The FedEx Cup tournament, which brings the curtain down on the PGA Tour golf season, is well underway now thanks to a brilliant tournament at the Northern Trust last time out.
The two best players on the planet, Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth, battled it out for the trophy, and as they traded blows more readily than Mayweather and McGregor on Saturday night it was DJ who eventually got over the line on the first play-off hole courtesy of a monstrous 341-yard drive that had to be seen to be believed.
The top 125 of the Fed Ex standings has now been whittled down to 100 for this week’s event, the Dell Technologies Championship, and that will be reduced yet further to 70 by the end of the tournament. Those in and around 70th in the rankings had better get their skates on!
TPC Boston is our host venue, which is a slightly misleading name as the course is actually located in Massachusetts. It’s a classic resort-style stretch that is scoreable ad should set up a cracking week of golf, with no demons around and a reasonable weather forecast that won’t dampen proceedings.
So where do the best bets for the Dell Technologies Championship lie?
Outright Winner: Jason Day (18/1)
It has been a while since Jason Day, the ten-time PGA Tour winner, has got his hands on a trophy, and he will be desperate to make up for lost time here.
His record at TPC Boston is excellent, with 33% of his starts yielding top-10s and 75% top-20s. Given that he heads to Massachusetts in good form, that’s a decent hint of what might follow.
A top-ten finish at the final major of the year, the PGA Championship, was backed by a sixth place return last week at the Northern Trust, and so the Aussie could not be in a better place ahead of a trip to a course he has historically loved.
Each Way Bet: Kevin Chappell (40/1)
The Presidents Cup takes place in October, and that’s a sort of version of the Ryder Cup with Team USA taking on a Rest of the World side.
The American team has all but been selected, but there are a couple of spots outstanding and Kevin Chappell will no doubt have his eye on one of them.
The Texas Open champion has followed up his victory with some consistent form since, with top-tens at the Canadian Open and Northern Trust the obvious standouts.
His last two trips to TPC Boston have yielded top-15 finishes – eighth last year, 12th in 2015 – and so that magic combination of current form and course history rings true for Chappell; not bad for a 40/1 shot.
Top 10 Finish: Jhonattan Vegas (8/1)
Often sport is all about the little things that breed confidence, and for Jhonattan Vegas that has certainly been the case.
A couple of months ago he switched back to his old set of Mizuno clubs, and the change worked dividends. He successfully defended his Canadian Open crown – the third PGA Tour title of his career – and has since followed up with a brilliant top-20 at a high-quality WGC event at the Bridgestone Invitational and a third place at last week’s Northern Trust.
Vegas is striking the ball lovely at present, and he will be confident of another strong showing this week.
First Round Leader: Charley Hoffman (50/1)
When talking about the Presidents Cup team we brought Chappell into consideration, and one of his closest rivals for a spot on the squad is Charley Hoffman.
The Hoff has won at TPC Boston before, and has another top five to his name, and while there are some shoddy efforts in amongst those at least his seasonal form is good heading into the event.
The reason for liking Hoffman in this particular market is that he ended his Northern Trust campaign with a round of 65, and so often players follow up immediately after at the next given opportunity.