2022 Tour Championship: Latest Betting Odds, Favorites and Sleeper Picks for East Lake Golf Club
Playoff time now means “Patty Ice” time.
It was a volatile leaderboard for most of the final round on Sunday at the BMW Championship with names like world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, three-time winner this year Xander Schauffele and journeyman Scott Stallings all making serious runs at the title. But when it got to crunch time, Patrick Cantlay made sure he was the last man standing through his clutch shotmaking ability and become the first player to successfully defend a title in FedEx Cup playoff history.
As for the picks, favorite Sam Burns squeezed out a top 20, while Cameron Young and Brian Harman lacked consistency throughout.
Another PGA Tour season comes to a close with storylines abounding, but what remains a constant is the top 30 players of the year descending upon East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta for one last duel. (Note: Will Zalatoris withdrew Tuesday morning due to back pain.) It will once again begin with a staggered field and Scheffler will lead the way at 10 under par in pursuit of the $18 million prize, its largest purse ever. The home of Bobby Jones is a longer par-70 course measuring at roughly 7,350 yards, so length off the tee and approach will once again be at a premium.
According to SI Sportsbook, the favorites follow the starting positions with Scheffler at +240. Right behind is back-to-back BMW champion Patrick Cantlay at +400. To follow is East Lake specialist Xander Schauffele at +800. Rory McIlroy is now fourth on the board after Will Zalatoris' withdrawal at +1200.
With only 29 players teeing off, we are just going to provide a few players who should provide value in both staggered and non-staggered markets.
For a serious shot at the title, the first has to be Schauffele at +800. The man simply loves East Lake. He won here on his debut in 2017 and just two years ago he was the 72-hole low man without starting strokes. Over the past five years, no one has played this course better, but what makes us most confident is his three wins this year and how his game is rounding into form once again after last week’s T3. Schauffele should have plenty of confidence heading to Atlanta.
For a guy who might be a little too far behind, but can certainly be the low man over 72 holes, we like Jon Rahm at +1600. After a putrid start to the BMW Championship, no one played better on the weekend than Rahm did in Wilmington. He could have packed it in, but he played with a sense of urgency to fight all the way back to T8. Now, he heads to East Lake with something to prove among the world’s best and where he was the non-staggered winner in last year’s tournament. Look for Rahm to reassert himself among the game’s elite.
For a player who can make a serious run up the leaderboard, we like the value in Corey Conners at +8500. Coming off his best finish of the year, a T5 at the BMW Championship, Conners is in solid form not finishing worse than T28 since the British Open at St. Andrews. His game also sets up well for East Lake given that he ranks in the top 20 on the season in each key strokes-gained category: off-the-tee, approach, tee-to-green and total. The pressure is officially off and Conners can play loose for the Tour’s finale.
2021-22 picks scoreboard:
Events: 40
Winners: 6
Top 5s: 13
Top 10s: 7
Top 20s: 5
Here are the full-field odds, according to SI Sportsbook:
Scottie Scheffler +240
Patrick Cantlay +400
Xander Schauffele +800
Rory McIlroy +1200
Jon Rahm +1600
Tony Finau +1600
Sam Burns +2000
Cameron Smith +2200
Justin Thomas +2500
Sungjae Im +2500
Matthew Fitzpatrick +3300
Cameron Young +4000
Collin Morikawa +6000
Joaquin Niemann +6000
Viktor Hovland +6000
Jordan Spieth +6600
Hideki Matsuyama +8000
Corey Conners +8500
Max Homa +9000
Scott Stallings +9000
Adam Scott +12500
Sepp Straka +12500
Billy Horschel +15000
Aaron Wise +20000
Brian Harman +20000
Sahith Theegala +20000
K.H. Lee +25000
J.T. Poston +30000
Tom Hoge +30000