By Vik Chokshi
FOX Sports Gambling Lead

It’s playoff season on the PGA Tour, as the FedEx Cup playoff officially begins this week. 

After a brief Olympic break, all the top golfers on the tour are back to begin the battle for the FedEx Cup Trophy. 

The first playoff event taking place this week is the FedEx St. Jude Championship, which will feature the top 70 players in the FedEx Cup standings. One big note to remember, this is a no-cut event.

The tournament will be played at TPC Southwind, which is a par-70 track that’s 7,244 yards long.

As for betting on this event, we’ve got you covered with everything you need, from the odds to best bets. 

We’re entering the playoffs on a nice little run here, with a pair of our long-shot bets cashing in two of the last three tournaments. Last week, we hit on Aaron Rai winnning the Wyndham Championship at +3000, so hopefully we can keep the momentum going.

Let’s dive into the action. 

FAVORITES

All the big dogs are back, which means Scottie Scheffler takes back his spot as the usual clear-cut favorite. Scheffler currently sits at +350 to win the tournament. 

He actually hasn’t had a top-five finish in this event since it was moved to TPC Southwind, placing 31st last year and missing the cut in 2023. But that might not matter with how well Scheffler’s played in 2024, as he’s won six tournaments and just secured the gold medal at the Olympics two weeks ago. 

Scheffler has been a money-making machine for his bettors this season. Fun note, but if you placed $100 on Scheffler to win each tournament he has played to date in 2024, you’d be up $2,150 (including his win at the Olympics). 

While Scheffler has the most tournament wins, Xander Schauffele also has an argument for being the best player on the tour this season. He won his second major of the year last month at The Open. Schauffele currently has the second-best odds to win the tournament at +700. 

Lucas Glover, last year’s champion, isn’t in the field this year, but Patrick Cantlay is. 

Cantlay currently sits at +2200 to win the tournament after losing to Glover in a playoff last year. 

Now that we teed off with the basics, let’s approach the top favorites and my portfolio for this tournament.

Scottie Scheffler: +350 (bet $10 to win $45 total)
Xander Schauffele: +700 (bet $10 to win $80 total)
Rory McIlroy: +800 (bet $10 to win $90 total)
Collin Morikawa: +1200 (bet $10 to win $130 total)
Ludvig Aberg: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
Tommy Fleetwood: +2200 (bet $10 to win $230 total)
Patrick Cantlay: +2200 (bet $10 to win $230 total)
Tony Finau: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
Tom Kim: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
Russell Henley: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
Hideki Matsuyama: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)

*Odds as of 8/14

LONG-SHOT OUTRIGHT BETS TO MAKE

If you follow me on Twitter or read this column, you know I love betting on golf long shots (+1500 to +2000 or longer). There’s just something thrilling about holding a lottery ticket deep into Sunday. It also presents you with multiple hedging opportunities if you want to eliminate some of your risks.

As usual, a lot of my bets this week are based on course history and form, so here are a couple of guys worth sprinkling pizza money on:

Patrick Cantlay +2200
Tom Kim +3000
Sungjae Im +4000
Adam Scott +5000
Davis Thompson +6000
Sepp Straka +6500

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