Rors Ready To Return To Winning Form

The Tour Championship is the climax of the FedEx Cup play-offs, and includes only the top thirty golfers in the FedEx rankings as they stood at the end of last week’s BMW Championship.

The Tournament
There’s no half-way cut, and with a purse of $8 million for this tournament, plus the first prize of $10 million for the golfer who tops the FedEx rankings at the end of it, this is always a fiercely competitive four days.

The Course
The Tour Championship has been based at East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, since 2004, one of the oldest courses in the United States and the home of the legendary Bobby Jones. At a little over 7300 yards long, it doesn’t give the bigger hitters much of an advantage, and overall, it isn’t considered amongst the hardest courses on the PGA Tour, but the last three holes are tricky and a stern test of mental strength.

In The Bunker
Jason Day started the BMW Championship as the 15/2 antepost favourite last week and justified those who lumped on with yet another victory, his fourth win in six tournaments and his eighth consecutive top-fifteen finish. Dare we oppose him again this week, at a venue where he has two top-tens in three appearances?

There will be plenty who are happy to back a player in this sort of form, regardless of price, but odds of 7/2 are just too short and I’ll be opposing him again this week.

Recommended Bets
In the wake of his injury, former world number one Rory McIlroy has been overshadowed by both Jordan Spieth and Jason Day this summer, but he has been quietly playing himself back into form and his fourth-placed finish last week was his best since his return.

He finished second at East Lake last year, and I think he’s poised to go one better in 2015. Back him to return to winning form at 6/1.

Having tipped Henrik Stenson to win the BMW Championship last week, it was disappointing to see him fall away after a superb second round 63. Although, he still managed to hang on for a top ten finish, his fourth top-ten performance in five PGA events, and he has to be on your shortlist at East Lake, where he boasts a perfect record. He won the Tour Championship on his first attempt in 2013.

Few players have a more consistent record in this event than Justin Rose and after bouncing back from his missed cut at the Deutsche Bank Championship, he is well worth backing this week. His second round 64 last week was particularly eye-catching, as is his record of consecutive top-six finishes at East Lake in his last three visits. At 14/1 he looks a solid bet to finish off the PGA season with a big pay-day.

*Prices correct at time of publication