PGA First Look: Tour Championship

The PGA First Look is complete with a course preview, odds, salaries, Official World Golf Rankings, and course history.

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Event Preview

Marc Leishman went wire-to-wire to take home the trophy at the BMW Championship. He was solid tee to green all week and hit some critical putts on the back nine on Sunday (something he failed to do a week earlier). We now head to East Lake for the tour’s final event of the season. The top 30 golfers in the FedEx Cup standings will compete at the Tour Championship for the FedEx Cup title and a cool $10 million. There will only be one winner, but just making it to East Lake is a huge accomplishment for any golfer that is currently ranked outside of the top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings. Patrick Cantlay, Tony Finau, Russell Henley, Xander Schauffele, and Kyle Stanley will all get to play in the biggest tournaments on tour next season just because they made it to the FedEx Cup final.

There are only 30 golfers in the field this week, so there is obviously no cut. This places an emphasis on scoring (birdies) and finishing points. If you don’t have the winner in your lineup, you better have everyone else finish inside of the top ten if you want to cash in any tournaments. If you aren’t familiar with the FedEx Cup setup, anyone ranked inside the top five in the standings controls their own destiny this week. Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Marc Leishman and Jon Rahm will all take home the FedEx Cup crown with a win this week. Anyone ranked outside of the top five will need to win and some help.

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Let’s dive into the course. East Lake is a Par 70 that stretches nearly 7,400 yards. It is located in Atlanta, Georgia and has some familiarities to Augusta National. The fairways are harder to hit and there are only two par fives, but there are a lot of slopes on the course. These are slippery MiniVerde Bermudagrass putting surfaces that require golfers to be below the hole. Accuracy off the tee is critical because you need to give yourself a proper angle to hit the right portion of these greens. If you don’t believe me, just listen to Jordan Spieth – “I like to come to a place that I look at as very similar to Augusta National. I think the layout, the feel, the slopes, it reminds me a lot of it. I said it from after the first time I played Augusta, and then came back here last year, said, wow, this actually is somewhat similar. Just by the look of it. Obviously the greens are different and the bunkers are a bit different, but it has a very similar look and layout in my mind.”

This is one of the few courses on tour that hasn’t been dominated by bombers throughout the years. It is a long Par 70, but you will have a tough time sticking your approaches out of this thick bermuda rough. Rather than emphasizing distance, look for golfers that can hit fairways and hit greens. In other words, look for good ball strikers. I will say that if one of the bombers can find the fairways consistently, they will obviously have a big advantage over the rest of the field, but that’s a big if. There are quite a few long par fours, so give a slight bump to par four efficiency from 450-500 yards. Finally, don’t forget to look at course history. There are a few golfers in the field that really seem to like this place.

Cut Rule:No cut this week.

Recent Winners of this Event: Rory McIlroy (2016), Jordan Spieth (2015), Billy Horschel (2014), Henrik Stenson (2013), Brandt Snedeker (2012)

Key Statistics (In Order of Importance)

1) Strokes Gained Approach
2) Strokes Gained Off the Tee (emphasis on accuracy)
3) Birdie or Better %
4) Par 4 Scoring
5) Greens in Regulation
6) Strokes Gained Putting (emphasis on Bermuda grass)

Salaries, Odds, and Course History (2012-2016)

Golfer DK Salary FD Salary FDRFT Salary OWGR Odds DK Odds FD Odds FDRFT Odds 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012
Jordan Spieth $11,600 $9,300 $19,300 2 5 0% 0% 0% 17 1 27 2 500
Dustin Johnson $11,400 $9,200 $19,100 1 8 0% 0% 0% 6 5 500 5 10
Rickie Fowler $10,900 $8,700 $18,600 7 9 0% 40% 0% 500 12 8 500 23
Jason Day $10,100 $8,800 $18,000 6 12 -50% -50% -20% 500 10 4 14 500
Justin Thomas $9,900 $9,000 $18,200 4 11 20% -33% 0% 6 500 500 500 500
Jon Rahm $9,500 $8,500 $17,600 5 11 17% 17% 17% 500 500 500 500 500
Hideki Matsuyama $9,000 $7,900 $16,600 3 19 -29% 0% 10% 5 12 22 500 500
Justin Rose $8,900 $7,700 $17,000 14 14 13% 30% 13% 500 2 4 6 2
Paul Casey $8,600 $8,000 $17,200 16 18 11% 0% -14% 4 5 500 500 500
Marc Leishman $8,400 $8,200 $16,800 15 19 0% -43% -11% 500 500 500 500 500
Brooks Koepka $8,100 $7,600 $16,200 11 21 0% 0% 0% 500 18 500 500 500
Sergio Garcia $7,900 $7,500 $15,800 10 28 -8% -8% 0% 500 500 9 9 15
Patrick Cantlay $7,800 $6,900 $15,400 76 34 -15% 12% 0% 500 500 500 500 500
Matt Kuchar $7,700 $7,400 $16,000 13 25 14% 8% 0% 15 10 13 26 10
Kevin Chappell $7,600 $6,700 $15,600 25 31 7% 26% 0% 2 500 500 500 500
Patrick Reed $7,500 $6,900 $15,200 20 39 0% 6% 0% 24 27 19 500 500
Webb Simpson $7,500 $6,300 $15,000 41 43 -6% 23% 0% 500 500 23 4 5
Charley Hoffman $7,300 $6,500 $14,800 23 48 0% 14% 0% 500 22 500 500 500
Tony Finau $7,100 $7,200 $14,800 53 52 -5% -43% -11% 500 500 500 500 500
Daniel Berger $6,900 $7,000 $14,600 24 51 5% -27% 5% 15 12 500 500 500
Xander Schauffele $6,800 $5,700 $13,600 66 83 -10% 15% 0% 500 500 500 500 500
Kevin Kisner $6,700 $7,000 $13,000 26 95 -18% -73% 0% 26 28 500 500 500
Russell Henley $6,600 $5,700 $13,200 51 89 -9% 7% 0% 500 500 12 500 500
Jason Dufner $6,500 $6,600 $13,400 32 88 0% -20% 0% 8 500 500 9 20
Gary Woodland $6,400 $5,800 $14,400 43 61 16% 19% 0% 10 500 9 22 500
Pat Perez $6,400 $6,100 $13,800 33 67 12% 8% 0% 500 500 500 500 500
Brian Harman $6,300 $5,500 $12,800 29 108 0% 10% 0% 500 500 500 500 500
Kyle Stanley $6,300 $6,200 $12,400 55 112 -4% -22% 3% 500 500 500 500 500
Adam Hadwin $6,200 $5,900 $12,600 46 118 0% -16% -4% 500 500 500 500 500
Jhonattan Vegas $6,200 $5,600 $12,400 38 123 -3% -3% -3% 24 500 500 500 500

Color Coding
Course history in BLUE indicates a top ten finish.
Course history in GREEN indicates a top 25 finish.
Course history in YELLOW indicates a made cut with a finish outside of the top 25.
Course history in RED indicates a missed cut.

Legend

Term Description
Site Odds The percentage differential between a golfer’s salary rank and odds rank. The higher the %, the better.
OWGR Official World Golf Ranking
Cuts Cut record of each golfer at this course in the last five seasons.
2012 – 2016 Columns Course history at this event in the last five seasons.

About the Author

Notorious
Derek Farnsworth (Notorious)

Derek Farnsworth (aka Notorious) is a lead RotoGrinders Expert and one of the most recognizable names and faces in all of DFS. Before joining the RotoGrinders team, Derek received a Master’s Degree from the University of Utah. When he’s not busy providing content, he’s dominating the DFS industry as evidenced by his consistent top rankings in several sports and multiple Live Final appearances. Noto provides expert NBA, NFL, MLB, and PGA analysis for RotoGrinders Premium members on a daily basis and has also been nominated for five different Fantasy Sports Writer’s Association (FSWA) awards. Follow Noto on Twitter – @RG_Notorious