Matsuyama offers value in East Lake finale

The PGA Tour comes to a conclusion this week at the Tour Championship and Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama (33/1 – Outright Winner) looks worth a punt to claim the spoils at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

The FedEx Cup was revamped this season and the final event of the campaign will see the top-30 players starting on certain scores based on where they currently sit in the rankings.

So, BMW Championship winner Justin Thomas will begin Thursday’s opening round on -10, two strokes ahead of fellow American Patrick Cantlay, who is searching for his second win of the year.

The entire field will start on the following scores:

10 under: Justin Thomas
8 under: Patrick Cantlay
7 under: Brooks Koepka
6 under: Patrick Reed
5 under: Rory McIlroy
4 under: Jon Rahm, Matt Kuchar, Xander Schauffele, Webb Simpson, Abraham Ancer
3 under: Gary Woodland, Tony Finau, Adam Scott, Dustin Johnson, Hideki Matsuyama
2 under: Paul Casey, Justin Rose, Brandt Snedeker, Rickie Fowler, Kevin Kisner
1 under: Marc Leishman, Tommy Fleetwood, Corey Conners, Sungjae Im, Chez Reavie
Level par: Bryson DeChambeau, Louis Oosthuizen, Charles Howell III, Lucas Glover, Jason Kokrak

Catching Thomas will be difficult for those players starting on -4 or higher. but Betfred have a market for the tournament without the starting strokes and 16/1 Matsuyama looks a great shout to triumph in Georgia.

The 27-year-old Japanese finished third at last week’s BMW, where he broke the course record in his second round before Thomas then bettered that score on day three by two strokes.

Matsuyama also has a decent record at East Lake. Since making his tournament debut in 2014, the world number 26’s record reads 22-T12-5-T26-T4.

The Ehime-born star will be playing alongside Englishman Paul Casey, who is 80/1 to win the Tour Championship with the starting stokes, over the first two days.

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