Round one of the TOUR Championship is in the books, and Min Woo Lee leads the way in Atlanta. More importantly, the opening 18 holes gave us another look at how East Lake should be attacked.
2026 TOUR Championship Round 2 Bets
Lee hit 11 of 14 fairways and absolutely minted his irons from there. That combination is exactly what we were looking for coming into the week.
Playing from East Lake’s Bermuda rough is simply not the way to consistently create scoring opportunities. With only 30 of the best players in the world in the field, losing opportunities because you’re constantly playing approaches from the rough can quickly become the difference between climbing the leaderboard and falling behind.
For Round 2, I’m continuing to prioritize golfers who should consistently play from the fairway.
Collin Morikawa End of Round 2 Leader +700
Collin Morikawa shot 6-under in Round 1 while losing strokes on approach.
Read that again.
Morikawa managed to put together one of the better rounds in the field despite his greatest strength actively working against him. That immediately gets my attention heading into Friday.
The foundation was already there with the driver. Morikawa finished Round 1 fifth in Driving Accuracy, continually putting himself in position to attack East Lake from the fairway.
Now we just need the irons.
I’m not particularly concerned about Morikawa’s approach numbers remaining negative. We’re talking about one of the premier iron players in professional golf. If he continues driving the ball this accurately and his approach play simply returns to his normal standard, there is a very obvious path toward another low round.
At +700, I’m willing to bet that combination can send him rocketing up the leaderboard and potentially into the lead after 36 holes.
BET: Collin Morikawa End of Round 2 Leader +700
Russell Henley Under 67.5 Strokes -120
Russell Henley’s opening-round even-par performance certainly wasn’t what we wanted to see.
But when we dig into how he got there, I’m willing to buy the Round 2 bounce back.
Henley was relatively even across the board statistically outside of one glaring problem: he lost more than three strokes putting.
That’s a massive number, and I’m willing to bet against it happening again.
At this stage of his career, Henley has become a very solid Bermuda putter. Combine that with the accuracy and ball striking that make him such a natural fit for East Lake, and Friday provides an opportunity to buy after a disappointing opening score.
The formula doesn’t need to be complicated.
Keep finding fairways. Continue giving yourself opportunities. And this time, make a few putts.
After losing more than three strokes on the greens Thursday, Henley doesn’t even need an outrageous putting performance. A return toward his normal baseline could completely change the scorecard.
There’s also something enjoyable about buying the Georgia native in his home state when everyone else may be ready to jump ship after one mediocre round.
I’m expecting significantly better on Friday.
BET: Russell Henley Under 67.5 Strokes -120
Round 2 Card
Collin Morikawa End of Round 2 Leader +700
Russell Henley Under 67.5 Strokes -120
Round one reinforced the importance of playing from the fairway at East Lake. For Round 2, we’re sticking with that formula and betting on the irons and putter to follow.
