Dustin Johnson  6.817m
 

No one else has more than $5m and it would be very tough for anyone to pass the top 4 as one, two , possibly all four will pick up decent money over the five remaining events which are the Wyndham Championships taking place this week and then the four playoff events which start August 24, September 1, 14 and 21st.
 

None of the four are playing this week, which I am very pleased about, as Matsuyama looked weary over the closing holes yesterday and the last 2-3 weeks appeared to catch up with him, level par for the last two rounds would have got him into a playoff with Thomas and the young Japanese golfer must feel that he let a major slip away and two weeks away from competition should do him a power of good.........“I have to work on my mental game. "I had a feeling I’d play better than I did yesterday but it took some time to find my rhythm.”
 

So, we are talking about four remaining events, the field will be reduced each week for those, top 125 play the Northern Trust, after that we are down to 100 for the Dell Technologies Championship, 70 then play in the BMW Championship and the top 30 in the rankings in the season ending Tour Championship.
 

Obviously the top 4 already have enough money in the bank to qualify for all four events.
 

The series is fantastic and very exciting and there are a lot of very motivated golfers, for example, this week it will be all about trying to break into the top 125, or retain that position and those currently ranked 100-150 all still have much to play for and we will doubtless return to this over the weekend.
 

Just as a guide, one company has priced up the Money List this morning ...........
 

Thomas 8.5
 

67.0 + everyone else.
 

3-1 on is way too short, but If we convert those four odds into a 100% book ( no profit margin) , they would be circa 1.50 Matsuyama, which gives you some idea of his chance now and to be better able to judge your position should you have one.
 

 

Schedule for the rest of this week.......

 

Tuesday 15/08 @ 10.00 UK time.

 

Wednesday 16/08 @ 10.00 UK time.

 

Thursday 17/08 @ 10.00 UK time.

 

Friday 18/08 @ 10.00 UK time.

 

Saturday 19/08
 

Email #1 @ 07.30 UK time looking at the J-League fixtures.

Email #2 @ 08.00 with English football

Enail #3 @ 08.30 covering the rest of the Saturday sport.
 

 

Sunday 20/08 @ 10.00 with football and the final round of the PGA event.

 

 

Good Luck.
 

US/PGA Money List:  (written April 26th)

Dustin Johnson, the number one player in the World right now leads the way with $5.346m and you can see the full money leaderboard on this link to the PGA website.

It is hard to make a case against Johnson being favourite to become the top money earner for 2017, but odds of circa 1.40 feel way too skinny for my liking, it took $9.3m to win last year, $12m in 2015, that was a freakish year (the runner up had $9.4m) , but I think we can say that it will require someone getting just north of $9m to pick up the prize and that still leaves quite a bit of work to be done.

I am interested in second placed Hideki Matsuyama he has landed big odds bets for us three times in recent seasons and at just 25 years of age, his best years are not only ahead of him, but stretch out long into the future. He made my short list at the Masters and ahead of that I spoke about how incredible his early season went, his limitless potential and how a mini dip in form ahead of Augusta might have served him well ...........
 

Few people doubt his ability now and since those notes he has won his second Phoenix Open title and that is a sure sign he is primed for Augusta, he was runner up there in 2015 and finished 5th here , last year he won in Phoenix and was 7th at the Masters. His form in build up has gone very slightly off the boil (25th-45th in his last two stroke play events), but for me, that has only served to ease the pressure, imagine if he had won one of those two and arrived here looking for his fifth win and 7th top 2 finish of the season in US tour events, that would have been too much for a youngster who only turned 25 a few weeks ago and who is under no less scrutiny in Asia than DJ, Spieth, Day and Mcilroy are in the West. For me, that build up is perfect and ensures we get great odds. Last year we backed him in the "top rest of the world "market at big odds , but that ship has now sailed and we can only consider him in the outright market and he almost has to go close. He is ranked #1 for birdies or better on Par 5 holes this year, was 2nd in that category in 2016 and is playing at another level this season.

He had a terrible start at Augusta but shot a joint low round of the day 67 on Sunday to show his well being and ability and finished in a tie for 11th, he is virtually certain to win again this year and is taking part in the restructured Zurich Classic of New Orleans this week, which is now being played in pairs, it counts on the Money List, but anything earned there will be a bonus and not overly make too much difference. This is an event he normally skips, which is a good sign he feels well and wants to play, we can be very certain his remaining schedule after this week will be the same as in each of the last three years,which means the remaining WGC events and majors, the playoff series, where he is already almost certain to play all four tournies and his usual other events..... Wells Fargo, The Players, Memorial and Wyndham. That is a minimum further 13 events and he might fit in one more and I doubt anyone else amongst the leading contenders will play more than that. He has gone deep in all remaining events previously and improved year on year in six of them, meaning that he is learning and quickly, how to play those courses and comes into them all this season as a multi winner and a far more confident golfer and man.

Johnson did not the play the Masters, he withdrew the day before having re-injured his back falling down some stairs at his rental home, he has claimed he is now fine and probably is, but back issues never really go away, step forward Tiger Woods and we have been here before with DJ, who also withdrew from Augusta in 2012 after injuring himself lifting a jet ski.  He had withdrawn earlier that same year at the Humana Challenge again with back problems and was troubled by it for almost two months. If you have ever injured your back, you know that it is all too easy to do so again and it is notoriously difficult to treat. I hope he is 100% but it has to be a concern and he is not playing this week, when he could have taken the opportunity to play in a more fun event and maybe just test himself out without taking too many chances. Anyway, that could be an issue and there have also been well documented problems with DJ in the past, including failed drug tests and he just doesn't feel like someone who should be 1.40 to win something which will be decided over a six month period.

I wanted to go big each way with Matsuyama, you can bet 1/3rd odds two places and you will get good odds for the place part about him staying where he currently is and most of the golfers behind who I see as potential rivals will have to win twice to catch up and that is not an easy thing to do. This is the bet I spoke about last week, problem is that not as many companies are quoting this week, or at least this morning, but this is a market which will be traded week by week, so today is not the only chance.

If you have the option, I would suggest .............3 units each way (1/3 rd odds 1-2) Hideki Matsuyama 8.0-8.5 (bigger in a place or two) general quote US Money List. If not, I think the win only odds still offer great value, given how I expect Matsuyama to play over the coming months and factoring in that we have not see DJ play since his withdrawal and given his previous issues with his back and then I would go with 4 units Hideki Matsuyama to win outright 8.0-8.5 .