PGA Tour golf betting tips: Tour Championship 2025 preview
Where: East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta
When: Thursday August 21 to Sunday August 24, 2025
Course details: Par 70; 7,490 yards
18-hole record: 60, Zach Johnson (round 3, 2007)
72-hole record: 257, Tiger Woods (2007)
Weather forecast: Hot, with minimal wind; partly cloud Thursday, light rain Friday and Saturday, scattered thunderstorms Sunday
Total prize money: $40m
Watch: Live on Sky Sports Golf from 6pm Thursday
Check out the bet365 bonus code for August 2025
Tour Championship selected Thursday tee times
(All times BST unless stated)
Start
4.16pm – Akshay Bhatia and Chris Gotterup
Selected others
5pm – Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland
5.49pm – Ludvig Aberg and Cameron Young
6pm – Justin Thomas and Harris English
6.27pm – Sepp Straka and Russell Henley
6.38pm – Ben Griffin and Tommy Fleetwood
6.49pm – JJ Spaun and Justin Rose
7pm – Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy
Ron Wood's tips
Bet 1: Top-two finish – 2pts Scottie Scheffler @ 5/6 with bet365
Bet 2: Betting without Scottie Scheffler – 1pt each-way Tommy Fleetwood @ 8/1 with bet365 (¼ odds; four places)
Bet 3: Betting without Scottie Scheffler – 0.5pt each-way JJ Spaun @ 20/1 with bet365 (¼ odds; four places)
Bet 4: 72-hole match bets – 1pt double Russell Henley (vs Justin Thomas) and JJ Spaun (vs Hideki Matsuyama) @ 2.05/1 with bet365
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Course overview
Every FedExCup from 2007 onwards has been played at East Lake, but the course was remodelled ahead of last year's tournament and there will be further differences this time around compared with 12 months ago.
Hole locations can be made trickier, different tees can be used and rough will be longer. Most obviously, the 14th hole – with the tee moved up – reverts to a par 4 after playing as a par 5 in 2024, reducing the course to a par 70.
Also, on the left side of the 8th hole, the lake to the left of the green looms as a bigger danger, and there has been a small fairway reduction on the 17th. The greens will be more receptive to approach shots than the new hard surfaces of last season. But short grass and steep banks can send errant shots away from the putting surface.
In short, East Lake will be more of a challenge now. The course already favoured driving accuracy and will do so even more this time, with precise approach play also key.
Best way of siding with Scheffler
Scottie Scheffler will probably win this tournament again. He does not have the head start he had when taking last year's event, when surviving a bit of a wobble, but he is better now than he has ever been.
The world No 1 went a combined 30 under for the first two FedExCup play-off events, five better than his nearest rival Tommy Fleetwood (more on him shortly).
Scheffler can be backed at 17/10 win only, which is tempting, but slight odds on for a top-two finish, which offers a safety net, is more tempting.
Bet 1: Top-two finish – 2pts Scottie Scheffler @ 5/6 with bet365
Take two 'without' great Scottie
While Fleetwood seems to have a mental block when it comes to winning on the PGA Tour – he threw away leads in the Travelers Championship in June and the FedEx St Jude earlier this month – he is playing really well.
The Englishman has made the top four on his previous three starts in the US and was clear second best behind Scheffler over the first two play-off events combined. This course suits him better than Caves Valley, where he finished fourth in last week's BMW Championship.
Fleetwood cannot be trusted to get the win, but he looks a good each-way option without Scheffler.
JJ Spaun is tempting in the same market. The American has had a breakout year, finishing second in the Players' Championship, winning the US Open and finishing second (lost out in a play-off) in the FedEx St Jude. He struggled in last week's BMW, but this course is a better fit for him.
Bet 2: Betting without Scottie Scheffler – 1pt each-way Tommy Fleetwood @ 8/1 with bet365 (¼ odds; four places)
Bet 3: Betting without Scottie Scheffler – 0.5pt each-way JJ Spaun @ 20/1 with bet365 (¼ odds; four places)
Match bet double
On a course that will reward accurate driving, Russell Henley should be comfortably superior to Justin Thomas over 72 holes, with the latter's game being nowhere near up to scratch at the moment.
Spaun also stands out against Hideki Matsuyama in a four-round match bet, so the double makes for a tempting play.
Bet 4: 72-hole match bets – 1pt double Russell Henley (vs Justin Thomas) and JJ Spaun (vs Hideki Matsuyama) @ 2.05/1 with bet365
What about Rory?
Master champion Rory McIlroy just does not seem fully motivated at the moment. He sat out the FedEx St Jude and was tied 12th in last week's BMW Championship.
The Northern Irishman is coming in fresher than most, and maybe it was the plan all along to peak for this week. He has excelled around East Lake in the past. However, the changes to the course do not help him – he was off the pace in this event last year – and there look to be better betting options than this mercurial talent.
Tour Championship – bet365 outright odds
(Each-way ¼ odds, four places; alternative prices and place terms also available)
13/8 Scottie Scheffler
7/1 Rory McIlroy
12/1 Tommy Fleetwood
16/1 Ludvig Aberg
18/1 Russell Henley
22/1 Viktor Hovland
25/1 Patrick Cantlay
25/1 Sam Burns
28/1 Cameron Young
28/1 Collin Morikawa
28/1 Justin Thomas
33/1 bar
(odds correct at time of writing)
What is the Tour Championship?
All year long the world's top golfers on the PGA Tour have been earning FedExCup points. After the regular season, the top 70 players in the standings took part in the FedEx St Jude Championship, which was won by Justin Rose in a play-off.
The top 50 then moved on to the BMW Championship, which went the way of world No 1 Scottie Scheffler. Now the top 30 have progressed to the Tour Championship, the culmination of the PGA Tour season.
Previously, the player with the most FedEx Cup points leading into this tournament started at 10 under, the player with the second most points 8 under, and so on. But this time, everyone starts at level par and the winner of the Tour Championship takes home the FedExCup. There is no halfway cut in this event.
Previous 10 Tour Championship winners
2024 – Scottie Scheffler
2023 – Viktor Hovland
2022 – Rory McIlroy
2021 – Patrick Cantlay
2020 – Dustin Johnson
2019 – Rory McIlroy
2018 – Tiger Woods
2017 – Xander Schauffele
2016 – Rory McIlroy
2015 – Jordan Spieth
Highest-ranked players in the Tour Championship field – world ranking
Scottie Scheffler
Rory McIlroy
Russell Henley
Justin Thomas
JJ Spaun
Collin Morikawa
Robert MacIntyre
Harris English
Tommy Fleetwood
Justin Rose
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