Tour Championship: Course specialist Schauffele fancied to bridge the gap
We're off to East Lake this week for the FedEx Cup decider and the final event of the 2021/22 PGA Tour season. Read Steve Rawlings' preview...
Steve says: "From a course correlation angle, form at Donald Ross designed tracks tends to cross over well so check out the Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club, Aronimink Country Club, which hosted the AT & T National in both 2010 and 2011 and the BMW Championship in 2018, and Sedgefield Country Club, home of the Wyndham Championship.
"Now that this venue and Sedgefield Country Club, both have Bermuda greens, form at the two events should crossover very nicely and that's been the case over the last few years.
"East Lake specialists, Justin Rose and Adam Scott, as well as Kevin Na, who along with Jon Rahm, shot the lowest 72-hole score last year all contended at Sedgefield in 2021...
"Schauffele is under pressure from the start given he needs to make up four stroke on Scheffler but he clearly loves East Lake and has to be respected.
"Since winning the Tour Championship (but not the FedEx Cup) in 2017, his form here has been solid. He finished only seventh when defending on 2018 but in the three years since it's been a handicap event he's finished second, first and third in the Lowest 72 Hole Score markets."
Steve's bet: Back Xander Schauffele @ 9.617/2
Tour Championship: Tour Championship Each-Way Tips: Im can go low at East Lake
Dave Tindall has three each-way tips as a 30-man field battle it out at East Lake in Georgia...
Dave says: "Last month, Sungjae Im finished tied second there, backing up previous good form in the Wyndham Championship of 24-9-6. That was Im's second straight runners-up finish after a near-miss in the 3M Open and since his Sedgefield second he's kept his form going with 12th at the St Jude Championship and 15th in last week's BMW Championship.
"Perhaps his East Lake 72-hole finishes of 15th, 12th and 23rd don't stand out given a field size of 30 but his 68-64 start in 2020 was the lowest 36-hole tally so it's a course he can score on.
"Strokes Gained: Off The Tee has been a strong pointer down the years and Im ranks 9th in that category this season. Bogey Avoidance has also been key and Im ranks 1st so the more we join the dots the more the face of Sungjae Im starts to appear.
"Back him at 22/1 to shoot the lowest 72-hole score. (He's 25s to win the overall prize but it's a fair guess that he'd need to win our chosen market to do that.)"
Dave's bet: Back Sungjae Im each-way for Lowest 72-Hole Score @ 23.022/1
Tour Championship 2022: Course and current form stats ahead of this season's finale
Andy Swales provides the course info and form stats for the Tour Championship and selects his players to watch...
Andy says: "East Lake is a famous venue five miles east of downtown Atlanta, where the great amateur Bobby Jones played much of his golf. However, the venue fell into disrepair not long after hosting the 1963 Ryder Cup, but like a Phoenix from the ashes rose again during the mid-1990s, and has been a regular PGA Tour stop for the past couple of decades.
"East Lake is a typical lush parkland course where tight tree-lined fairways demand accuracy from the tee. The layout's Bermuda grass rough is also a handful for those who stray off the fairways. The greens are usually firm and quick, with water coming into play on four holes, while birdies are extremely difficult to extract...
"Patrick Cantlay, at no 2 in the current Play-Offs' standings, has a great chance of defending his FedEx Cup title this week. Has been in strong form most of the season and is at a career-high No 3 in the world."
Andy's Player to Watch: : Back Patrick Cantlay @ 5.49/2
Omega European Masters: Wonderful Willett can go in again
We're going back to the Swiss mountains this week for the most picturesque event on the DP World Tour so get the lowdown ahead of Thursday's start with the Punter's in-depth preview...
Steve says: "The course is short and at altitude so there's absolutely no need to go bombing it off the tee. The driver stays in the bag for most of the holes and neither the Driving Distance nor the Driving Accuracy stats are much use.
"Accuracy is slightly more important than power however and Matthew Fitzpatrick ranked first for Driving Accuracy in 2018 and 16th when he won in 2017 and last year's winner, Rasmus Hojgaard, ranked second for D.A.
"The 2019 winner, Sebastian Soderberg, only ranked 31st for DA, the 2016 winner, Alex Noren, ranked 49th and the 2015 champ, Danny Willett, ranked 55th. And when Noren won here for the first time, in 2009, he ranked in the 50s for DA and so did Sergio Garcia in 2005 so although it is a tree-lined track, being arrow-straight off the tee hasn't been imperative.
"Soderberg only ranked 33rd for Greens In Regulation three years ago but Hojgaard ranked third, and the first and second in 2018, Fitzpatrick and Lucas Bjerregaard, ranked second and first for GIR. And that's the key stat."
Steve's bet: Back Danny Willett @ 48.047/1
Omega European Masters Each-Way Tips: Wu will relish Crans test
Matt Cooper has three selections with the Betfair Sportsbook paying seven places starting with a Chinese player who could relish the conditions...
Matt says: "The 37-year-old four-time winner on the DP World Tour carded four sub-70 scores on debut in 2017 to finish tied ninth and a year later he signed for a pair of 65s on his way to tied seventh.
"True, he missed the cut in 2019, but scores of 71-69 were not disastrous and it did come a week after he'd contended in the Scandinavian Masters when he might have been feeling a little raw. He hasn't been seen since making the cut in the co-sanctioned Scottish Open and Barracuda Championship, but he's been in solid form all year making 14 cuts in his 17 starts.
"What really intrigues is that he made a first visit to Nairobi earlier this year and won the Kenya Open at Muthaiga which is another fiddly track at altitude (1,795 metres) and it also had five par-3s."
Matt's bet: Back Ashun Wu 1pt each-way @ 81.080/1
Find Me a 100 Winner: Fast starting Frenchman can reward again
Steve says: "Mike Lorenzo-Vera is clearly looking forward to the week and that's not surprising given he has form figures around the fiddly mountain track that read 14-19-12-30-3-6-MC. He's yet to win on the DP World Tour but he's had a couple of very near misses and if he's ever to get off the mark this looks as good a place as any.
"The Frenchman looks a sporting price at 130.0129/1 on the exchange and at 100/1 with seven places on the Sportsbook in the outright markets and he also looks a great each-way play at 80/1 in the First Round Leader market where there are six places on offer.
"Lorenzo-Vera ended the opening day tied for the lead in both 2016 and 2019 before going on to finish 12th and sixth. And he finished third here in 2018 having sat tied for 18th after round one."
Steve's bet: Back Mike Lorenzo-Vera @ 130.0129/1 (Exchange)
Omega European Masters First-Round Leader Tips: Pick Paratore
Dave Tindall has three picks to be First-Round Leader at Crans-sur-Sierre...
Dave says: "Renato Paratore has been one of the DP World Tour's standout players in the month of August. After a shocking run of 10 missed cuts in 11 starts he turned his form around with a top three finish in the Cazoo Open and followed that with fourth at the ISPS Handa World Invitational and 13th at the Czech Masters.
"He's set the tone with strong starts, opening with 67s in his last two events, the most recent putting him seventh on the Thursday leaderboard in Prague. In this nick he's worth following anywhere but Crans looks as good a place as any and that applies to the FRL leader market too.
"The back-to-form Italian was sixth after 18 holes last year and led after 54 before finishing seventh. On his previous visit in 2019 he opened 67-66 to sit ninth at halfway."
Dave's bet: Back Renato Paratore each-way @ 51.050/1
Omega European Masters 2022: Course and current form stats
Andy Swales provides the course info and form stats for the European Masters and selects his players to watch...
Andy says: "Located in the Swiss Alps, around 120 miles east of Geneva and a similar distance south of Berne, Crans-sur-Sierre is one of the most photogenic courses in golf.
"It was opened in 1908 and has been upgraded on a number of occasions, which includes a major renovation carried out by the late Seve Ballesteros 23 years ago. The course sits more than 4,000 feet above sea level, so the ball travels around 10% further than normal through this rarefied air...
"Ryan Fox, the New Zealander, has re-charged his batteries and is ready to go again after three weeks out of action. There has been five podium finishes on the DP World Tour during 2022, including a victory in the Middle East during February."
Andy's Player to Watch: : Back Ryan Fox @ 22.021/1