Gambling
Tour Championship 2020 odds: Who's most likely to surpass Dustin Johnson and his two-stroke lead?
Keyur Khamar
We’ve been used to seeing Dustin Johnson leading a tour event recently—not only has DJ won twice since the PGA Tour restart, but he was also the 54-hole leader at the PGA Championship and BMW Championship within the past month. He’ll play from ahead once again this week at the Tour Championship, as the No. 1 golfer in the FedEx Cup standings entering the week.
This is the second year of the new Tour Championship format, in which a player’s position on the FedEx Cup standings entering the week determines a score in relation to par before the tournament even starts. So DJ (-10) will be in front before the event even starts, boasting a two-shot lead over Jon Rahm (-8), last week’s winner. The players behind them: Justin Thomas (-7), Webb Simpson (-6), Collin Morikawa (-5); and then the sixth- through 10th-ranked players will sit at 4-under; 11th through 15th will start at 3-under; 16th through 20th at 2-under; 21st through 25th at 1-under and 26th through 30th at even par.
The odds board reflects the built-in starting positions. Dustin Johnson is a heavy favorite at +185 (bet $100 to win $185), a number we rarely ever see in a regular PGA Tour event (and heck, even double than the heavy favorite, Phil Mickelson, at his senior tour last week). Last week’s winner, Jon Rahm, is right behind him at +280, while Justin Thomas (11-2), Webb Simpson (10-1), and Collin Morikawa (18-1) round out the top five. Defending FedEx Cup champion, Rory McIlroy, will be an enticing play at 20-1, following his 36-hole lead at the BMW Championship for his second top-15 of the restart. McIlroy will begin at just 3-under, so bettors will have to decide whether he can make up the seven-shot deficit to DJ.
This creates a rare challenge for bettors this week as to how much to weigh the staggered start into their routine handicapping strategy. Here’s the full list of odds for the 2020 Tour Championship.
Tour Championship 2020 Odds (Courtesy of FanDuel):
Dustin Johnson: +185 (bet $10 to win $18.50)
Jon Rahm: +280 (bet $10 to win $28)
Justin Thomas: 11-2
Webb Simpson: 10-1
Collin Morikawa: 18-1
Rory McIlroy: 20-1
Bryson DeChambeau: 22-1
Daniel Berger: 27-1
Hideki Matsuyama: 27-1
Xander Schauffele: 27-1
Tony Finau: 42-1
Harris English: 50-1
Patrick Reed: 50-1
Brendon Todd: 80-1
Sungjae Im: 80-1
Scottie Scheffler: 90-1
Joaquin Niemann: 100-1
Tyrrell Hatton: 100-1
Kevin Kisner: 150-1
Sebastian Munoz: 170-1
Billy Horschel: 210-1
Viktor Hovland: 210-1
Abraham Ancer: 270-1
Cameron Smith: 320-1
Lanto Griffin: 320-1
Ryan Palmer: 320-1
Cameron Champ: 420-1
Kevin Na: 420-1
Mackenzie Hughes: 420-1
Marc Leishman: 500-1