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

Apologies for getting this preview out a little late this week. With NFL in full swing and with MLB winding down, it’s a constant battle against the clock for yours truly. After a week off, the PGA is back for the Tour Championship where someone will walk away with a $10 million prize. In addition to playing for the biggest prize in golf, congratulations are due to the 30 golfers that made it to East Lake. It’s always tough to get here and for those ranked outside of the top 50 in the world rankings, they are guaranteed a spot into all of the big tournaments in 2019. The FedEx Cup standings will be reset this week and anyone ranked in the top five (Justin Rose, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Tony Finau, and Keegan Bradley) will automatically win the FedEx Cup if they win this week. Anyone ranked outside of the top five will need to win and will likely need some help. Technically all 30 golfers have a chance to take home the FedEx Cup.

East Lake Golf Club is a difficult Par 70 that measures 7,346 yards. The lowest winning score ever recorded here was 13-under par by Henrik Stenson back in 2013. That low score was aided by a soft golf course. If you look at the last two years, only 35 of the 59 golfers finished under par. This is far from a birdie fest, but all golfers are guaranteed to play four rounds, so we should still place an emphasis on scoring. These fairways are some of the toughest to hit on tour with the average being under 55%. The rough isn’t extremely penal, but it’s certainly a lot better to be playing out of the fairway. The last couple of winners have dominated off the tee, but for the most part, strokes are gained through strong iron play. The greens are made of Bermuda and should be lightning fast. A solid all-around game will be key and those riding good form coming into the week tend to play well at this event.

Recent Winners of this Event:Xander Schauffele (2017), Rory McIlroy (2016), Jordan Spieth (2015), Billy Horschel (2014), Henrik Stenson (2013)

Key Statistics (In Order of Importance)

1) Strokes Gained Approach
2) Strokes Gained Off the Tee
3) Birdie or Better %
4) Par 4 Scoring
5) Strokes Gained Putting (Emphasis on Bermuda)

Hole by Hole Breakdown

Salaries, Odds, and Course History (2013-2017)

Golfer DK Salary FD Salary FDRFT Salary OWGR Odds DK Odds FD Odds FDRFT Odds Cuts 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013
Justin Rose $11,400 $11,200 $17,000 1 8 0% 67% 0% 4/4 10 500 2 4 6
Dustin Johnson $11,300 $11,500 $16,900 3 9 -50% -200% -50% 4/4 17 6 5 500 5
Rory McIlroy $10,700 $10,900 $16,800 5 8 33% 67% 33% 3/3 500 1 16 2 500
Justin Thomas $10,300 $11,000 $16,300 4 12 -25% 0% -25% 2/2 2 6 500 500 500
Brooks Koepka $10,000 $11,300 $16,100 2 11 20% -100% 20% 2/2 6 500 18 500 500
Tiger Woods $9,500 $10,800 $16,000 21 13 0% 14% 0% 1/1 500 500 500 500 22
Rickie Fowler $9,100 $9,700 $15,300 9 17 0% 53% 0% 3/3 26 500 12 8 500
Hideki Matsuyama $8,800 $10,400 $15,200 20 20 -13% 10% -13% 4/4 26 5 12 22 500
Tony Finau $8,600 $10,300 $15,000 16 20 -11% 9% 0% 1/1 7 500 500 500 500
Bryson DeChambeau $8,400 $11,200 $15,100 8 19 20% -167% 11% 0/0 500 500 500 500 500
Francesco Molinari $8,200 $10,300 $14,800 6 23 0% 0% 8% 0/0 500 500 500 500 500
Jason Day $8,000 $10,500 $14,900 11 24 -8% -44% -18% 4/4 17 500 10 4 14
Tommy Fleetwood $7,900 $10,700 $14,700 12 24 8% -50% 8% 0/0 500 500 500 500 500
Jon Rahm $7,700 $9,500 $14,700 7 27 -14% 0% -23% 1/1 7 500 500 500 500
Webb Simpson $7,500 $10,100 $14,600 17 27 0% -15% 0% 3/3 13 500 500 23 4
Billy Horschel $7,300 $7,900 $14,600 48 27 13% 46% 7% 2/2 500 500 500 1 7
Patrick Cantlay $7,100 $8,900 $14,000 23 36 -6% 14% 0% 1/1 20 500 500 500 500
Xander Schauffele $7,000 $8,900 $14,600 19 27 6% 19% -13% 1/1 1 500 500 500 500
Patrick Reed $6,900 $10,000 $13,800 14 39 0% -36% 10% 4/4 13 24 27 19 500
Paul Casey $6,800 $9,100 $13,900 18 39 0% -11% 0% 3/3 5 4 5 500 500
Gary Woodland $6,700 $8,700 $13,600 41 46 -10% 0% -5% 4/4 19 10 500 9 22
Phil Mickelson $6,600 $9,000 $13,500 25 49 -18% -30% -13% 2/2 500 22 500 500 12
Bubba Watson $6,500 $9,300 $14,000 13 41 9% -24% -17% 3/3 500 10 5 14 500
Cameron Smith $6,400 $7,900 $13,400 33 49 -4% 4% -4% 0/0 500 500 500 500 500
Marc Leishman $6,300 $8,400 $13,400 22 46 4% 0% 0% 1/1 24 500 500 500 500
Keegan Bradley $6,200 $9,100 $13,400 31 45 15% -22% 8% 1/1 500 500 500 500 12
Aaron Wise $6,100 $7,400 $13,100 52 58 -4% 3% 0% 0/0 500 500 500 500 500
Kyle Stanley $6,100 $7,600 $13,200 27 53 0% 4% 0% 1/1 20 500 500 500 500
Kevin Na $6,000 $8,100 $12,700 42 61 0% -16% 0% 3/3 500 29 16 19 500
Patton Kizzire $6,000 $7,000 $10,600 92 176 -3% 0% 0% 0/0 500 500 500 500 500

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.
2013 – 2017 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