The majors are done and dusted but there is still plenty of important golf to be played in 2024 as the FedEx Cup playoffs kick off this week in Tennessee with the St. Jude Championship. The action kicks off on Thursday night and as always, we have you covered with a full preview and betting tips below.
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FedEx St. Jude Championship Betting Tips
Thursday 15th – Sunday 18th August
The top 70 players in the FedEx Cup championship qualified for the first of the three-tournament swing, with the field set to be cut to 50 after this weekend and again down to 30 before the Tour Championship in a few weeks’ time.
The Field
It’s not necessarily the best players in the world that always make the FedEx Cup playoffs, but for all intents and purposes, the most in form players of the past 12 months will make up the starting list for the St. Jude.
Scottie Scheffler has won six of the 16 PGA Tour events he has played in this season and has an almost unassailable lead in the FedEx Cup standings, currently sitting almost 2,000 points in front of his nearest opponent in Xander Schauffele.
Other key names at the top of the leaderboard include Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark, Ludvig Aberg, Sahith Theegala and Hideki Matsuyama.
Players hovering around the top 50 bubble and hoping to play well to secure their spot at the BMW Championship next week include Will Zalatoris (48), Harris English (51), Justin Rose (55), Viktor Hovland (57) and Jordan Spieth (63).
The Course
TPC Southwind will host the FedEx Cup tournament for the third time this season. Previously, it has hosted iterations of both a standard PGA Tour event as well as a WGC event dating all the way back to 1989.
The course, a Par 70 stretching out to over 7,200 yards, favours long hitters off the tee, which explains why the likes of Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Justin Thomas have all had success there in recent years.
With over 100 bunkers and 10 water hazards across its 18 holes, the course challenges players not only with its length, but also with demanding approach shots to tricky greens.
Betting Tips
Rory McIlroy ($12/Top 10 $1.90)
As we mentioned above, this TPC Southwind setup tends to favour the longer hitters, and there has been no better exponent of the long ball than McIlroy. The Northern Irishman ranks No.1 on tour this season in strokes gained off the tee, 2nd in driving distance and 2nd in total driving. Has won three FedEx Cups so is no stranger to the big stage and is coming off a solid outing at the Olympics (T3).
Billy Horschel ($46/Top 20 $2.05)
For a bit more value this week, I like the look of Billy Horschel. The veteran has won a FedEx Cup final before, so he knows what it takes, and he has been in some great form of late. Finished T2 at the Open Championship before a T7 at the Wyndham. Has made the cut in eight of his last nine starts.
