Steve Palmer's Tour Championship first-round preview, twoball tips and best bets

Golf tips, best bets and player analysis for the Tour Championship first-round at East Lake Golf Club on the PGA Tour.

When to watch

Sky Sports Golf, 5.30pm Thursday

Best bets

Adam Scott top Australian
2pts 100-30 bet365, Coral, Ladbrokes

Rory McIlroy to win 6.45pm twoball (5-6) and Xander Schauffele to win 6.55pm twoball (4-5)
2pts BoyleSports

Billy Horschel to beat Brian Harman in tournament match
2pts 5-6 bet365

Collin Morikawa to beat Hideki Matsuyama in tournament match
2pts 8-11 Betfair

Preview

The final Tour Championship twoball of Scottie Scheffler and Patrick Cantlay is scheduled to tee off at 7.05pm UK and Ireland time at East Lake, Georgia, and the American duo will be hoping to distance themselves from the chasing pack.

This is a new experience for Scheffler but Cantlay has been in the final first-round twoball twice before - in 2019 and 2021. Sunday's BMW Championship victor Cantlay is a tempting 11-10 chance to outscore Scheffler in round one, but preference is for a double on Rory McIlroy (5-6 for the 6.45pm match) and Xander Schauffele (4-5 for the 6.55pm match).

Both McIlroy and Schauffele have lifted silverware at East Lake before - McIlroy did the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup double in both 2016 and 2019, while Schauffele claimed the Tour Championship trophy in 2017. This dynamic duo are much preferred to opponents Cameron Smith and Sam Burns.

The atmosphere in the McIlroy versus Smith contest could be interesting. Smith has been strongly linked with a move to LIV Golf and the Australian skipped the meeting of PGA Tour stars held in Delaware before the BMW Championship last week. It seems almost certain Smith is leaving the PGA Tour and McIlroy will be keen to defeat his Open Championship foe at East Lake.

Nothing Smith has done previously at East Lake - 20th in 2018, then the 22nd-best 72-hole scorer in 2020 and the 17th-best last year - suggests he can live with McIlroy on this track.

Schauffele has a phenomenal scoring average of 67.3 at this week's traditionally tough venue and can boss Burns, who is playing in only his second Tour Championship, having been the 17th-best scorer on his debut last year.

Smith can be opposed in the top Australian market with Adam Scott. There are four shots between them at the start, but Scott, who has finished fifth in each of the first two FedEx Cup playoff events and won the Tour Championship at East Lake in 2006, may quickly erode the deficit.

Billy Horschel, the 2014 FedEx Cup champion, can be fancied to account for Brian Harman in a tournament match (both starting at one under par), while Collin Morikawa looks a solid bet against Hideki Matsuyama.

Aside from half an hour of madness on Sunday - a four-putt from 15 feet at the 11th followed by a ten at the 12th - Morikawa was in solid nick in last week's BMW. Matsuyama has been struggling with wrist and neck injuries, and is rumoured to be joining LIV Golf after this event.

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