features a staggered scoring format based on where players sit in the FedExCup standings entering the week. Scottie Scheffler is atop the standings so he’ll start the tournament at 10-under par. Viktor Hovland is 2nd and will start at 8-under par, followed by Rory McIlroy (7-under), Jon Rahm (6-under) and Lucas Glover (5-under). It goes all the way down to Sam Burns, Emiliano Grillo, Tyrrell Hatton, Jordan Spieth and Sepp Straka at even par.
East Lake has hosted the Tour Championship since 2004, presenting golfers with a challenging course where water hazards come into play on several holes. The toughest part about the venue is its narrow fairways, which are particularly penalizing to miss. It’s a par 70 and 7,346 yards, so it’s also a longer course with just 2 par-5s.
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Tour Championship – Expert picks
Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Monday at 11:55 p.m. ET.
Rory McIlroy (+350)
McIlroy starts the week 3 shots back, which is half as many strokes as he was giving to Scheffler last year when he chased him down and won by 1 stroke. He shot 67 or better in all 4 rounds last year and has as much experience at East Lake as anyone in the field. If there’s a player whot’s going to take down Scheffler (again), it’s McIlroy.
Viktor Hovland (+450)
Hovland is the closest competitor to Scheffler, sitting 2 shots behind him. Fresh off a course-record 61 on Sunday at the BMW Championship, Hovland has the momentum heading into Atlanta. He finished T-5 here 2 years ago and T-15 last year, shooting only 1 round above par in that span. Two shots is a small gap to close and it could flip with a birdie-bogey start on the 1st hole.
Jon Rahm (+800)
Rahm is 4 shots behind Scheffler to start the week but he’s a player who can heat up in a hurry. With 2 rounds of 65 and 2 rounds of 68 in 2021, he finished 2nd to Patrick Cantlay. And though he struggled last year with rounds of 71 on Saturday and Sunday, he did fire a 63 in Round 2.
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Tour Championship picks – Contenders
Max Homa (+2800)
Homa will start 6 shots behind, which is the same position McIlroy was in last year when he won, so it’s not impossible. After an opening-round 71 here last year, he shot 62, 66 and 66 to finish T-5. He once held the lead last week at the BMW Championship thanks to an 8-under 62 on Friday, but he backed up a bit on the weekend; he still finished 5th.
Brian Harman (+5000)
Could the magical season from Harman continue with a victory at East Lake?He’s also 6 shots behind Scheffler but he’s only had 2 rounds over 70 in his last 6 events. Harman is as hot as anyone and could heat up even more in Atlanta.
Tour Championship picks – Long shot
Sungjae Im (+12500)
I don’t really love any of the long shots this week with the staggered scoring format, but I’ll take a shot on Im, who’s 8 strokes behind Scheffler. He shot 67, 65, 66 and 66 here last year to finish T-2 with Scheffler, an excellent showing from Im despite not closing the gap all the way.
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For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
Golfweek:
- Meet the six players who automatically qualified for Team USA at the 2023 Ryder Cup in Italy
- Viktor Hovland has eight 3s on back nine, posts career low to win BMW Championship
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