Zach Johnson pick to lead Tour Championship after 18 holes

Fresh from winning the BMW Championship, Zach Johnson has a really great chance of adding the Tour Championship to his resume, but an even better chance of leading this refined field after round one.

It was absolutely no surprise to anyone on the PGA Tour to see ZJ finally secure a first win of the season at Conway Farms, considering the head of steam the Iowan had built since losing out in a playoff at the John Deere Classic in July.

After losing out to rookie Jordan Spieth in that three-way, Johnson dusted himself off and went about recording four consecutive top-10 finishes, including two inside the top five.

The understated American was finally rewarded at the BMW and now ZJ has a fine chance of taking the Tour Championship, rated at 16/1 by Ladbrokes.

However, perhaps an even more startling statistic which could be diverted into profitability at East Lake is Johnson’s incredible run of posting eight consecutive sub-70 rounds, making his odds of 20/1 to take the first overnight lead, flash up in neon lights.

Since hitting top form at the back end of June, ZJ’s first-round cards read; 65, 64, 66, 69, 69, 67, 69 and finally another six-under-par round of 64 at Conway.

Further evidence to support the theory lies in the experience he brings to this historic Atlanta course, considering he is the East Lake course record-holder, having posted a remarkable round of 60 back in 2007.

There are not many who are wiser to the rigours of the Atlanta lay-out than the former Masters champion, as he makes his fifth appearance at the prestigious tournament in the FedExCup era and his seventh overall.

Considering the scrambling percentages at the course proved the most difficult in five years in 2012, ZJ’s T3 across the PGA Tour season in hitting greens in regulation, is another hefty stat on his side.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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