Tour Championship: Steve Palmer's first-round predictions & free tips

Sky Sports Golf, 6pm Thursday

The new format for the Tour Championship seems massively advantageous to those who have been allocated a significant amount of starting strokes and there must be every chance of the top two in the FedEx Cup standings filling the first two places on the leaderboard on Sunday.

Justin Thomas will start the East Lake showpiece at ten under par, while Patrick Cantlay will open the $15 million cash race at eight under. Five of the 30-man field will start ten shots behind Thomas and another five will start nine shots behind. The chasing pack have precious little margin for error if the leaders perform solidly.

Typically, punters have a tough task on their hands to claim a dual-forecast winner, but the staggered start in the Tour Championship makes the 7-1 about Thomas and Cantlay filling the top two spots, in either order, worth serious consideration.

The dynamic duo were first and second in the BMW Championship on Sunday and appear to have found their A-game at the perfect time to threaten the FedEx Cup riches. Even on a level playing field, the American duo would fancy their chances of Tour Championship success, and the handicap system makes life much easier for them.

• Tour Championship preview

It is entirely feasible that this already stretched field gets further separated, with the best players getting a start, and the gap between first and last could be enormous. It is difficult to imagine there being many players jostling with Thomas and Cantlay for the FedEx Cup on Sunday.

• Scandinavian Invitation preview

The 7-2 about Cantlay ending up as first-round leader – a market which includes the handicaps – is a more than fair price. And BoyleSports are offering an enhanced price of 10-11 about Thomas ended up atop the board after round one. Both members of the final twoball should be backed. Ladbrokes are 5-6 Thomas should Boyles shut up shop on their special.

The most appealing first-round twoball price is the 4-5 about Webb Simpson defeating Abraham Ancer. Simpson, who tops the PGA Tour par-four performance stats, should enjoy the 12 par-four holes at East Lake, and he lies second on the circuit for bogey-avoidance.

Simpson made his Tour Championship debut in 2011 and is appearing at East Lake for the seventh time this week. He has finished in the top five three times, including fourth spot last year, so is vastly more experienced in the season finale than debutant Ancer.

Recommendations
J Thomas-P Cantlay dual forecast
2pts 7-1 Betway
P Cantlay first-round leader
2pts 7-2 Boyles, Coral, Ladbrokes
J Thomas first-round leader
2pts 10-11 Boyles (enhanced special)
W Simpson to win twoball
2pts 4-5 BoyleSports

Follow us on Twitter

Like us on Facebook