UK: 18+ USA: 21+ | Begambleaware.org | T&Cs apply | Play Responsibly
These odds from Unibet were correct at the time of writing.
The second tournament of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs begins Thursday, Aug. 17, at the BMW Championship hosted by Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Illinois.
The top 50 players remaining in the FedEx Cup Standings will battle for a $3.6 million dollar top individual prize and hope to position themselves well or qualify for next week’s Tour Championship. Only the top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings will reach next week’s finale at Eastlake in Atlanta.
Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are the joint favorites at 15/2 (+750) to win this week, followed by Jon Rahm (9/1) and defending champion Patrick Cantlay (11/1).
World No. 4 Cantlay enters the event after nearly winning last week at the St. Jude Championship, where he lost to Lucas Glover on the first playoff hole after finding the water hazard on his drive. Glover is the hottest golfer entering the event after triumphs in back-to-back weeks and ranges from 35/1 to 50/1, depending on the sportsbook.
In this article, we’ll provide one betting prediction ahead of the first round regarding a tournament finish.
BMW Championship day 1 tip: Tournament finish
The following pick is for the entire tournament (all 72 holes).
Rory McIlroy to finish top 10 @ 8/11 (-137)
While most of the attention has been on world No. 1 Scheffler’s historic run of top 10s for a long stretch of this season, McIlroy has enjoyed his own streak of excellent results since May’s PGA Championship.
The world’s second-ranked player has gone eight events in a row finishing T9 or better, and has finished third or better in three of his last five starts.
McIlroy’s results this season
- Events: 16
- Wins: 3
- Top 10s: 11
- Top 10 percentage: 68.75% (11/16)
Finishing inside the top 10 nearly 70% of the time definitely makes him an enticing pick to do it again this week. McIlroy’s three victories this campaign came at the CJ Cup in South Carolina in October, the Dubai Desert Classic in late January, and most recently at the Genesis Scottish Open on July 16.
The Northern Irishman’s game fits Olympia Fields Country Club nicely, which caters to bombers and plays similar to U.S. Open tracks. At this year’s U.S. Open, McIlroy thrived and nearly took home the trophy coming in solo second, one stroke shy of champion Wyndham Clark.
With four guaranteed rounds in this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship, a golfers ceiling becomes very important. While a player may have a poor round or two, if they have a spike performance in the other couple of rounds it can help boost their position up the leaderboard.… pic.twitter.com/qH94aeFOcC
— Ron Klos (@PGASplits101) August 9, 2023
In terms of true strokes gained, according to Data Golf, McIlroy has picked up an average of more than two strokes in his last eight events and has gained strokes in his past nine appearances, dating back to the Wells Fargo Championship in early May.
| DATE | TOURNAMENT | POS | OVERALL SCORE | EARNINGS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
10/20 – 10/23 | Congaree Golf Club | 1 | 66-67-67-67 | 267 (-17) | $1,890,000 |
2/9 – 2/12 | TPC Scottsdale (Stadium Course) | T32 | 73-67-70-70 | 280 (-4) | $109,286 |
2/16 – 2/19 | Riviera Country Club | T29 | 67-69-73-71 | 280 (-4) | $134,000 |
3/2 – 3/5 | Arnold Palmer Invitational pres. by Mastercard Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge | T2 | 73-69-68-70 | 280 (-8) | $1,780,000 |
3/9 – 3/12 | TPC Sawgrass (THE PLAYERS Stadium Course) | Missed Cut | 76-73 | 149 (+5) | — |
4/6 – 4/9 | Augusta National Golf Club | Missed Cut | 72-77 | 149 (+5) | — |
5/4 – 5/7 | Quail Hollow Club | T47 | 68-73-71-72 | 284 (E) | $51,222 |
5/18 – 5/21 | Oak Hill Country Club | T7 | 71-69-69-69 | 278 (-2) | $555,000 |
6/1 – 6/4 | The Memorial Tournament pres. by Workday Muirfield Village Golf Club | T7 | 72-68-70-75 | 285 (-3) | $650,000 |
6/8 – 6/11 | Oakdale Golf & Country Club | T9 | 71-67-66-72 | 276 (-12) | $245,250 |
6/15 – 6/18 | Los Angeles Country Club | 2 | 65-67-69-70 | 271 (-9) | $2,160,000 |
6/22 – 6/25 | TPC River Highlands | T7 | 68-64-66-64 | 262 (-18) | $650,000 |
7/13 – 7/16 | The Renaissance Club | 1 | 64-66-67-68 | 265 (-15) | $1,575,000 |
7/20 – 7/23 | Royal Liverpool GC | T6 | 71-70-69-68 | 278 (-6) | $551,250 |
8/10 – 8/13 | TPC Southwind | T3 | 67-66-68-65 | 266 (-14) | $1,160,000 |
| DATE | TOURNAMENT | POS | OVERALL SCORE | EARNINGS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1/26 – 1/30 | Emirates Golf Club | 1 | 66-70-65-68 | 269 (-19) | — |
Subscribe to Punditfeed on Google News for all the latest updates from the world of sports!
