Tour Championship: Rory McIlroy

PGA Tour: ‘Are you interested in watching already rich golfers compete for large amounts of money?’

Me: ‘No’

PGA Tour: ‘Well what about if we limit the field to just 30 players?’

Me: ‘Doesn’t that make it less interesting…..’

PGA Tour: ‘Absolutely not. We’ve devised a system where people start the final tournament on different scores!’

Me: ‘Doesn’t that mean even fewer people can win?’

PGA Tour: ‘We devised a tournament that comprises the brand values of our partners and members, providing relatable content that maximises the viewer experience’

Me: ‘Is Trey Mullinax playing?’

PGA Tour: ‘Goodbye.’

So here we are, the end of the PGA Tour season in an event it is hard to muster any enthusiasm for unless you are inside the ropes. In terms of betting I’m going to keep it simple this week. Players ranked 16-30 are already 8 shots behind the lead and unlikely to overcome the handicap in four days. Of those within striking distance you can probably put a line through Woodland, DJ, Ancer and Kuchar.

That leaves me with a shortlist of 11. With two tour wins but no majors it’s hard to judge what sort of season Rory McIlroy has had. In terms of underlying metrics he’s been the best on tour, leading in strokes gained total by a significant 0.33 strokes from Patrick Cantlay.  However, it’s easy to point to the fallow year in majors.

In terms of positives, he will enjoy chasing down Thomas (he starts five shots back on five-under) and has won at East Lake before and at 8/1 with 5 places on offer (1/5 odds Betfred) we should turn a profit fairly easily.