Tour Championship betting tips as Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay bid for glory at East Lake

The final event of the PGA Tour season, yes we know it is only August, is upon us and Scottie Scheffler is the hot favourite to win the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup riches that come with it.

As world No. 1, Scheffler can justify being at the head of the market for that reason alone. But there is a kicker, namely he has a two-shot lead over the field as the Tour Championship is a staggered start – with players‘ starting positions based on their ranking.

It’s an unusual event, even more so for betting purposes. Scheffler takes out a huge chunk of the market; rightly so seen as he can lay claim to being the best player in the field and he has a head start.

But at 5/2, Scheffler makes zero appeal as a betting medium. He could go wire to wire, but we will look elsewhere for value.

Patrick Cantlay arrives as the form man, after defending the BMW Championship last week. He starts two back from Scheffler and will have his supporters, but no player has defended the Tour Championship and we will swerve Cantlay for that reason.

All the momentum disappeared, and he was not helped by an ice-cold putter at Wilmington Country Club.

For much of the season, McIlroy has putted extremely well and he is sure to have done some work on the putting green in the past few days.

McIlroy is the only multiple winner of the FedEx Cup in the field, Tiger Woods is the other, and East Lake plays to his strengths. Length and accuracy off the tee are of huge benefit, and when at his best there are few better drivers of a golf ball in the game.

The Irishman will start the week six shots adrift of Scheffler, but a deficit of five shots did not stop him winning by three strokes in 2019.

McIlroy had a string of near misses in this year’s majors, but his consistency has been an asset and the final event of the season could be when everything clicks into gear – and 12/1 is appealing enough for us to go in again.

There are five places on offer in the each-way markets, and we are going for a huge-priced option for the second selection.

Billy Horschel won the FedEx Cup in 2014, and he too is right at home at East Lake.

He starts the week nine shots off the lead, but that is reflected in his price.

Horschel tends to save his best form for the back end of the season, he won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth last September, and at 100/1 he makes massive each-way appeal.