Tour Championship: Ways you can make money despite weird format

The finale of the 2022-23 PGA Tour season has arrived, as the top 30 players in the FedEx Cup standings will congregate at East Lake Golf Club this week for the Tour Championship. With an $18M grand prize on the line, the FedEx Cup trophy is anyone's to win.

But is it really?

The Tour Championship is a unique tournament in professional golf because of the staggered strokes format in place. Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1-ranked player in the FedEx Cup standings, will begin the tournament with a two-stroke head start at 10 under par. Viktor Hovland will start at 8 under, Rory McIlroy will start at 7 under, and so on until we reach even par. 

This isn't a great tournament to get involved in the outright market, but there are other ways to attack the Tour Championship from a betting perspective. Let's explore some, shall we?

Viktor Hovland top continental European (-135 DraftKings)

Sorry, DraftKings, but this price makes no sense. There are only three players in the top continental European market: Hovland, who will start at 8 under par, Jon Rahm, who will start at 6 under, and Sepp Straka, who isn't much of a threat starting at even par. 

Hovland is coming off a course-record 61 at Olympia Fields that propelled him to a BMW Championship title. The 25-year-old has been a ball-striking machine of late, as he's gained nearly 30 combined strokes off the tee and on approach over his last three starts. Meanwhile, Rahm is currently on his worst ball-striking stretch of the season, and he finished T37 and T31 in the first two playoff events. This price should be closer to -170, so we're jumping on the discount.

Sungjae Im winner without starting strokes (+3500 DK)

The Tour Championship is the only event of the PGA Tour season with two outright markets in play. You can bet on the actual winner of the event, or you can bet on who will shoot the lowest score to par if the staggered strokes didn't exist.

We're going to focus on the latter outright market with our man Sungjae Im. Im enters the season finale in impeccable form with a T6 and a solo seventh in the first two playoff events, and he gained strokes across the board in both starts. The South Korean also has a history of going low at East Lake, as he shot 16 under last year to notch a runner-up finish despite starting six strokes back at -4. 

Im will start even further back of the lead this year at -2, but that just means he'll be more aggressive firing at pins in an attempt to claw back in the tournament. 

In the news ...

Mike Trout returns to Angels' lineup, but it might be too late — Trout was activated from the injured list Tuesday after missing 38 games due to a broken bone in his left hand. The star outfielder will play through the pain for the last month and a half of the regular season, but with the Los Angeles Angels 10 games back of the third AL wild-card spot, they'll need a miraculous run to make the playoffs. LA is priced at +50000 to win the AL.
 
Seahawks' Jaxon Smith-Njigba injures wrist, could miss Week 1 — The Seattle Seahawks could be without their first-round pick to start the season. Smith-Njigba, the rookie wide receiver out of Ohio State, suffered a broken bone in his wrist and will undergo surgery this week. Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said Smith-Njigba will be out for 3-4 weeks, but the team remains optimistic that he could return in time for the season opener against the Los Angeles Rams. Smith-Njigba is +2600 to win Rookie of the Year. 

Bucs name Baker Mayfield starting QB for Week 1 — Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles announced Tuesday that Mayfield has won the starting quarterback job. Mayfield was in a position battle with third-year QB Kyle Trask for much of camp, but he'll get the nod in Week 1 against the Minnesota Vikings. If you're interested in backing the Mayfield-led Bucs this season, Tampa Bay is +750 to win the NFC South and +360 to make the playoffs. 

Today's Bark Bets is written by Jack Dougherty