The playoffs begin with stunning views of New York City and the Statue of Liberty within sight of Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey as the top 125 players in the FedEx Cup point standings tee off Thursday in the Northern Trust. The 7,410 yard Bob Cupp and Tom Kite designed layout plays to a par of 71 and is the only playoff event with a 36 hole cut.
Collin Morikawa enters the Northern Trust as the leader of the FedEx Cup standings, followed by Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay, Harris English, and U.S. Open champions Jon Rahm. The rest of the top ten are Abraham Ancer, Bryson DeChambeau, Louis Oosthuizen, Justin Thomas, and Sam Burns.
For the first time in his career, Rickie Fowler missed out on the playoffs, finishing 134th in the standings after a frustrating season. Former U.S. Open and Olympic champion Justin Rose was the first player out, finishing 126th, losing out by a single point from making it into golf’s postseason.
Last week, Kevin Kisner survived a six-man playoff to win the Wyndham Championship, jumping from 69th to 29th in the FedEx Cup standings. Kisner bounced back from a 63rd place finish in the WGC – FedEx St. Jude Invitational after a final round 79, picking up his fourth Tour title following a closing 66.
World number one in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) Jon Rahm returns to action for the first time since a third-place finish in the Open Championship…
Betting Odds
World number one in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) Jon Rahm returns to action for the first time since a third-place finish in the Open Championship and is the betting favorite with odds of +1100. He is followed at +1700 by Collin Morikawa and defending Fed Ex Cup and Northern Trust champion Dustin Johnson, who is struggling to return to the form that led him to the Masters Tournament win in November.
Two other former FedEx Cup winners Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy are next at +1800 and +2000 respectively, with Brooks Koepka at 2100, Olympic gold medalist Xander Schauffele at +2200, and Players Championship winner Justin Thomas at +2700. Other notables include Bryson DeChambeau with odds of +2900, April Masters winner Hideki Matsuyama at +3600, and PGA champion Phil Mickelson at +14000.
Favorite Picks
There is a reason why Rahm is the betting favorite and that’s because he is the best player in the world, not just in the sometimes flawed OWGR. In 19 events in the 2020-2021 season, the Spaniard has a major victory with 12 top ten finishes with and if not for Covid-19 he almost surely would have added another win at the Memorial after being forced to withdraw after building a four-stroke lead after the third round.
Jordan Spieth, the likely winner of the comeback player of the year award, has been on fire since a third-round 61 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open with a win at the Valero Texas Open and nine top-ten finishes in 15 starts. The three-time major champion is poised to make a serious run at a second FedEx Cup championship.
The winner of the Olympic golf competition has yet to win a major title, but Xander Schauffele is poised to continue his run up the list of golfing elites. His consistent play in big tournaments makes him a good bet this week at Liberty National.
