2022 Tour Championship: Three Matchup Targets For East Lake

Three players you should be looking to target in matchups at the 2022 Tour Championship

The final event of the 2021-22 PGA season is just hours away now and we are just days away from finding out who will claim this year’s FedEx Cup and a cool 18 million dollar prize.

This week’s Tour Championship field is elite but there is no denying the fact that there is a real opportunity to target some players who are either coming into the week with better form, or are simply a better course fit, in head-to-head matchups this week.

I’m rolling with two outright picks this week in both the with and without starting strokes markets on offer this week and you can check those out here, but let’s dive into a few players you can look to target in matchups this week for the season finale Tour Championship at East Lake.

2022 Tour Championship Matchup Targets

(All odds and matchups courtesy of WynnBet)

Xander Schauffele (+130) to beat Patrick Cantlay

I’m fully onboard the Xander train at East Lake this week and like him to not only win this matchup against Cantlay but also take home the FedEx Cup when all is said and done.

There wasn’t much separating the pair at last week’s BMW Championship up until Sunday’s final round in Wilmington. While Cantlay comes into this week as the reigning FedEx Cup champion and in excellent form following his win last week, his track record at the Tour Championship is surprisingly average over the years.

Outside of last year’s fantastic run at East Lake, Cantlay had three finishes of 20th or worse in three starts at the Tour Championship. In comparison, Xander has finished no worse than 7th here over the past six years.

There is seemingly very little separating the two heading into the Tour Championship, so I’ll side with the X-man at plus money in this matchup.

Justin Thomas (-115) to beat Matt Fitzpatrick

WynnBet has this year’s PGA Champion pitted against this year’s U.S. Open Champion this week and over the course of the season, there isn’t a whole lot separating the two major champions.

So how do you pick between the two this week? well, Matt Fitzpatrick will be making his Tour Championship debut this week, while Justin Thomas has a wealth of experience and superb results at East Lake to draw upon.

JT, much like Xander before him, has no finish worse than 7th at the Tour Championship in his last six starts in Atlanta, he also has finished top 5 or better on four of those occasions. Simply put, this is a locale that Thomas seemingly loves.

Both players struggled a bit last week but I give the slight edge to Thomas who looked impressive during his opening round in Wilmington. Meanwhile, Fitzpatrick lost over seven strokes with his irons last week, which is alarming, to say the least. Side with JT and his experience in this spot.

Adam Scott (+105) to beat Aaron Wise

Both Scott and Wise head into the Tour Championship in excellent form. Wise will be making his second-ever appearance at East Lake this week and Adam Scott returns to the Tour Championship for the first time since 2019.

There isn’t a whole lot separating these two so once again I’ll side with the player who has the experience. Adam Scott has finished inside of the top 10 at East Lake in each of his last three starts here and he will be making his sixth Tour Championship appearance this week.

The Australian comes into the week on the back of consecutive top 5 finishes and, at least this season, has been much better with his putter than Aaron Wise.

Scott ranks 39th on Tour in putting this season, while Aaron Wise has struggled on the greens rating out as the Tour’s 97th best putter. That could prove to be the difference between the two fantastic players this week on the tricky Donald Ross greens. Back the veteran this week at plus money.