USATSI

The champion of the 2022-23 PGA Tour season will be crowned when the tour's top 30 players square off in the 2023 Tour Championship beginning Thursday at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler will try to cap off a tremendous season by winning his first FedEx Cup title. Because of the tournament's unique staggered start, he begins the season-ending Tour Championship at 10-under par and with a two-shot lead over Viktor Hovland. Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy looks to win a record fourth FedEx Cup title. He starts the tournament three shots behind Scheffler. 

McIlroy is the +330 second choice in the latest 2023 Tour Championship odds. Scheffler is the +130 favorite, while Hovland (+450), Jon Rahm (+850) and Patrick Cantlay (+1800) round out the top five choices on the PGA odds board. Before locking in any 2023 Tour Championship picks, make sure you see the PGA Tour predictions and best bets from golf betting and fantasy expert Sia Nejad.

Nejad specializes in betting and DFS in golf, among other sports. He's had incredible success in the outright and first-round leader markets and in betting head-to-head matchups. He also has been on fire on head-to-head matchups since the Charles Schwab Challenge, going 24-15-1 and returning 6.59 units over that span. That's a $659 profit for $100 bettors in the past 13 weeks.

Nejad also nailed 75-1 longshot Wyndham Clark as the outright winner at the Wells Fargo Championship. In 2023, SportsLine debuted "The Early Wedge," and in the first three months of the show, he hit two first-round leaders and three outright winners. Nejad also had a winning head-to-head record in seven of nine weeks. He was up more than 70 units over that three-month span.

Now, Nejad has focused his attention on the 2023 Tour Championship field and has locked in his best bets, top sleepers and favorites to avoid. See who they are at SportsLine.

Top 2023 Tour Championship expert picks

One surprise: Nejad is completely fading Scottie Scheffler, even though he is the +130 favorite to win with starting strokes and starts with a two-shot lead. The 27-year-old Texan is on a remarkable run, having made the cut in 24 straight tournaments – a stretch that dates back to last year's BMW Championship. He also has finished in the top 12 in 20 of 22 tournaments this season.

Scheffler starts the Tour Championship with a two-shot lead over Hovland, but Nejad believes that may work against Scheffler. Nejad thinks that Scheffler being on top will apply even more pressure on his putter, which has been the only weak facet of his game all season. "I'm not comfortable with his short odds relative to those of the rest of the field," Nejad told SportsLine. See all his picks at SportsLine

However, Nejad is high on the chances of Sam Burns, who is +4500 to win without starting strokes. The 27-year-old from Louisiana is making his third straight appearance in the Tour Championship. He finished 18th in 2021 and 24th last season.

Nejad likes that Burns seems to have bounced back from a minislump. After missing four cuts in eight starts, he has rebounded with two top-15 finishes in his last three events. "His game is trending in the right direction across a myriad of metrics, including greens in regulation and approach play, and we know he's the type of player who can get hot at any given moment," Nejad told SportsLine. See whom else to back at SportsLine.

How to make 2023 Tour Championship picks

Nejad has locked in his best bets for the 2023 Tour Championship and is backing several longshots, including one who is priced higher than 50-1. This player "continues to play well" and is a longshot who could surprise. You can see Nejad's PGA Tour picks only at SportsLine.

So which players should you target or avoid for the 2023 Tour Championship, and which player in the Tour Championship 2023 field could bring a huge payday at more than 50-1? Check out the odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Sia Nejad's top picks for Tour Championship 2023, all from the expert who was up more than 70 units on his recent golf picks.

2023 Tour Championship starting score odds, field

See Nejad's picks, best bets and predictions here.

Scottie Scheffler (-10) +140
Rory McIlroy (-7) +330
Viktor Hovland (-8) +500
Jon Rahm (-6) +800
Patrick Cantlay (-4) +1600
Max Homa (-4) +2800
Xander Schauffele (-3) +3000
Matt Fitzpatrick (-4) +4000
Lucas Glover (-5) +4000
Wyndham Clark (-4) +4500
Tommy Fleetwood (-3) +4500
Brian Harman (-4) +4500
Rickie Fowler (-3) +7000
Russell Henley (-3) +7500
Tom Kim (-2) +11000
Sungjae Im (-2) +11000
Tony Finau (-2) +13000
Keegan Bradley (-3) +13000
Corey Conners (-2) +13000
Colin Morikawa (-1) +13000
Tyrrell Hatton (E) +15000
Si Woo Kim (-2) +18000
Jordan Spieth (E) +18000
Jason Day (-1) +25000
Sam Burns (E) +30000
Taylor Moore (-1) +40000
Sepp Straka (E) +50000
Emiliano Grillo (E) +50000
Adam Schenk (-1) +50000
Nick Taylor (-1) +80000