Luke Donald is 13/2 favourite with Paddy Power for this week's Tour Championship at East Lake GC, Atlanta, Georgia.
The Englishman is looking to make history by winning the money list on both sides of the Atlantic and is in a strong position to land the first leg of the 'double', being just $202,495 behind Webb Simpson. Victory this week would seal it and, having climbed up to fourth place in the FedEx Cup standings with his fourth place at Cog Hill, would also ensure he's crowned FedEx Cup champ and guarantee the $10m bonus cheque that goes with that title. No pressure then!
He's one of five players who can clinch the eight figure bank deposit with victory this week; the others being Simpson, who remains the Fed Ex Cup leader after his fifth at Cog Hill, Dustin Johnson, last week's winner Justin Rose and Matt Kuchar. Theoretically, any of the 30 players taking part this week could be lifting the Cup on Sunday - the permutations are endless - and it's worth remembering that last year's winner Jim Furyk arrived in Atlanta ranked 11th in the standings. Less pressure perhaps?
The course has, for the first time in it's 11 years as host, not undergone any changes, although a dry summer will ensure it plays different to 12 months ago, with the rough being less penal. Finding the fairways will not be quite so important then and the key stat this week could be greens in regulation, with birdie opportunities available to those who can hit it close. The greens were changed to Bermuda from Bentgrass in 2008.
My Three Against the Field:-
Geoff Ogilvy @ 22/1 Stan James
I ducked Donald last week on account of his price, which I considered too short considering his winning record (now four victories in his last 133 starts), and I'm opposing him for the same reason this week. Besides, with such a big financial incentive at stake, it will be hard for him (and the four other top-five players for that matter), to concentrate on winning the tournament.
Instead, I'm investing my hard-earned on the 2008 US Open champion, who has not enjoyed the best of seasons by his standards but arrives here on the back of his best finish of tied-third, which is even more meritorious when you consider he had to finish in the top three to ensure his place at East Lake. Prior to that, he was tied-25th at the Deutsche Bank (birdied the last there to qualify for the BMW), so he's found some consistency at just the right time and the classy Aussie is one player you can count on not to bottle it this week.
David Toms @ 25/1 Ladbrokes
The American was in the staking plan last week and I see no reason to desert him now following his seventh top-10 of the season, which includes victory at Colonial, second at the Players and third at Bay Hill. His record at East Lake bears close inspection too as he was third here in 2002 and has had three top-15's since. That's not surprising considering his precision game (ranked third on Tour for GIR and fifth for driving accuracy) and this must feel like a home game, hailing as he does from neighbouring Louisiana.
Chez Reavie @ 40/1 bet365
I tipped up Reavie for the Barclays and he proceeded to throw in a rare bad appearance, missing the cut. It was sod's law then that he nearly won the following week at the Deutsche Bank, losing out in play-off to Webb Simpson, when my money wasn't on. He followed that with a solo eighth at the BMW, where he was only one of three players to shoot under par all four rounds, so I'm going to give him another chance on a course that should suit his game - ranked 16th in GIR and sixth in total driving, which is a measure of both length and accuracy off the tee.
Recommended Bets:-
Geoff Ogilvy 2pts @ 22/1 Stan James
David Toms 1.5pts each-way @ 25/1 Ladbrokes
Chez Reavie 1pt each-way @ 40/1 bet365
