The Barclays Tees Off: Thursday, August 21 Ridgewood Country Club – Paramus, NJOdds to Win Tournament(For the latest Odds, connect to Sportsbook.com)Golfer | Odds | Rory McIlroy | 7-to-2 | Adam Scott | 12-to-1 | Henrik Stenson | 15-to-1 | Sergio Garcia | 17-to-1 | Rickie Fowler | 18-to-1 | Justin Rose | 19-to-1 | Phil Mickelson | 20-to-1 | Jim Furyk | 25-to-1 | Brandt Snedeker | 30-to-1 | Jason Day | 30-to-1 | Matt Kuchar | 30-to-1 | Bubba Watson | 40-to-1 | Charl Schwartzel | 40-to-1 | Graeme McDowell | 40-to-1 | Hunter Mahan | 40-to-1 | Jordan Spieth | 40-to-1 | Keegan Bradley | 40-to-1 | Bill Haas | 50-to-1 | Graham DeLaet | 55-to-1 | Jimmy Walker | 55-to-1 | Lee Westwood | 55-to-1 | Nick Watney | 55-to-1 | Webb Simpson | 55-to-1 | Ryan Moore | 60-to-1 | Kevin Streelman | 70-to-1 | Louis Oosthuizen | 70-to-1 | Patrick Reed | 70-to-1 | Hideki Matsuyama | 80-to-1 | Martin Kaymer | 80-to-1 | Zach Johnson | 80-to-1 | Camilo Villegas | 90-to-1 | Paul Casey | 100-to-1 | 3 Golfers | 110-to-1 | 3 Golfers | 120-to-1 | Ernie Els | 130-to-1 | 2 Golfers | 150-to-1 | Kevin Stadler | 160-to-1 | Geoff Ogilvy | 170-to-1 | 3 Golfers | 180-to-1 | Charles Howell III | 190-to-1 | Kevin Na | 220-to-1 | 68 Golfers | 250-to-1 |
The Barclays is the first leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs in which the top 125 players in the standings meet up in a high stakes competition where points are multiplied by five. A strong showing here can vault someone lower in the standings to future playoff tourneys. This event will be played at Ridgewood Country Club (a par-71, 7,319-yard course) in Paramus, NJ, for the third time in the past seven years. The past two events both went into a playoff as Vijay Singh (2008) and Matt Kuchar (2010) came away the victors, while Adam Scott won this event last year in Jersey City. Rory McIlroy has been a dominant force of late, winning each of the past three tournaments he’s played (British Open, Bridgestone Invitational and PGA Championship), all of which were against top fields, and he will certainly be the man to beat heading into this week. Let’s take a look at a few players who could come out ahead at The Barclays. Golfers to WatchRory McIlroy (7/2): McIlroy has been on a historic run lately and has looked unbeatable against the best players in the world. He has ice in his veins when it comes to the end of tourneys and has placed in the top-10 in nine of his 13 PGA Tour events. He is massive off the tee (310.7 yards per, 3rd on tour) and has hit 68.9% of greens in regulation (9th on tour) leading to the second-best scoring average (68.87). McIlroy is playing much better than anyone else out there and it will be tough to stop this one-man wrecking ball at any point in the near future. Adam Scott (12/1): McIlroy may have passed Scott for the No. 1 ranking the world, but it was more because of the dominance of the aforementioned Irishman than his own play. Scott has not placed worse than 15th in any of his past six tournaments, with five of them ending in a single-digit finish. Scott has been the best player on tour on par-5’s, scoring a birdie or better 56.1% of the time due to his solid putting (.522 strokes gained putting, 12th on tour) and has not missed a cut in 39 straight events. Scott will undoubtedly be competitive this week and is a solid bet to take the trophy home again. Sergio Garcia (17/1): Garcia has been at the top of his game this year and somehow has not grabbed a win despite finishing in the top-3 five times over his 13 PGA Tour events. He sandwiched three straight runner-up performances between poor starts at the U.S. Open and PGA Championship while being the most consistent player with the best scoring average (68.86) and fourth-most greens hit in regulation (69.9%). Garcia has not won since the summer of 2012, but he clearly is among the best in the field and should make some noise come Sunday. Jimmy Walker (55/1): Walker started the year out with a flurry of victories, coming away victorious in three of the first 13 events. He was the leader in the FedEx Cup standings up until this recent run by McIlroy, and maintained that lead due to finishing in the top-10 in four of his past seven events; including placing seventh last week at the PGA Championship and ninth at the U.S. Open. Walker is one of the best putters (.712 strokes gained, 7th on tour) and that should vault him to the top of the leaderboard this week. Kevin Chappell (120/1): Chappell has not played many high stakes tournaments in his career, competing in just six majors over the past four years, but he has done well with a 13th-place finish last week at the PGA Championship and has finished in the top-10 two other times. He has a solid combination of both yards off the tee (295.6, 44th on tour) and accuracy (65.2%, 37th on tour) while hitting 67.8% of greens in regulation (28th on tour). Chappell is a long shot against such a strong field, but is certainly a player to keep an eye on.
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