Best bets for PGA Tour’s The Northern Trust

The field for the first FedEx Cup playoff event is similar to one at a major, with virtually all of the world’s top players teeing off Thursday in The Northern Trust at TPC Boston.

Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas, the last two winners at the course, are the 12-1 co-favorites at the Westgate sportsbook. Rory McIlroy, a two-time winner on the course, and Jon Rahm are each 14-1. The rest of the loaded field is 20-1 or higher, including Tiger Woods at 40-1.

“All the guys you expect to see in majors will play the next two weeks and whittle it down to the Tour Championship,” Westgate vice president of risk Jeff Sherman said.

DeChambeau, who won The Northern Trust in 2018, is the money and ticket leader at the Westgate. But Sherman and handicapper Wes Reynolds looked further down the board for their best bets.

Here are Sherman’s plays:

Xander Schauffele, 20-1 (at Westgate)

“Schauffele’s been playing consistently up there with the top guys. The past four tournaments, he’s placed in the top 14 each time,” said Sherman (@golfodds). “And his odds are 20-1 versus someone like McIlroy, who hasn’t finished better than 32nd his last three tournaments and his odds are considerably less.”

Patrick Reed, 32-1 (at Circa)

Reed is the event’s defending champion and has won The Northern Trust two of the last four years.

“Reed has good experience on this course and is playing some good golf,” Sherman said.

Here are Reynolds’ best bets:

Dustin Johnson, 20-1 (at Westgate)

Johnson is a two-time winner of The Northern Trust.

“DJ probably played well enough to win the PGA Championship but ended up settling for another runner-up,” said Reynolds, (@WesReynolds1), co-host of VSiN’s “Long Shots” golf betting show. “The putter was on point. If he can just improve a little on the tee-to-green game, he can surely go well here.

“He looks like the guy near the top of the board that’s getting a bit ignored.”

Jason Day, 32-1 (at Circa)

“Day looks like he’s getting close to being back in his best form since 2017, when he was a top 5-to-10 player in the world,” Reynolds said. “He’s posted four straight finishes of seventh or better, including top-fives at the Memorial and the PGA Championship.

“The short game is always Day’s bread and butter and when it hits, which could be this week, he’s going to be firing on all cylinders.”

Tony Finau, 40-1 (at Circa)

Finau finished fourth on this course in 2018 and also finished runner-up to DeChambeau the week before in 2018 at The Northern Trust.

“Finau ended up tied for fourth at the PGA but rated second in the field for strokes gained: approach and third for strokes gained: tee-to-green,” Reynolds said. “If these marks can carry over to this week, then he should be right there in contention on Sunday.”

Adam Scott, 50-1 (at Circa)

“This is bit of a speculative play since Scott only has one event (PGA) under his belt since the restart in June,” he said. “However, this is some disrespect from the betting market for a player who does have a win on this course (albeit back in 2003) and numerous top-five and top-10 finishes here.”

Abraham Ancer, 60-1 (at Westgate)

Ancer was the 54-hole leader at TPC Boston two years ago before finishing seventh. He was runner-up to Reed in The Northern Trust last year.

“He’s No. 25 in the world and still searching for that first PGA Tour win,” Reynolds said. “He’s shown that he has the all-around game to compete with the top players.”

Matthew Fitzpatrick, 60-1

“Fitzpatrick was one of the trendy picks going into the PGA, but the talented Englishman missed the cut,” he said. “His odds had shortened to the high 30s at some shops and now he drifts back to the 60s after one event; 60-1 is a good spot to buy on the drift.

“He certainly has the look of a player that’s going to win sooner rather than later.”

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.