It’s time for PGA Tour Championship picks! The end of the 2022/23 PGA Tour campaign is here and a marvelous season of golf will be crowned off with the PGA Tour Championship at East Lake.
Scottie Scheffler currently leads the way atop the FedEx Cup standings. Will he be able to maintain that position? Or could the in-form Viktor Hovland or Lucas Glover be crowned the champion? Could we see Rory McIlroy win a record fourth FedEx Cup and become the first golfer to win the tournament in consecutive attempts?
The PGA Tour Championship is the final event of the 2022/23 PGA Tour season and the FedEx Cup champion will be crowned after the end of the tournament. You can find my PGA Tour Championship picks below.
2023 BMW Championship Results
The 2023 BMW Championship produced a stunning result as Hovland shot -9 on the final day to beat Matt Fitzpatrick and Scheffler by two shots. He shot a course-record 61 on Sunday. The Norwegian is now second in the FedEx Cup standings and his victory at Olympias Fields has closed the gap on Scheffler.
One of our BMW Championship picks hit last week as we had Hovland to finish inside the top 5. It was a shame we didn’t have him as an outright winner! Still, it was a positive result and hopefully we can find some more winners with our PGA Tour Championship picks.
If you want to get access to all of my PGA Tour Championship picks, head on over to my handicapper page, Ashlee Kiddell. There you can find who I think will win the final tournament of the FedEx Cup Playoffs!
2023 PGA Tour Championship Preview
When: Thursday August 24th – Sunday August 27th, 2023
Where: East Lake Golf Course, Atlanta, Georgia
TV: CBS / Golf Channel
Field: 30 Golfers (No players to be cut)
Purse: $75,000,000 (Winner gets $18,000,000)
The top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings, following the conclusion of the BMW Championship, have qualified for the PGA Tour Championship at East Lake.
The tournament will be a handicapped event which will be determined based on the FedEx Cup standings. This format was first introduced in 2019 and is known as ‘FedEx Cup Starting Strokes.’ Scheffler will begin the Tour Championship -10.
The leader of the FedEx Cup standings will start 10-under, whilst second place will begin 8-under. Third ranked will start 7-under; fourth ranked will begin 6-under; fifth starts 5-under. Golfers ranked in sixth to tenth will start at 4-under; 11th to 15th in the rankings will begin 3-under; players 16th to 20th will start 2-under; 21st to 25th will start 1-under. Finally, those sitting 26th to 30th will begin even par.
The winner of the tournament, when combined with the Starting Strokes, will be crowned the FedEx Cup champion and also receive a five-year PGA Tour exemption. The current tournament holder is McIlroy who won the 2022 edition after finishing -21.
East Lake Course Information
Par: 70 / Yards: 7,346
Greens: Bermudagrass / Fairways: Meyer Zoysia Grass / Rough: Bermudagrass
Par 3s: 4 / Par 4s: 10 / Par 5s: 4
East Lake Golf Club has been the long-term home of the PGA Tour Championship since 2004. The course itself was established in 1904 and was originally designed by Tom Bendelow. Donald Ross completely reworked the course in 1913. However, Rees Jones restored East Lake in 1993.
Just @McIlroyRory things ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ pic.twitter.com/3urMrnj7IM
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 17, 2023
Expert PGA Tour Championship Picks for 2023
It is important that bettors take note of the Tour Championship format. This is because you can bet on the tournament with and without the handicap. That means you can decide whether or not to bet on the Tour Championship with or without the Starting Strokes coming into play.
With Scheffler starting -10, he is priced at (+115) and is the favorite to win the tournament. The Starting Strokes heavily favor the current FedEx Cup leader. Last year’s champion, McIlroy, is shortly behind at (+300), followed by last week’s BMW Championship winner Hovland (+450).
We are set for an intriguing rematch in this year’s PGA Tour Championship with Scheffler and McIlroy set to go head-to-head once more. In 2022, Scheffler started the tournament -10 as well, whilst McIlroy began -4. The former even had a six-shot advantage heading into the final round but shot +3 as the Northern Irishman shot -4 to claim the victory. Both players will be popular PGA Tour Championship picks.
However, after how last year’s tournament unfolded, it’s hard to back Scheffler at such a low price. Despite topping the charts for SG: Total, SG: Tee-to-Green, SG: Off-the-Tee and SG: Approach-the-Green, he ranks 145th in terms of SG: Putting. That could let him down once more at East Lake.
Hovland is just two shots behind Scheffler and his incredible turnaround last week cannot be ignored. His price of +450 is much more appealing and he begins just two shots behind. Jon Rahm is the current fourth favorite (+800) and is just four shots off the lead. However, he hasn’t been in the best of form and finished T31 last week and T37 in the FedEx St. Jude Championship the week prior.
Top Contenders to Win the 2023 PGA Tour Championship
McIlroy offers better value than Scheffler and he’s made up the strokes before. He has also begun the final round trailing in each of his three previous wins at the PGA Tour Championship. McIlroy is a top contender for PGA Tour Championship picks.
Last year’s winner recently finished 4th in the BMW Championship, T3 at the FedEx St. Jude Championship and T6 at the Open Championship so he looks in good shape too.
Max Homa (+3000) looks to be an interesting choice. He finished T5 at the BMW Championship last week and begins the week six shots off the lead. Homa finished T5 in last year’s Tour Championship and began with a score of -2. He will have an extra two-shot advantage in 2023.
He ranks 8th in SG: Total, 15th in SG: Tee-to-Green and fifth in SG: Putting. It’s his putting that could make the difference here and he could be worth a shot at that price.
Hovland’s victory over Scheffler last week could play a big role. Psychologically, the Norwegian should be favored and Scheffler won’t want to throw away another lead to him. Hovland birdied four out of the last five holes to claim the BMW Championship.
Longshots to Win the 2023 PGA Tour Championship
Glover (+4500) looks to be a bit more of a longshot with the handicap. He begins five shots behind the lead but his price looks to be good value. He won back-to-back tournaments at the Wyndham Championship and FedEx St. Jude Championship. However, he finished T22 at the BMW Championship last week.
An impressive display at the BMW Championship means that Fitzpatrick shouldn’t be ignored, especially due to his price of +5500. Although he starts six shots off the lead, he finished T2 alongside Scheffler last week and finished T15 at the 2022 Tour Championship. McIlroy also began six shots behind Scheffler last year and went on to win so Fitzpatrick shouldn’t be ruled out.
Xander Schauffle (+2500) is Mr. Consistent and has performed superbly at East Lake in the past. He likes the course but does start seven strokes back. He ranks fourth in SG: Putting and put in a very solid display at Olympia Fields last week, finishing T8.
2023 PGA Tour Championship Picks – Outright Winner
I am continuing the trend of selecting three outright winners for my 2023 PGA Tour Championship picks. I wasn’t able to find the winner last week but my top 5 pick of Hovland went on to win the BMW Championship. Let’s hope one of my three picks is the winner this time!
I am selecting three picks with the handicap but you can also bet on the PGA Tour Championship without the handicap. To take a look at my PGA Tour Championship picks, you will need to sign-up to Sports Hub to gain full access.
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2023 PGA Tour Championship Picks – Top 5 Finish
I have made a couple of selections for a top 5 finish as part of my PGA Tour Championship picks. These are all with the handicap too.
I am going for Fitzpatrick to gain a top 5 finish here. When he is in form, he is one of the best golfers on the PGA Tour. Recently, he has proven his quality. His six-shot deficit may not be enough to win but it may be good enough for a top 5 finish.
Schauffele is my other contender for a top 5 finish. He has proven to be excellent at East Lake but the Starting Strokes will make it too much of a stretch for him to be the outright winner.
Best Bets: Matt Fitzpatrick (+250) & Xander Schauffele (+200)
Just wait for it. Gravity always wins 😉@TOURChamp | @HidekiOfficial_ pic.twitter.com/G6tE98E5lF
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 22, 2023
2023 PGA Tour Championship Odds
Here are the odds for the 30 golfers at the 2023 PGA Tour Championship, including the handicap (subject to change):
- Scottie Scheffler (+115)
- Rory McIlroy (+300)
- Viktor Hovland (+450)
- Jon Rahm (+800)
- Patrick Cantlay (+1750)
- Xander Schauffele (+2500)
- Max Homa (+3000)
- Lucas Glover (+4500)
- Matt Fitzpatrick (+5500)
- Wyndham Clark (+6500)
- Brian Harman (+7000)
- Tommy Fleetwood (+7500)
- Russell Henley (+7500)
- Rickie Fowler (+8500)
- Collin Morikawa (+10000)
- Sung-Jae Im (+10000)
- Tom Kim (+12500)
- Tony Finau (+17500)
- Si Woo Kim (+17500)
- Jordan Spieth (+17500)
- Keegan Bradley (+17500)
- Corey Conners (+17500)
- Tyrrell Hatton (+20000)
- Sam Burns (+25000)
- Jason Day (+25000)
- Taylor Moore (+30000)
- Sepp Straka (+30000)
- Nick Taylor (+30000)
- Emiliano Grillo (+30000)
- Adam Schenk (+30000)
