The Tour Championships by Coca-Cola at East Lake GC, Atlanta Georgia

So this is it, the FedEx 4 event Championships come to a finish here in Atlanta Georgia for The Coca-Cola Tour event finale. The final event of the year is to be played at the famous East Lake golf course which sits a pretty tough 7,154 yards for a par 70 track. The now permanent host of the final event in the FedEx series, this will be the 9th consecutive year and 12th in total, that the players have come to East Lake to battle out for who is the top player of the year. These FedEx ‘End of Season’ play-offs started back in 2007 when the PGA decided to keep the interest in the golfing year right to the end, and they have proved right in what they have done. Although they seem to slightly modify the ways in which you can win these events, they do seem to make all 4 tour events drama packed. Thus no-one is certain of winning the final cheque of $10 million dollars until the last ball has been hit…

So what about the field…? Well, we only have 30 players here, so I have done a little report on all of them to help us out in picking the winner of this final event of the season. All done in the FedEx rankings that they are currently sat in at the moment…

No.1 – Tiger Woods
His poor showing at the BMW last week with the putter and some of his approach shots were completely opposite to the player who has won 5 Tour events this year. He just seems to throw a bad round in nowadays just when he is looking like to make his move, something that seems to rile him more than ever before. Won here back in 2007 when it was generally agreed to be in very easy conditions, this is only the 2nd time he has made the last 30 in the last 4 years… Current Odds 5/1…

No2 – Henrick Stenson
The winner of the Deutsche Bank event a couple of weeks ago, he has had 7 Top 10’s with 1 win, three 2nds and a 3rd place finish. Ice seems to run through his veins as he smashes the ball into the greens with very high degree of skill. Ranks 1st in GIR, 2nd in Total Driving but surprisingly 119th in Total Putting. He might just be ready for the break after the year he has had, and I do fear that the T33rd last week shows it to… Current Odds 16/1…

No3 – Adam Scott
If he can add the FedEx Championships to his Masters and Barclays win then it could be argued that he should be the golfer for the year above Tiger. Has made the last 3 East Lake finale events, and it would top off some year if he was to do so. T28th and T53rd in the last 2 Fedex events, he might just be saving himself for this final shot at the $10m… Current Odds 12/1…

No4 – Zach Johnson
The latest winner on the PGA Tour, he will be looking to achieve back2back wins and walk away with the top prize and be FedEx Champion. His last 7 events read 1st, T27th, T5th, T8th, T4th, T6th and a solo 2nd, plus he missed an event to be best man at his brother wedding. It is going to be hard to win 2 events on the trot but he won’t come short for the want of trying. He has a T15th and T9th for his efforts the last 2 times he has been here… Current Odds 18/1…

No5 – Matt Kuchar
He has become one of the most consistent players on the Tour now after his victory in the Players Championships last year. Always seems to be in contention at each and every event, he is one of those players who always give themselves the best chance of winning a big event. He has had mixed fortunes here the past 3 years. From not breaking par in any round 3 years ago, to shooting three sub 69's to taking 73's in the final round for the last 2 years… Current Odds 20/1…

No6 – Steve Stricker
This will be Steve’s 13th tour event this year so he is probably hoping that it’s not unlucky for him in his quest to become the 2013 FedEx Champion. He basically picks and chooses’ the events he either likes, dos well in or fancies to do well in now, hence the 12 starts for the year. And I suppose he has been rewarded with this way of thinking by getting 7 Top 10’s, 3 of them being 2nd place finishes. Couldn’t get up to claim the BMW last week, and I don’t think he will here either… Current Odds 22/1…

No 7 – Graeme DeLaet
As the season has progressed so has DeLaet, with his game improving to be ranked 1st for Total Driving, 3rd for GIR and a whole host of other stats in the top 20 rankings. He comes to Atlanta on the back of a T28 at the BMW, but that has followed a solo 3rd in the Deutsche and T2nd in the Barclays. He has put himself in a great position to claim the big prize, and I am sure he will be there or there about come Sunday night... Current Odds 40/1…

No 8 – Phil Mickleson
Just missed out on the US Open but nailed our Open Championship to add to the impressive list of Tour wins worldwide that he has. He has just started to struggle with his game recently, finishing T33rd and T41st for the last 2 events, even though he came T6th in the Barclays. Dosnt look comfortable with his short game at the moment and that is why he is shooting some big numbers at the moment… Current Odds 14/1…

No 9 – Justin Rose
Made the BIG break through this year in claiming the US Open at the Merrion GC and has sort of gone about his game with a certain feel of accomplishment for the year since then. Only shot 1 sub-par round last week in the BMW and so will need to remember how well he plays here to end the season with a bang. Came 2nd last year where his final round of 71 saw him fall short of Snedeker by 3 shots. Should he repeat the first 3 rounds scores he did last year 66, 68, 68 he must have a chance of going one further this year… Current Odds 18/1…

No 10 – Brandt Snedeker
Snedeker maybe the current FedEx champion and so is looking to defend his title, and he isn’t going to go away without a fight. Looked in great form for 3 rounds last week in the BMW, but he fell away with some bad putting and poor shot selections in the last round. He will be trying to become the first player to win the FedEx back2back, no mean task by itself, but I think he will come up short… Current Odds 22/1...

No 11 – Jim Furyk
Did he throw it away last week, or did Zach Johnson take it off him? Whichever way you look at it, he shot an incredible 4 rounds of golf and recorded an unbelievable 59 in the middle of it. Maybe the age and nerves played a part in his last round collapse from a position of strength to end up 3rd. A factor also maybe that he hasn’t won a Tour event this year, and they are not coming around with such regularity nowadays… Current Odds 20/1…

No 12 – Nick Watney
Nick has changed his coach from Butch Harman to start a little bit of work with swing coach Todd Anderson. And it looks to have paid off already with a fine performance in the BMW to shoot the best round on the final day of 64, -7 under par, to claim solo 2nd. It’s probably the putter which has let him down the most this year, but as last weeks final round showed, if he gets it going he will pose a big threat… Current Odds 33/1…

No 13 – Jordan Speith
This lad has been a revelation this year, and looks like he will have a big future in the game for years to come. The rookie from Dallas has already broken his duck for wins on the PGA when he won the John Deere Classic back in August, but he has also had 8 Top 10’s to his name as well. Obviously makes his debut here so we don’t know what to expect, but do not be surprised if he did go on to win it… Current Odds 25/1…

No 14 – Jason Day
I have to be honest I am not a big fan of Jason Day, and it makes me laugh when you hear that his nickname on the PGA Tour is ‘ALLDAY’. Basically it’s because when you are paired up with him in an event it’s gonna take all day to play your round...!!! Can’t dismiss him that easily as he is a top golfer, as the numbers indicate. 3rd in the Masters, 2nd in the US Open and T8th in the PGA just shows that he always seems to figure when the big events come around… Current Odds 20/1…

No 15 – Hunter Mahan
No matter how the golf goes this year, Hunter will remember it for the birth of his first child, little Zoe Hunter. And to be truthful it is the only highlight as he hasn’t set the world alight with his golf. In saying that, he has just started to show a bit of form in the FedEx recently, finishing T4th, T13th and T25th for his last 3 events. He has never missed a FedEx play off in it’s short history, something that will eventually pay him back I feel with the sole number 1 position… Current Odds 20/1…

 

No 16 – Keegan Bradley
Keegan was one of my first picks at the start of the year and he just seemed to come up short in the end when the tough got going. He hasn’t won a Tour event this year, and I do think he has been affected by the rule on the belly putters, as it is something he has used since his childhood. Shot his best round for a long time in the final round of the BMW, a 66, he will need that sort of form here in Atlanta where he dosnt have the best of records… 28/1…

No 17 – Gary Woodland
Makes it back to East Lake after missing out last year to hopefully improve on the 15th place finish he got back in 2011. A T2nd finish in The Barclays made a huge difference in getting him into the final 30. He did win the Reno-Tahoe Open recently which would have given him great confidence going into the FedEx events, but this looks tough for him to win… Current Odds 50/1…

No 18 – Bill Haas
When he won the FedEx back in 2011 he did so with one of the most memorable shots in PGA Tour history when he flopped his ball out of the water to right next to the hole to beat Hunter Mahan in a play-off. It also propelled his career forward to where we are now expecting him to win a Major sometime soon. He hasn’t broken into the top 20 for the past 5 events even though he has more Top 10 finishes than anybody else this year… Current Odds 40/1…

No 19 – Kevin Streelman
It looks like the year has ending for Streelman now as the best form he has shown this year was back in March-May when he won the Tampa Bay championship, came T3rd in the RBC Heritige, T6th at Wells Fargo and an impressive T2nd in the Players. Hasn’t really hit them heights since, and I don’t expect him to do so this week either… Current Odds 66/1…

No 20 – Jason Dufner
You’ve gotta love this man, and the way he plays like he is just out for a quiet game of golf with his mates. Obviously we remember his win in the PGA Championships, and to be honest it is probably the only thing we can remember from him this year. He has slightly dipped in form since but he has the game to win any tournament now, so you can’t dismiss him that easily… Current Odds 25/1…

No 21 – Webb Simpson
He hasn’t hit the heights that he got back in 2012 when he won the US Open, and to be honest it’s his putter that has let him down really. He has just missed too many putts at crucial times this year, and I do think it is the realisation that the belly putters are to be banned in the future. It hasn’t affected all of the players who use the belly putter but Webb’s putting has been woeful at times… Current Odds 40/1…

No 22 – Billy Horschel
I have backed Billy a couple of times this year but missed his big one when he won the New Orleans Classic back in April. His T18th last week in the BMW was his first sub 30th finish since his T4th in the US Open back in June. This is by far the best year in his professional golfing year and is one to watch for the future… Current Odds 66/1…

No 23 – Charl Schwartzel
Charl hasn&#8217;t won on the Tour this year, though the 2011 Masters winner is just starting to show a bit of form going into the last Tour event of the year. Finished T8th last week in the BMW, and to be honest it should have been better had he not messed up the last 2 holes. But that has been his problem this year. When your GIR stats from 100-125 yards is ranked 184th and your GIR from <125 yards is 142nd you know you are something is amiss somewhere&#8230; Current Odds 28/1&#8230;

No 24 &#8211; Roberto Castro
He has slipped under my radar really and when I look at his stats I am not sure how he made the top 30 in the FedEx, but make it did, and looking at his last 3 FedEx events you can see why. A solo 15th last week following on from a T9th in the Deutsche Bank event after a T25th in the Barclays it&#8217;s obvious that he is very happy with his game at the moment. This last event maybe 1 too far for him now, but he will be better for this going into next year&#8230; Current Odds 66/1&#8230;

No 25 &#8211; Sergio Garcia
What can we say about the Spaniard that we don&#8217;t already know? He both infuriates as much as gives us pleasure. He is nowhere near the form of what he is capable but every now and again he pops ups to remind us that he is still around. Has not won on the Tour this year but has weighed in with 5 Top 10&#8217;s to his name. I have always thought he never scores heavily enough when he is right at the top of his game, and I am afraid there are far too many better than him here this week&#8230; Current Odds 28/1&#8230;

No 26 &#8211; Boo Weekly
I try to like Boo Weekly but I can&#8217;t&#8230;!!! I just can&#8217;t get that Ryder Cup &#8216;gee up&#8217; with his driver between his legs as he smoked a drive miles down the fairway back in 2008 out of my head. He is probably a top man, but I am never going to meet him to find out am I, so I will stick with it that he&#8217;s a bit of an idiot...!!! Back to this week and he hasn&#8217;t got a chance. He has not broken into the top 20 once in his past 11 events, and that was a T12th in the PGA Championships&#8230; Current Odds 125/1&#8230;

No 27 &#8211; Brendon de Jonge
One of 9 debutants to make the FedEx final 30 at East Lake, this Zimbabwean has got here on the back of solid golfing results rather than featuring in the top 10 for most of the year. He is however a birdie machine who has made more birdies than any other golfer this year, some 384 of them, 16 more than 2nd place Harris English. It is off set a bit with the fact he has played more rounds than most but it just shows that he can play&#8230; Current Odds&#8230; 80/1&#8230;

No 28 &#8211; D.A Points
Points made a huge impact on the Tour when he won the Shell Houston Open at odds of 250/1 back in March, and followed up with a solo 2nd place finish in New Orleans. The rest of the year however hasn&#8217;t been anywhere near that standard missing 6 cuts from his next 13 Tour events. Don&#8217;t see him doing much on his debut here, and his odds reflect that&#8230; Current Odds 125/1&#8230;

No 29 &#8211; Luke Donald
How is Luke Donald ranked 29th I hear you cry&#8230;? Well, if I am honest I think Luke Donald is slowly turning into the English Sergio Garcia. Always looks to maybe win one of the Majors and comes up short, though Garcia dos have the 2008 Players Championships on his cv, Luke hasn&#8217;t anything near that sort of victory yet. Donald only just scraped into this week&#8217;s event by getting the 4th or better finish he needed to do so, and so he must be feeling good about his game. But I think it&#8217;s going to be another week where he fails to deliver and falls short like he has all year. I shouldn&#8217;t be too hard on Luke as he has had 5 Top 10&#8217;s this year, but we expect more from him as he is such a talented golfer&#8230; Current Odds 20/1&#8230;

No 30 &#8211; Dustin Johnson
The &#8216;bubble breaker&#8217;, as Dustin Johnson claims the last spot in the top 30 for the final FedEx event of 2013. He has had a very up and down season in which he either finished top 10 or is nowhere to be seen. He won the opening Tour event back in January, the Hyundai Championships then pulled out of the Hawaiian Open the following week. In fact he has struggle with his back for a couple of year now and this isn&#8217;t an isolated incident. Another one who is so lowly ranked everything would have to fall for him to win the big prize outright, but is still capable of winning the East Lake event&#8230; Current Odds 40/1&#8230;


So after doing the write up on each player, which ones do I think are value, and who can win the East Lake event&#8230;? Well I will post my selections soon&#8230; Cheers&#8230;

 

Its not been the best year for me on the betting front for the golf, but i have had a few winners and placed returns to be in profit for my troubles. And so it would be good to go out with a winner or a couple of them placing, just to send me off with a smile on my face...

So, with the final event just about to take place ive gone with the following....

Matt Kuchar @ 20/1...
Hunter Mahan @ 20/1...
Nick Watney @ 33/1...
Graeme DeLaet @ 40/1...


I nearly picked Zach again, but the stats dont back up many players who have won back2back tournaments, probably as it takes a bit out of the golfer mentally from the high of winning a tournament the week before...

With Stricker and Furyk playing so well they were 2 more that i thought may feature again near the top of the leaderboard. But i keep going back to the fact that they dont seem to be able to make the killer putts anymore that takes you from a 2 shot lead and take it away from the field. This is something the players at the top of their game seem to do more than any other in the tournament...

So ive gone with the players who are showing the better form than the others...

Hunter Mahan has a great record in the FedEx anyway, but what made me go with him was the way he was hitting his approach shots and nearly always coming off 1 putting the greens. His last 2 rounds in the BMW saw him shoot 65, 67 and he had a chance of going a bit lower on the last day as well. The break away from the game to see the birth of his first child has given him a lift by the looks of it, so he's in...

Matt Kuchar is just one of those players i really like watching and is a bit of a favourite with me. Not the most spectacular of golfers, he just seems to play the game as nothing worries him and still seems to play really tough, hard golf when it matters. Only came T24th last week but he knows what to do to win one of the big events on the Tour...

Nick Watney was in great form last week shooting 64 in the final round to nearly propel him to nick the win, only Zach Johnson had other ideas. I do think it is significant that he has changed his coach, he has dropped Butch Harman for Todd Anderson and it seems to be paying off already. Maybe he needed fresh ideas, a different voice advising him what to do, or just simply he needed to break away from Harman to spark a bit of life into him. Whatever, i find it interesting he would do so right near the end of the season, just as we get near to the big prize money of $10 million dollars...

Graeme DeLaet has some of the best stats on the whole Tour. Sits 1st in Total Driving, 3rd in GIR, 5th in Total Birdies Made and a whole host of other stats that should suggest he can win. But after all that he still has to claim a top spot in any PGA Tournament this year, but what a way to do it at the very last one of the year. Tied 2nd at the Barclays and a 3rd in the Deutsche Bank recently show that he is in great form and at his price, and ranked 7th in the FedEx, so he has a great chance of claiming the top prize and the $10 million on offer...


Good luck to all as usual, and lets hope we can bring home the winner from the last event on the Tour...

 

Great write up Red!

I am just off to Ladbrokes to place my bets for this week. I'm slightly annoyed i didnt do them yesterday as Ladrbokes had Spieth priced up at 33/1, as well as Keegan. Now both trade at 25/1. I could use online firms and grab more value but i'm meeting a few friends for some beers and the betting shop is next door so will just do them whilst im there. And they have an offer whereby if Tiger wins, you get your stakes refunded as a free bet, so why not!

Keegan Bradley 25-1
Jordan Speith 25-1
Brendon De Jonge 66-1

Goodluck mate !!

 

Good on yer Smokin... It will be NH racing that gets my attention from Monday on wards so lets hope one of us can hit that number 1 slot come Sunday night...!!!

Good luck pal...

 

Aftertimer alert!!

Went in the bookies on my dinner and had a twenty on Bremner, so got £90 back

So thought why not, lets invest in some 2 ball bets;

£30 double
Spieth 11/10
Keegan 5/4

£20 treble
Sneds 1/1
Watney 11/10
Mickelson 8/13

..And then put £20 in the roulette machine and lost it all on 1 spin hahaha

Left the shop with the £20 i started with though..good times!

 

Leaderboard after the 1st round...

1 - Henrik Stenson............. -6
2 - Adam Scott................. -5
T3 - Billy Horschel.............. -4
T3 - Steve Stricker............ -4
5 - Roberto Castro............. -3
T6 - Dustin Johnson........... -2
T6 - Sergio Garcia............. -2
T6 - Charl Schwartzel......... -2
T6 - Webb Simpson............ -2
T6 - Jordan Spieth............. -2 - Smokin
T6 - Jason Day................. -2
T6 - Justin Rose................ -2
T6 - Graham DeLaet........... -2 - red
T14 - Kevin Streelman........ -1
T14 - Brandt Snedeker....... -1
T14 - Matt Kuchar............. -1 - red
T14 - Zach Johnson........... -1
T18 - Luke Donald.............. E
T18 - Brendon de Jonge....... E - Smokin
T18 - Boo Weekley............. E
T18 - Gary Woodland.......... E
T18 - Bill Haas................... E
T18 - Hunter Mahan........... E - red
T18 - Jim Furyk................. E
25 - Phil Mickelson............. +1
T26 - D.A. Points............... +2
T26 - Keegan Bradley.......... +2 - Smokin
T26 - Nick Watney.............. +2 - red
29 - Tiger Woods................ +3
30 - Jason Dufner............... +4

I wonder how much further ahead Stenson would be if he didnt have tendenitis in his left wrist...!!! He was superb last night and probably put a lot of pressure on his playing partner Tiger, who didn't have 1 single birdie in his round of 73, +3 over... Quiet a few stacked in behind the top 4 so its still up for garbs as to who wins this event, and it will only get better as the rounds go by...

 

Leaderboard after the 2nd round...

1 - Henrik Stenson............... -10
2 - Adam Scott................... -6
3 - Jordan Spieth................. -5 - Smokin
T4 - Justin Rose.................. -4
T4 - Dustin Johnson............. -4
T4 - Billy Horschel................ -4
T7 - Keegan Bradley............. -3 - Smokin
T7 - Nick Watney................. -3 - red
T7 - Gary Woodland.............. -3
T7 - Zach Johnson............... -3
T7 - Steve Stricker.............. -3
T12 - Phil Mickelson.............. -2
T12 - Jim Furyk.................... -2
T12 - Roberto Castro............ -2
T15 - D.A. Points................. -1
T15 - Hunter Mahan............. -1 - red
T15 - Bill Haas.................... -1
T15 - Graham DeLaet........... -1 - red
T15 - Webb Simpson............ -1
T15 - Sergio Garcia.............. -1
21 - Luke Donald................. E
22 - Kevin Streelman............ +1
T23 - Brendon de Jonge ........ +2 - Smokin
T23 - Jason Day.................. +2
25 - Matt Kuchar................. +3 - red
T26 - Tiger Woods............... +4
T26 - Jason Dufner............... +4
T26 - Brandt Snedeker.......... +4
29 - Boo Weekley................. +5
30 - Charl Schwartzel............ +7


So much for me thinking that maybe Stenson was getting a bit tired in the previous FedEx, he was just taking a break... He has smashed this field apart, sitting 4 shots clear infront of the rest. Just superb golf from one of the most consistent golfers this year...

Were only half way through the tournament but already our picks are playing for place money me thinks... You never know but i think Stenson has run away with the Coca-Cola championship and the $10 million prize money...!!!

 

Stenson did what he was always lookinh likely to do and win the final Tour Championship and claim the title and $10m in prize money...

He eventually won by 3 shots as most of the field just wouldn't have been able to catch him anyway. But in saying that Webb Simpson and Jordan Speith put on a damn good show to try and get Stenson under pressure, but they just couldn't get to him...

Thats it for me now on the golf as my attention to turns to the start of the NH racing... Well done Smokin as i would say that you made a good return for your money this year as you had a few tasty winners recently. I did manage to make a profit for the year, but only about £50 or so...

Nevermind as it is very hard to pick winners on the Tour and any profit is good...

 

Crackin finish and at 1 point when Spieth was only 1 shot back i really felt like i could be onto a big pay day!

not to worry though, as you said, i had a few decent winners this season. for me its now over yet, i am off to scotland for the Alfred Dunhill this week, so would be rude not to have a few selections and watch them round. Padraig Harrington paired up with JP McManus should be a good pairing to follow on the pro-am over thurs-sat

I'll post my selections anyways before i head up there