2021 Tour Championship: Latest betting odds, favorites, sleeper picks for East Lake Golf Club
What started as a very enticing golf tournament, the BMW Championship quickly turned into an all-out boxing match.
This title fight was certainly a difference of styles. In one corner, you had the colossal and brute Bryson DeChambeau trying to land haymakers and in the other, you had the composed Patrick Cantlay picking his spots with counterpunches. DeChambeau had Cantlay on the ropes on many occasions, but it was ultimately the gamesmanship and clutch putting of Cantlay that won the day. If this wasn’t a perfect preview for next month’s Ryder Cup, we are not sure what is.
As for the picks, Sam Burns set himself up nicely for East Lake with another top-10 performance, where Xander Schauffele did not by sputtering on the weekend. Sleeper Keith Mitchell will be watching from home.
We’ve made it through another Tour calendar with the top-30 players arriving in Atlanta to duel it out for the FedEx Cup. After last week’s win, Patrick Cantlay comes in as the staggered field leader by two strokes with the rest of the season’s stars close behind.
We are now in the third year of this format, and while it has certainly solved the “one winner” of the weekend aspect, it now begs the question of whether the final FedEx Cup standings accurately reflect each golfer’s full body of work. There is no perfect solution and there is always value to be found no matter the configuration of the world’s best.
According to William Hill, world No. 1 Jon Rahm shares the favorite position with Patrick Cantlay at 4-1 even though he is starting four strokes behind. Close behind is Bryson DeChambeau at 5-1 after last week’s frustrating end at Caves Valley. To follow is Northern Trust champion Tony Finau at 15-2. To close out the notables is 2017 FedEx Cup champion Justin Thomas at 16-1.
Three 2021 Tour Championship bets with value
With only 30 players, there is not enough to separate the favorites from the sleepers, so here’s three picks who present the most value for the Tour Championship.
At the top, we’re going with 2017 FedEx Cup winner Justin Thomas at 16-1. Even with his triumph at The Players, it has been a sub-par year for Thomas. The lack of consistency has caused him to drop from No. 2 to No. 6 in the world rankings. However, he’s flashed some recent good form in the playoff events and has finished no worse than seventh at East Lake in his last five visits. He will look to ride his final round 66 at Caves Valley into a place where he’ll be motivated to at least gain some momentum for the Ryder Cup in a few weeks.
Next up, we must run it back with Xander Schauffele at 28-1. He did not produce the result we thought he would last week, but there’s no denying his track record at East Lake. In 16 competitive rounds there, he’s broken par 14 times and has never been over par, which accumulates to 49-under par. That’s a Tiger-esque stat. Again, Schauffele would have won here last year without the staggered start, so look for him to be more comfortable at place with many less unknowns.
Lastly, Erik van Rooyen is too hot to ignore and especially at 175-1. He was on our radar last week but the value on Mitchell was just too high. Now, we get him at another outstanding price against an elite field. We’re not saying he’s going to make up the 10-stroke deficit he already finds himself in, but van Rooyen certainly has the game right now to leapfrog many in front of him. Last week, he led the field in strokes gained: tee-to-green, to secure his first trip to the Tour Championship. The South African is on a wave of momentum stemming from his first win on Tour and there are no signs of slowing down.
2021 picks scoreboard:
Winners: 4
Top 10s: 21
Top 20s: 12
Misses: 57
2021 Tour Championship odds
Here are some notable odds, according to William Hill:
- Patrick Cantlay 4-1
- Jon Rahm 4-1
- Bryson DeChambeau 5-1
- Tony Finau 15-2
- Justin Thomas 16-1
- Dustin Johnson 25-1
- Cameron Smith 25-1
- Jordan Spieth 25-1
- Rory McIlroy 25-1
- Abraham Ancer 28-1
- Xander Schauffele 28-1
- Harris English 33-1
- Sam Burns 33-1
- Collin Morikawa 35-1
- Louis Oosthuizen 40-1
- Sungjae Im 40-1
- Viktor Hovland 40-1
- Brooks Koepka 50-1
- Scottie Scheffler 80-1
- Jason Kokrak 80-1
- Hideki Matsuyama 100-1
- Kevin Na 125-1
- Corey Conners 125-1
- Daniel Berger 125-1
- Patrick Reed 150-1
- Sergio Garcia 150-1
- Joaquin Niemann 150-1
- Erik Van Rooyen 175-1
- Billy Horschel 250-1
- Stewart Cink 250-1