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Gallagher and Davison's 2024 PGA Tour FedEx St. Jude Championship Preview

On the heels of Aaron Rai's victory at the Wyndham Championship on Sunday evening, the 2024 PGA Tour regular season is now in the books. With the FedEx Cup playoffs now upon us, the first leg kicks off this weekend at the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind. The top 70 in the standings are set to compete over the next three weeks to determine who will play at the Tour Championship at East Lake in September.


Set to head into the postseason looking to capture his first FedEx Cup title, Scottie Scheffler aims to put a bow on one of the best seasons in modern golf history. A winner at Le Golf National, the current world No. 1 captured the Olympic gold medal with his six PGA Tour wins in 2024.


Chris Gallagher and Everett Davison contributed to this article.


The Course

A regular stop on the PGA Tour calendar since 1989, TPC Southwind is a Ron Prichard design. Measuring over 7,200 yards from the back tees, the course is a par 70 layout. It features four par 3s, two par 5s, and 12 par 4s, four measuring over 450 yards in length. Additionally, the venue is home to the second narrowest fairways on Tour. They are just 29 yards wide on average. Prioritizing accuracy over distance into the greens, past event winners have picked up the most strokes on their approach play. The course has 94 bunkers and ten water hazards, creating the potential for trouble on nearly every hole.


The Field

The top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings will make the trip to Memphis. Following this week, the top 50 will advance to the BMW Championship in Colorado. After that, the remaining 30 will advance to East Lake for the Tour Championship. Creating the potential for late-season drama, points are quadrupled in each of the first two playoff events. Aiming to add a FedEx Cup crown to pair with his two major titles, Xander Schauffele highlights a star-studded group. Meanwhile, Viktor Hovland is looking to shake off his early-season struggles and become the first-ever repeat champion. Rounding out the field are Rory Mcilroy, Colin Morikawa, Ludvig Aberg, Tommy Fleetwood, Patrick Cantlay, and Matthew Fitzpatrick.


Chris' FedEx St. Jude Championship Picks

Outright: Scottie Scheffler

The current leader of the FedEx Cup standings, Scheffler, sits more than 1,900 points ahead of Schauffele. Coming off a gold medal at the Paris Olympics, the 28-year-old will become the fifth player in PGA Tour history to occupy the world's number-one spot for over 100 weeks. He is also looking to join Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh as the only three players to win seven times in one season. While his track record at TPC Southwind is not excellent, the Dallas Native missed the cut at this event in 2022. Furthermore, he tied for 31st here last year after carding a final-round 71. Nonetheless, he still gains 2.76 strokes per round and is motivated to be in solid form heading into East Lake.


Outright: Tommy Fleetwood

A winner of the silver medal in Paris, Fleetwood finished one stroke behind Scheffler. He carded all four rounds under 70, including a Sunday 66. Still looking for his first win on Tour, the United Kingdom native has had a few close calls this season. This includes a T7 at The Valero Texas Open, a T3 at The Masters Tournament, and a T13 at The Wells Fargo Championship. Fleetwood ranks ninth on Tour in driving accuracy (69.37%), remaining one of the best players off the tee in the field. Moreover, the 14-year veteran also sits 13th in scrambling percentage (64.80) and 65th in Stroked Gained: Putting (0.151). Coming off a T3 at this event a year ago, I bet on Fleetwood to put all the pieces together this week.


Sleeper: Sungjae Im

Im has been one of the hottest golfers on Tour since returning from Korea in May. The 26-year-old has recorded five top-ten finishes in his last eight starts, including a T3 at The Travelers Championship and a T4 at The Genesis Scottish Open. He is one of the best ball strikers on the field and is ninth in Strokes Gained: Approach over the last six months. Additionally, he picked up shots with his putter at each of his last starts. Looking to capture his first win on Tour since the 2021 Shriners Children's Open, Im finished T6 at this event a year ago. Currently listed at 45/1 to capture the tournament, the former Rookie of the Year offers excellent value.


Everett's FedEx St. Jude Championship Picks

Outright: Xander Schauffele

The winner of two major championships this season and the current World No. 2 and FedexCup No. 2, Schauffele has had a season that most players could only dream of. Unfortunately for Schauffele, it coincides with Scottie Scheffler's 2024, which might be the best season any player has had since Tiger Woods was in his prime. That said, it would be crazy not to include him in a potential winner's list. He has played at TPC Southwind six times with only one top-10, but he has never missed the cut, so even though there is no cut this weekend, he is a virtual lock to be on the first few pages of the leaderboard. Schauffele doesn't have the greatest odds if you are looking for someone to bet on, but if he wins, that won't matter.


Outright: Patrick Cantlay

Cantlay hasn't had the greatest season, but he has some good form coming in, with top-5 finishes in two of his last three starts. He comes in ranked 11th in the FedexCup, but perhaps more importantly, he has never missed the cut here and lost in a playoff to Lucas Glover last year. Cantlay likes playing in Memphis and would like to put a somewhat underwhelming season to rest with a win late. At +2200 odds, he is a decent flier to take a chance on.


Sleeper: Justin Thomas

Thomas is another player who hasn't had the greatest season, but his previous performances here should give him more confidence. He hasn't won since his triumph in the 2022 PGA Championship, but unlike last year, where his performance left himself on the outside looking in for the FedexCup Playoffs, he comes in ranked 19th. Thomas is by no means a lock to make it to East Lake for the Tour Championship in two weeks, but two good weeks would help his cause. Add on the fact that he won at TPC Southwind in 2020 and is one of two players in the field to have a win here (Will Zalatoris being the other), and Thomas seems primed to make a run.



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