The FedEx Playoff series began with a big win for Bryson Dechambeau in the Northern Trust as those outside of the top 100 were eliminated. Dechambeau was impressive as he held off the pack and is one to watch after a productive season.
It was a decent four days for us as we continued a strong run with a Top 10 finish profit on Tony Finau who came in second so let’s see if we can keep that going as we head to TPC Boston and preview the Dell Technologies Championship (starts Friday).
While Dustin Johnson (+850) leads the outright betting yet again, some quiet finishes of late mean that the odds are much tighter at the top than in previous weeks. DJ is ahead but only fractionally from Justin Thomas (+1000) and Brooks Koepka (+1200).
Thomas is our defending champion this week having taken out the 2017 title by three shots from Jordan Spieth. He also heads the Power Rankings and, after some mixed form, has returned a number of single digit finishes including victory at Firestone so could be primed for a successful defence.
A former champion comes next in the offshore sportsbooks lists but there isn’t too much support for Rory McIlroy (+1600). McIlroy is one of only two players with two Dell Championship titles but mixed form puts the Northern Irishman down the market for 2018. Jason Day is on the same odds as McIlroy, while Brooks Koepka is shorter and has the best form so far.
Tiger Woods (+1800) has his fans but his cold streak with the putter should be a concern for bettors. On the subject of putting, Adam Scott (+2500) looks to be in his best touch with the flatstick since being forced to ditch the long handle and the Aussie is a threat.
Jon Rahm, Justin Rose (both +2500) and Tommy Fleetwood (+3300) are three European golfers with good, relevant stats while Tony Finau (+2800) has that second placed finish on Sunday to carry over into Boston.
Our most recent winner on Tour is a relative outsider in the odds for the Dell Championship and Bryson Dechambeau (+3300) needs to add consistency to his game but he clearly can’t be ruled out. Paul Casey (+5500) has been a favorite of ours in the Top 10 finishers betting but form is disappearing along with his Ryder Cup place while, in contrast, Tyrrell Hatton’s (+6600) surge up the leaderboard with a -7 round on Sunday gives a better option.
Brandt Snedeker (+6600) who won two weeks ago after that first round 59 has a tempting long price as does Kevin Na (+9000), who sneaks into the Power Rankings for TPC Boston. Xander Schauffele (+7500), Ian Poulter (+9000) and Keegan Bradley (+10000) are also here with relevant stats in what is yet another strong field.
Six of the 15 winners of the Dell Technologies Championship have been from outside of the US and along with the Australians and Europeans that this preview has mentioned, Alex Noren (+7500) is another valid contender while Louis Oosthuizen (+6600) has shown some form and is looking to fly the flag for South Africa.
Our Preview’s Dell Technologies Championship Predictions & Picks with Course Trends
The TPC Boston in Norton, Massachusetts has been the venue for this event since it was incepted back in 2003 and we traditionally have a change in the usual scheduling with the tournament teeing off on Friday and finishing on Labor Day on the following Monday.
Only McIlroy and Vijay Singh have won this event twice and no-one has completed back to back victories since the tournament began so the omens aren’t in Justin Thomas’ favor but form is and he looks a more worthy favorite than Dustin Johnson right now.
When JT won here last year, he ranked first in scrambling, par 4 scoring and strokes gained: tee to green. There are some tough par 4s here which is worth noting as Thomas was down the field in terms of par 3 and par 5 scoring 12 months ago.
It is clearly a tight call in another strong field but we have seen some successful defences this year from Bubba Watson and Brooks Koepka and if Justin Thomas can maintain his form and those key stats from the 2017 tournament, he’ll take this one out.
So here are the Dell Technologies Championship predictions for this preview, with our picks:
- Justin Thomas to win @ best odds of +1100 with 5Dimes. He is +1000 with Bovada or Intertops and shorter elsewhere.
- Bet on these three players for Top 10 finishes: Gary Woodland (+500 best odds with Bovada or Intertops), Xander Schauffele (+600 with Bovada or Intertops) and Kevin Na (best at +650 with Bovada).
Matt Harris is a golf and soccer expert for USA Betting. His other area of specialist knowledge is cricket. He is well known in sports journalism and contributes articles to a plethora of big-name websites and media outlets. Titles that he writes or has written for include: Betfair, BetVictor, Unibet & Just Bookies.