The opening round of the Tour Championship takes place in Atlanta on Thursday with the 30 man field looking to jostle themselves into a position whereby they can not only win the tournament, but also potentially nail the $10 million bounty for winning the FedEx Cup.
This is always a great watch because of the different things going on with regards to the FedEx bonus and the first round is usually the highlight of the early stages of the tournament. Usually we get some great golf to kick things off with.
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First Round Leader
As ever when a big tournament rolls around we start with the first round leader market. The good thing about this event is this market becomes a straight pick who you think will lead because there are only 30 men or 15 groups out onto the golf course so conditions won’t change much and there is no split tees or anything like that. Everyone is off the first tee with two hours and 20 minutes from first group out until last.
With that in mind I’ll have a look for great ball strikers who have shot low rounds here in the past and who have no trouble coming out of the blocks. Kyle Stanley certainly fits that bill but he’s almost half the price he is to win the tournament so I’m not having that. Players like Gary Woodland and Francesco Molinari are worth a second look but I like Billy Horschel.
Horschel is in decent nick having finished third in his last two tournaments and he begun the BMW Championship with a 64. It wasn’t too long ago he was starting the Quicken Loans Nations with a 64 and a 65 in the Barbasol Championship. He opened up with a 66 in the Wyndham Championship too so he is no stranger to pinging the lids. His last appearance here he won the competition and opened with a 66. Anything in that ball park here has him right in the first round leading mix.
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Thursday 2 Balls
The other beauty of this tournament is we don’t have to wait until the second half of it for the first to go out in pairs. They start off in twos in this tournament with the first round seeing the players out in FedEx Cup ranking order with the last pair in that list out first and Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Rose, the top two in the rankings, out last. They go out at 19.00 BST with Dustin Johnson and Tony Finau out 10 minutes before then.
There are some good groups out onto the golf course on Thursday with the attention likely to be on the Tiger Woods and Tommy Fleetwood pairing but Rickie Fowler and Jon Rahm could provide the most fireworks. Francesco Molinari and Phil Mickelson will be popular too. I’ll take two elsewhere.
Patrick Reed vs Patrick Cantlay
Match tees off at 17.50 BST
The two Patricks go out in the middle of the field on Thursday when Masters champion Patrick Reed takes on the man who many are tipping for big things in the future in Patrick Cantlay. Both men need something special this week if they are to claim the big bounty.
Bookmakers are unable to separate these two men but the way Cantlay has been putting recently I have to be on Reed here. Cantlay probably has the edge on the Masters champ in ball striking but on and around the green it is a no contest in Reed’s favour. As long as Reed keeps the ball in play enough he’ll lap Cantlay on the dancefloors and that leads me to liking him here.
Keegan Bradley vs Justin Thomas
Match tees off at 18.40 BST
Justin Thomas still has the FedEx Cup title in his own destiny and he goes out in the third last group of the day alongside the BMW Championship winner Keegan Bradley. Thomas knows if he wins the tournament he will retain the FedEx crown but it isn’t beyond the realms of possibility that Bradley nails it so this is a key group.
Thomas is an odds on favourite to win this pairing and you would have to say that is spot on if he is fully fit but this wrist injury of his is beginning to get talked about more and more which makes me think all is not perfect in that regard and if Thomas is nursing an injury he may not force things with the Ryder Cup a mere eight days away.
With that in mind Bradley might be worth a small chance at the prices. He comes in here full of confidence and strikes the ball as well as anyone so if he can get a few putts to drop like he did at Aronimink he is perfectly capable of beating JT regardless of Thomas’ fitness.
Tips
Back B.Horschel First Round Leader (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 29.00 with Boylesports (1/5 1-5)
Back him here:
Back P.Reed to beat P.Cantlay for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with 888sport
Back him here:
Back K.Bradley to beat J.Thomas for a 3/10 stake at 2.75 with BetVictor
Back him here:
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