The money list: Our best bets for the Tour Championship

19 Sept

Jack Green

Justin Thomas has all the tools to finish off an outstanding year by winning the FedEx Cup and scooping up the $10m jackpot.

Course guide

East Lake has been the permanent home of the final FedEx Cup playoff event since 2004.

The 7,300-yard, par-70 course is just a two-hour drive from Augusta, and, like the Masters venue, it features narrow fairways and super-fast greens.

East Lake favours the best – and particularly most accurate – hitters off the tee, with the average drive length 290 yards in last year’s event.

Scrambling is also important, as the abundance of thick rough often makes it difficult to find the green in regulation.

Back to win

Justin Thomas –

Currently second in the FedEx Cup standings, Thomas could round up the most impressive season of any player on tour with a win this weekend.

The 24-year-old has already won five times this year, including the PGA Championship last month and the Dell Technologies three weeks ago.

Five of the last 10 Tour Championship winners had won at a previous FedEx Cup event, and Thomas’ form suggests he could do the same.

The American finished sixth in his first appearance at East Lake last year, and should have another good weekend, given that he ranks eighth in driving distance, total driving and shots gained from tee to green.

Justin Rose –

Rose has found form at the right time of the year with three consecutive top-10s, including a T2 at the BMW Championship last weekend.

This is as well as he’s played since he finished second at the Masters in April, and his run should continue at East Lake.

The world No. 14 came second at this event in both 2012 and 2015, and has finished no worse than sixth in his last four starts here.

With GIR averages expected to be low this weekend, Rose’s play around the greens – the 12th-best in the world this year – will be an advantage over the majority of the field.

Also an excellent driver of the ball, the 37-year-old has all the tools to win at East Lake.

Each-way shout

Webb Simpson –

Coming off a T9 at the BMW Championship, Simpson should fare well at a course he’s enjoyed playing at in the past.

The 32-year-old has played at East Lake on four occasions and twice finished inside the top five.

He’s had a consistent season, missing just four cuts in total and none since May, and has three top 10s in his last four starts.

Ranking 27th from tee to green and second in scrambling this year, his game is perfect for this course and it’d be no surprise if he’s in contention again.

Outside bet

Pat Perez –

Perez has quietly been one of the most consistent players on the PGA Tour this year.

The American, who started the season with two top-fives in his first three starts, comes into this event 11th in the FedEx Cup standings and with an outside chance of winning the whole thing.

Perez is in great form, too, with a T6 at the Dell Tech and a T12 at the BMW in his last two starts.

Ranked sixth in shots gained around the green, he has the short game to cause a shock on his first appearance at East Lake.