Justin Thomas is among the sport's elite players, as the former Alabama golfer is ranked No. 1 in the FedEx Cup points standings and No. 3 in the world. Thomas, who has won three times already this season, enters Thursday's 2020 Northern Trust in prime position to earn the coveted $10 million bonus for being the season-long points champion. Thomas' first step in that three-tournament journey begins Thursday morning at TPC Boston, which took a year off from hosting the Northern Trust golf tournament while being renovated.
Thomas, who won the CJ Cup, Sentry Tournament of Champions and WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, joins Bryson DeChambeau as the 12-1 co-favorite in the 2020 Northern Trust odds from William Hill. Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy are both 14-1 on the PGA odds board, while Dustin Johnson is 18-1. Before locking in your 2020 Northern Trust picks or entering any PGA DFS tournaments on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel, be sure to see the latest golf predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
SportsLine's prediction model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has been on fire since the return of the PGA Tour in June. In fact, it's up almost $9,000 on its best bets since the restart, nailing tournament after tournament.
After hitting a top-five bet (+1200) on Doc Redman at the Wyndham Championship, McClure finished up over $700 yet again last week on his best bets. The model was all over Justin Thomas winning the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational at 12-1. At the 3M Open, McClure's best bets returned a whopping $1,100 as he nailed a top-five pick on Max Homa (+1200) and a top-20 pick on Talor Gooch (+400).
At the Memorial Tournament, McClure used the model to identify winner Jon Rahm (22-1) as one of his best bets from the start. It also had him as the projected winner heading into the weekend. The model was also all over long shot winner Collin Morikawa at the Workday Charity Open. It identified him as a top contender from the start despite his long odds and McClure recommended an outright bet on him to win at 33-1. The model also called Bryson DeChambeau taking the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
McClure returned a whopping +788 during the 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge, including nailing top-five bets on Xander Schauffele at 13-2 and Collin Morikawa at 9-1. The model was also extremely high on 30-1 long shot winner Webb Simpson at the RBC Heritage. The model had him in the top five from the start and McClure's best bets included Simpson winning outright.
In all, the advanced computer model has nailed a whopping six majors entering the weekend, including two of the last four. Anyone who has followed its golf picks has seen massive returns returns.
Now that the 2020 Northern Trust field is locked, SportsLine simulated the event 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard.
The model's top 2020 Northern Trust predictions
One huge shocker the model is calling for at The Northern Trust 2020: Bryson DeChambeau, one of the 12-1 co-favorites, stumbles and barely cracks the top 10. DeChambeau was on fire coming out of the restart, finishing eighth or better in the first four tournaments, with a win at the Rocket Mortgage Classic during that span.
But he's cooled since then, missing the cut at The Memorial and finishing 30th at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational before bouncing back with a fourth-place performance at the PGA Championship. He leads the PGA Tour in driving distance but ranks just No. 118 in driving accuracy. He's also well outside the top 100 in strokes gained around the green. The model has factored those critical stats in and says he's one of the 2020 Northern Trust favorites to fade this week.
Another surprise: Xander Schauffele, a 20-1 long shot, makes a strong run at the title. He has a much better chance to win it all than his odds imply, so he's a target for anyone looking for a huge payday.
The 10th-ranked player in the world, Schauffele enters the PGA Tour Playoffs 2020 at No. 11 on the FedEx Cup points list. With six top-10 finishes on tour, Schauffele has earned almost $3.7 million so far this season.
Schauffele has done everything but win in 2019-20, finishing second at both the Sentry Tournament of Champions and WGC-HSBC Champions. Schauffele, who was also 10th at the PGA Championship, is one of the more accurate players on tour, hitting 71.74 percent of greens in regulation, which ranks seventh among his peers. That kind of accuracy will be at a premium at TPC Boston this week and is one reason why Schauffele is a strong play at the Northern Trust Open 2020.
How to make 2020 Northern Trust picks
Also, the model is targeting four other golfers with odds of 20-1 or higher to make a strong run at the title. Anyone who backs these underdogs could hit it big. You can only see them here.
So who wins the 2020 Northern Trust? And which long shots stun the golfing world? Check out the odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected 2020 Northern Trust leaderboard, all from the model that's nailed six golf majors and is up almost $9,000 since the restart.
2020 Northern Trust odds (via William Hill)
Justin Thomas 12-1
Bryson DeChambeau 12-1
Jon Rahm 14-1
Rory McIlroy 14-1
Dustin Johnson 18-1
Xander Schauffele 20-1
Collin Morikawa 20-1
Jason Day 25-1
Patrick Cantlay 28-1
Webb Simpson 28-1
Patrick Reed 28-1
Daniel Berger 28-1
Tony Finau 33-1
Hideki Matsuyama 40-1
Tiger Woods 40-1
Adam Scott 45-1
Rickie Fowler 50-1
Justin Rose 50-1
Gary Woodland 50-1
Tyrell Hatton 50-1
Sung-Jae Im 50-1
Tommy Fleetwood 50-1
Matthew Fitzpatrick 50-1
Paul Casey 50-1
Scottie Scheffler 55-1
Abraham Ancer 55-1
Viktor Hovland 66-1
Jordan Spieth 66-1
Matthew Wolff 66-1
Billy Horschel 66-1
Louis Oosthuizen 70-1
Si-Woo Kim 70-1
Kevin Kisner 70-1
Marc Leishman 80-1
Harris English 80-1
Shane Lowry 90-1
Cameron Champ 90-1
Brendon Todd 90-1
Byeong Hun An 100-1
Harold Varner 100-1
Phil Mickelson 100-1
Matt Kuchar 100-1
Alex Noren 125-1
Russell Henley 125-1
Joaquin Niemann 125-1
Bubba Watson 125-1
Ian Poulter 125-1
Doc Redman 125-1
Kevin Na 150-1
Tom Lewis 150-1
Ryan Palmer 150-1
Dylan Frittelli 150-1
Brendan Steele 150-1
Emiliano Grillo 150-1
Adam Hadwin 150-1
Ryan Moore 150-1
Joel Dahmen 150-1
Chez Reavie 150-1
Richy Werenski 175-1
Corey Conners 175-1
Charley Hoffman 200-1
Kevin Streelman 200-1
Lucas Glover 200-1
Brian Harman 200-1
Cameron Smith 200-1
Brandt Snedeker 200-1
Henrik Norlander 200-1
Max Homa 200-1
Charles Howell 200-1
Patrick Rodgers 200-1
Zach Johnson 200-1
Luke List 200-1
Sam Burns 200-1
Mackenzie Hughes 200-1
Keegan Bradley 200-1
Jason Kokrak 200-1
Bud Cauley 250-1
Adam Long 250-1
Lanto Griffin 250-1
Pat Perez 250-1
Maverick McNealy 250-1
Jim Herman 250-1
J.T. Poston 250-1
Cameron Tringale 250-1
Mark Hubbard 250-1
Ryan Armour 250-1
Sepp Straka 250-1
Michael Thompson 250-1
Scott Stallings 250-1
Cameron Davis 250-1
Rory Sabbatini 250-1
Tom Hoge 300-1
Talor Gooch 300-1
Nick Taylor 300-1
Denny McCarthy 300-1
Sam Ryder 300-1
Matt Jones 300-1
Brice Garnett 300-1
Adam Schenk 300-1
Graeme McDowell 300-1
Tyler Duncan 300-1
Kyoung-Hoon Lee 300-1
Vaughn Taylor 300-1
Xinjun Zhang 350-1
Andrew Landry 350-1
Scott Piercy 350-1
Brian Stuard 400-1
Keith Mitchell 400-1
Troy Merritt 400-1
Beau Hossler 400-1
Danny Lee 400-1
Sung-Hoon Kang 400-1
Matthew NeSmith 500-1
Nate Lashley 500-1
Bo Noah 500-1
Carlos Ortiz 500-1
Robby Shelton 500-1
Scott Harrington 500-1
Sebastian Munoz 500-1
Harry Higgs 500-1
Scott Bron 500-1
Wyndham Clark 500-1
Zac Blair 750-1
Brian Gay 750-1
