This week we head to TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee for the 2023 FedEx St. Jude Championship where SportsLens’ resident golf expert Joe Lyons is offering up some of our very own betting tips and predictions.
The PGA Tour’s regular season calendar has come to an end with the top 70 players in FedExCup points advancing to the postseason, where golf’s elite will battle it out across three events to become Tour champion and earn the biggest purse in the game.
The top 50 points leaders following this week’s action will advance to the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields, Illinois, before the top 30 progress to the Tour Championship at East Lake, Georgia for the final stage.
Best FedEx St. Jude Championship Betting Offers
FedEx St. Jude Championship 2023 Preview
This year’s defending champion is world number 19 Will Zalatoris, who beat Sepp Straka on the third playoff hole after both players finished with scores of 15 under in 2022. The 26-year-old will not be defending his crown this year after undergoing season-ending back surgery in April.
Following a dramatic Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield, the triumphant Lucas Glover secured his spot in the top-70 but it was heartbreak for former world number ones Justin Thomas and Adam Scott who missed out by the skin of their teeth as well as Shane Lowry.
The greens at TPC Southwind feature champion bermuda grass, the same as what we saw last week at Sedgefield and are smaller than average meaning the key to victory this week lies in approach play. Zalatoris ranked number one in the field in that department last year, gaining an average of +1.93 strokes per round.
The 7,244-yard par-70 course, a Ron Prichard design, features ten water hazards throughout and zoysia grass on the fairways and tee boxes which is much harder than other strains and holds balls up like they were on a tee – so anyone veering off-line off-the-tee will have their work cut out for them this week.
It has been ranked as one of the most difficult tracks on Tour and should bring out the best amongst the golfers at the top of their game right now. There are only two par-5s and four long par-3s, and the five hardest holes on the course are all par-4s.
Approach shots from 150-175 yards make up 26% of all approach shots on this course and 22% come from 175-200 yards, so those who are in good form with their irons are likely to gain an edge on the rest of the field.
The best ball strikers will fancy their chances at victory in Memphis and this is certainly a cracking week of golf to look forward to.
FedEx St. Jude Championship Betting Tips
Odds are correct at time of publishing and are subject to chance
FedEx St. Jude Championship Tip 1: Patrick Cantlay To Win And Each-Way (8 Places) @ 16/1 with BetUK
Patrick Cantlay is no stranger to the FedExCup playoffs and became Tour champion in 2021 by winning the BMW Championship on the sixth hole of a playoff against Bryson DeChambeau and followed that up with a one-shot victory over Jon Rahm a week later at the Tour Championship at East Lake.
The 31-year-old is one of the best ball strikers on Tour, ranking fourth in strokes gained off-the-tee and 24th in approach. He’s an all-rounder too, sitting 28th in putting and has all the attributes to at TPC Southwind this week. Will Zalatoris led the field here tee-to-green last year and that’s Cantlay’s bread and butter.
He uncharacteristically struggled with his irons here last year but has posted two finishes inside the top-25 in his last four starts in Memphis. Yet to win on the PGA Tour this season despite picking up eight top-10s, Cantlay is primed to resume his winning form at a time of the year we know he enjoys.
Keeping his ball in the zoysia grass fairways will be a huge bonus and Cantlay ranks 13th in driving accuracy percentage (66.7%) and 12th in greens in regulation percentage (69.4%) which is key due to the smaller-than-average greens.
As mentioned earlier, 26% of all approach shots come from 150-175 yards at TPC Southwind and Cantlay ranks 36th on Tour from this distance. Par-4 scoring will play a huge part too and he’s the second-best on Tour in that department.
He has performed well around similar tracks including T19 at TPC Sawgrass in The Players Championship earlier this season, he loves East Lake and posted T3 and T4 finishes in his last two starts around Pebble Beach – a course which has historically got impressive results out of him.
A missed cut at the Scottish Open and T33 at The Open weren’t true reflections of the season he’s having so a return to the United States should provide him with the comfort to make a good stab at victory in Tennessee this week.
Priced with the best golf betting sites at 16/1 (8 places), Patrick Cantlay is our headline pick to win the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
FedEx St. Jude Championship Tip 2: Rickie Fowler To Win And Each-Way (8 Places) @ 30/1 with BetUK
Rickie Fowler’s return to the main stage this season has been a joy to watch and he looks to be playing with more confidence than ever before, highlighted by eight top-10 finishes and a first victory on the PGA Tour in four years at the Rocket Mortgage Classic last month.
The 34-year-old is in sublime form and aside from T42 at the Scottish Open, he hasn’t finished outside the top-25 in any of his last six starts. He has historically performed well in this event and carded two top-15 finishes in his last four starts at TPC Southwind.
Fowler is another elite ball striker and ranks eighth on the Tour in approach play this season, including tenth tee-to-green and eighth in total strokes gained. His short game also stacks up well, 22nd around-the-green and 31st putting.
In the 2018 PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club, which also shares the same zoysia grass fairways as TPC Southwind, Fowler finished T12 and gained an average of 1.07 strokes per round in approach.
He’s performed nicely around similar tracks such as Houston Golf Club with three top-10s in his last five starts and finished T13 at TPC Sawgrass in The Players Championship earlier this week.
He’s a fan of East Lake too, having not finished outside the top-26 in any of his six outings there. Fowler ranks 45th in approaches from 150-175 yards and 25th on the Tour in approaches from 175-200 yards.
16th in par-4 scoring isn’t bad either and 31st in greens in regulation percentage (68.2%) are indications that Rickie Fowler should go well in this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship, priced at 30/1 (8 places) with the best golf betting sites.
FedEx St. Jude Championship Tip 3: Collin Morikawa To Win And Each-Way (8 Places) @ 28/1 with BetUK
Collin Morikawa is another ball striking genius that could have a strong week in Tennessee and the 26-year-old will be keen to get back on track with a first victory of an up-and-down season on the PGA Tour.
He ranks second in approach play and 20th off-the-tee on the Tour and is also one of the most accurate with his driver, posting a fourth-best driving accuracy percentage of 70% this year.
Morikawa is also fourth in greens in regulation percentage (70.4%) whilst ranking 14th in approaches from 150-175 yards and eighth in approaches from 175-200 yards, two stats which are expected to play a huge role at TPC Southwind.
Prior to his missed cut at The Open due to an off-week with the irons and a poor putting display, he finished T2 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic after losing in a playoff to Fowler but would’ve claimed the spoils if not for an agonising lip-out on the 18th green.
He’s performed well at East Lake with 6-T26-T21 finishes in his last three starts there alongside T13 at TPC Sawgrass in The Players Championship earlier this year. Sedgefield is another similar track and he putted well on the champion bermuda greens there on his only visit in 2019, gaining an average of 0.44 strokes per round with the flat stick.
He has struggled with consistency this season alongside a few inconvenient injuries but coming off a two-week break should do the world of good for him and TPC Southwind is a course he loves to play at, finishing T5 last year and T20-T26 in 2020 and 2021.
FedEx St. Jude Championship Tip 4: Max Homa To Win And Each-Way (8 Places) @ 45/1 with BetUK
Max Homa broke the major seal by finishing T10 at Hoylake in July and is in a fine run of form, coupled with T12 at the Scottish Open and T21 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic last month.
He showed great resilience in the month of July to bounce back from two missed cuts at the US Open and Travelers Championship in June, which were surprising considering a promising May with a T8 finish at the Wells Fargo Championship and T9 at the Charles Schwab Challenge.
Homa has two wins on the PGA Tour this season at the Fortinet Championship and Farmers Insurance Open, and finished T6 around TPC Sawgrass at The Players Championship in March.
Additionally, the 32-year-old finished T5 at East Lake last year in the Tour Championship and has also played well around Pebble Beach, posting T10, T14 and T7 finishes in his last three starts at the AT&T Pro-Am.
He’s one of the best with his irons on Tour, ranking 16th in approach play and possesses a tidy short game too – 11th in putting and 28th around-the-green.
It feels like he’s building up to a big win and whilst that may not be at a major championship, it would be a hell of a statement to take victory this week in Tennessee.
He’s another good par-4 scorer, ranking 22nd in that department but he’ll need to keep his driver on-line to give himself a real chance at TPC Southwind. He’s gained strokes off-the-tee in each of his last four starts and will be keen to build on his T42 finish here last year.
With his promising form I’m willing to give him a chance at 45/1 (8 places), rounding off our tips for the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
FedEx St. Jude Championship 2023 Odds
Take a look at the best UK sports betting sites and claim the best bookmaker free bets ahead of this week’s action in Memphis.
- Scottie Scheffler @ 15/2
- Rory McIlroy @ 8/1
- Jon Rahm @ 9/1
- Patrick Cantlay @ 16/1
- Xander Schauffele @ 18/1
- Viktor Hovland @ 20/1
- Tyrrell Hatton @ 22/1
- Jordan Spieth @ 25/1
- Collin Morikawa @ 28/1
- Matt Fitzpatrick @ 28/1
Odds are correct at the time of publication and are subject to change
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