The PGA Tour season ended last week with Davis Love III winning at the Wyndham Championship but do not despair golf fans, the end of the season means the start of the FedEx Cup playoffs. The top 125 players in the FedEx standings have made it through to the playoffs but not all of them will be competing this week. The list of missing players includes Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia who have accrued enough points to make the final 100 players who will tee it up at the Deutsche Bank Championship in the next leg of the playoffs.
The 7,012 yard, par 70 course yielded some low scores the last time the world’s elite players turned up to play but it must be noted that the soft conditions of the course had a big part to play in that. Dustin Johnson won the curtailed 54 hole tournament, which was shortened due to Hurricane Irene, with a score of 19 under par. That score may be tough to reach this week as the course is much firmer making the fairways play narrower and heightening the challenge of the difficult greens.
As with many strong fields this season, it is easy to predict which players are at the top of the outright market. Jordan Spieth is the favourite (6/1 with Ladbrokes) then follows Jason Day (10/1 with Coral), Justin Rose (12/1 with Betfred) and Dustin Johnson (12/1 with Betfred). Truthfully, any of those four could win with their best golf but Rose looks to have the best chance. He has a good record at Donald Ross designs and although he’s played around with his putting set up recently, a good week with the flat stick will see him go close.
Just outside of that elite group are the likes of Bubba Watson, Brooks Koepka and the second player to add to your bets for the week, Rickie Fowler. When people look back at the 2014-15 PGA Tour season Spieth will be the biggest story but the best stretch of golf was arguably produced by Fowler when winning the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. His final six holes included four birdies and one eagle which was enough to take him through to a playoff which he ended up winning. The story then was of how Fowler can no longer be called “overrated” and indeed this week, he looks underrated at 28/1 with Coral. A big week for Fowler could see him set up a charge for the $10million FedEx Cup top prize.
Robert Streb has quietly had a very strong season on the PGA Tour this season. At the end of the regular season he’s worked his way up to sixth in the rankings thanks to an early season win at the McGladrey Classic and nine top 10 finishes. The most impressive part of Streb’s game is his ability to hit a high number of greens in regulation but little else stands out. Still he ranks 10th in terms of shots gained total so his all round game has been one of the best all season. Streb is 55/1 with Bet365 and could spring a surprise at the Barclays.