After posting second-place finishes in the past two events in this year’s FedEx Cup playoffs, Justin Rose enters the weekend atop the Tour Championship odds with Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy as +900 co-favourites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Rose has rediscovered his game since failing to make the cut last month at The Northern Trust. The 38-year-old Englishman rebounded with second-place finishes at both the Dell Technologies Championship and the BMW Championship to climb to second place on the FedEx Cup standings going into the opening round of the 2018 TOUR Championship on Thursday morning at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
It has been a roller coaster season for Rose, who has recorded a pair of PGA Tour victories and ten top-10 finishes. The 2013 U.S. Open winner has also finished 19th or worse in five of his past 12 outings, including a 19th-place finish at the PGA Championship at +2200 odds, and a distant 23rd-place finish at the Players Championship as a +2500 bet.
However, Rose has finished in the top five at the Tour Championship on three previous occasions, including a second-place performance three years ago.
McIlroy did not play in The Northern Trust but had a fifth-place result at the BMW Championship as a +1600 wager on the golf odds to climb to 17th in the FedEx Cup standings.
Like Rose, it has been feast or famine for McIlroy this season. The native of Northern Ireland earned his lone win of the season at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and has struggled at times on the big stage, missing the cut at both the U.S. Open and Players Championship. However, a win at this event in 2016 earned McIlroy the FedEx Cup title.
A disappointing 24th-place finish at the BMW Championship contributed to Johnson’s fall from the top of the World Golf Rankings. Now ranked third in the world, behind Rose and Brooks Koepka, and fourth on the FedEx Cup standings, Johnson has four career FedEx Cup playoff tournament wins to his credit, and has finished fifth or better in three of eight previous appearances at the Tour Championship.
With victories at both The Northern Trust and Dell Technologies Championship, Bryson Dechambeau currently holds a substantial 1,398-point lead atop the FedEx Cup standings, and could capture the FedEx Cup crown and accompanying $10 million prize by finishing ninth or better this weekend. Despite the strong finish to his season, the 24-year-old trails the favourites on the Tour Championship odds as a +1800 bet.
Other notables for the Tour Championship odds include Justin Thomas, who sits at +1100, just ahead of Koepka and Tiger Woods at +1200, while Dechambeau is joined at +1800 by Rickie Fowler and Tony Finau.
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