The FedEx St. Jude Championship DFS Golf Picks
Make the most of the data, predictions, and insights from this article to help with your fantasy golf picks for the FedEx St. Jude Championship, and check out our PGA Optimizer to make more informed player selections for your DFS DraftKings lineups. Best of luck this week!
The FedEx St. Jude Championship
Preview for the FedEx St. Jude Championship: The first leg of the 2021-2022 FedEx Cup playoffs begin this week with the FedEx St. Jude Championship, formerly known as The Northern Trust from 2017 to 2021. This event dates back to 1967 when Jack Nicklaus won the Westchester Classic and it has been played as the first playoff event since 2007. The record at this tournament is -30 by Dustin Johnson who blew the field away in 2020 to win the tournament by an incredible 11 strokes over Harris English. Keep in mind that we are used to seeing this course being used for the FedEx St.Jude Classic and more recently, the WGC-FedEx St.Jude Invitational, so be sure to pay close attention to stats and results from those tournaments over the past few years.
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Tournament purse: The prize money for this week’s event is a whopping $15M which is almost $10M more than last year’s purse, the winner collects an insane $2.7M and also earns himself a huge 2,000 FedEx Cup points – more than 3x the amount for winning one of the four majors.
Course and key stats: TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee, is 7,237 yards in length, is a par 70, and the greens are Bermudagrass. The winning score at this tournament over the last five years ranges from -13 to -30, but this is the first time that we’ve seen this event played on this track – you can expect a score in the teens under par this week given previous results at TPC Southwind since 1989. Some key stats to pay attention to this week, in order, are strokes gained: approach, strokes gained: tee to green, strokes gained: off the tee, strokes gained: putting, and strokes gained: around the green.
The field: We have the top 125 players in the FedEx Cup standings this week, minus Tommy Fleetwood, Daniel Berger, and Lanto Griffin for various reasons, so 122 in total as of this writing – loads of talent will be competing including most of the world’s very best golfers. There is still a cut line after round 2 on Friday where the top 65 players plus ties will advance to rounds 3 and 4 on the weekend. On a scale ranging from A to D, I rank the field strength to be an A+.
Three questions that are relevant to the FedEx St. Jude Championship this week:
1. Which 10 players have gained the most strokes total over their last 24 rounds? Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Cameron Smith, Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Young, Matt Fitzpatrick, Will Zalatoris, Jordan Spieth, and Tony Finau.
2. Which 10 players have gained the most strokes total on this course over the last five years? This track has been used for the FedEx St.Jude Classic and the WGC-FedEx St.Jude Invitational since 1989, and the best stroke gainers here since 2017 are Sam Burns – 4 rounds, Andrew Putnam – 8 rounds, Will Zalatoris – 4 rounds, Trey Mullinax – 8 rounds, Webb Simpson – 12 rounds, Chez Reavie – 16 rounds, Denny McCarthy – 4 rounds, Seamus Power – 8 rounds, Justin Thomas – 12 rounds, and Brendon Todd – 4 rounds.
3. Which 10 players does my custom model like the most this week? Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy, Tony Finau, Jordan Spieth, Will Zalatoris, Patrick Cantlay, Aaron Wise, Cameron Smith, Scottie Scheffler, and Justin Thomas.
DraftKings lineup construction strategy this week: It’s a fairly small field with regards to there being a cut line, so you can get aggressive with stars and scrubs since there are big-time players at the top and good depth throughout. With a smaller field of just 125 players, you should keep a close eye on projected ownership on Wednesday if you have the means to do so, look for pivot plays to reduce your total projected ownership number for each lineup, and leave at least a few hundred dollars on the table if you want original configurations.
All the best in your journey to win or at least be in the money in some contests this week – here are my 15 DFS golf picks which feature my top 3 players from each tier on DraftKings (DK) in no particular order, plus I include player salaries for DK, as well. I consistently provide recent and seasonal finishes for each of my picks, their performances at the event over the last 5 years, and add in some tasty pieces of information, also.
The $10K+ Range
Patrick Cantlay (Salary: DraftKings – $10.3K) – He has pretty much gained strokes across the board in six straight starts and it has resulted in three straight top 8’s including his T2 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in his most recent start. He has been fine on this track but is capable of so much more, and should be hungry to defend his FedEx Cup win from last year when he went T11-Win-Win in the 2021 playoffs. St. Jude Classic and WGC finishes at TPC Southwind over the last five years: 2021 – T23, 2020 – T35, and 2019 – T12.
Rory McIlroy (Salary: DraftKings – $11.0K) – Rory has been outstanding for months now with a win four starts ago at the Canadian Open, he has six top 8’s over his last eight starts including his “disappointing” 3rd at The Open Championship in his most recent start, and has finished no worse than T19 over this stretch from mid-April to mid-July. He has been fairly good at TPC Southwind also, including his T4 three years ago. St. Jude Classic and WGC finishes at TPC Southwind over the last five years: 2021 – T12, 2020 – T47, and 2019 – T4.
Cameron Smith (Salary: DraftKings – $10.5K) – Winner of The Open Championship and THE PLAYERS Championship, Smith has been riding really high this year! His putting in both wins this year were because of really hot putting, but he can pop at any given time and is dangerous because of it. He also had a top 5 here last year on this track, so he’s capable of a really high finish this week. Hat tip to Xander Schauffele who was a really hard cut to make in this range, especially with two wins in his last three starts – use him generously this week, as well. St. Jude Classic and WGC finishes at TPC Southwind over the last five years: 2021 – T5, 2020 – T59, and 2019 – T12.
The $9K Range
Tony Finau (Salary: DraftKings – $9.7K) – With back-to-back wins at the 3M Open and the Rocket Mortgage Classic, it’s a good idea to ride the hot hand that Finau has right now, even if his performance on this course is underwhelming. He has gained over 24 strokes ball-striking in those wins, and if his off the tee and approach game keep sizzling, then another top 10 is certainly not out of the question. St. Jude Classic and WGC finishes at TPC Southwind over the last five years: 2021 – T34, 2020 – T65, 2019 – T27, and 2018 – Cut.
Matt Fitzpatrick (Salary: DraftKings – $9.8K) – What a show Fitzpatrick has put on this year with winning the U.S. Open three starts ago, and he has five top 10’s over his last seven starts. Every part of his game is in superb form right now, and you shouldn’t sleep on Matt this week, especially considering that he has two top 6’s here since 2019. St. Jude Classic and WGC finishes at TPC Southwind over the last five years: 2021 – T57, 2020 – T6, and 2019 – T4.
Jordan Spieth (Salary: DraftKings – $9.1K) – I could have gone with others here including Will Zalatoris and Cameron Young, but I’m going with Spieth who’s coming off a T8 at The Open Championship, and has two T12’s here over the last three years. He has gained strokes in every major category over his last two starts and both have gone for top 10’s – expect more of the same this week. St. Jude Classic and WGC finishes at TPC Southwind over the last five years: 2021 – T12, 2020 – T30, and 2019 – T12.
The $8K Range
Sungjae Im (Salary: DraftKings – $8.5K) – With two consecutive T2’s, Im is turning things around in a hurry after two straight missed cuts and a T81 at The Open Championship. His ball-striking and putting are right on point right now, and even though he doesn’t have impressive results on this course, he can turn that around in a hurry given his huge momentum coming into this week. St. Jude Classic and WGC finishes at TPC Southwind over the last five years: 2021 – T46 and 2020 – T35.
Billy Horschel (Salary: DraftKings – $8.2K) – Horschel is a frequent player of St. Jude events and has four top 25’s here since 2017 including a T4 five years ago and a T9 three years ago. He won the Memorial Tournament six starts ago and while he hasn’t been as good lately, he still has a solid all-around game and could easily bring his A-game to Memphis this week. St. Jude Classic and WGC finishes at TPC Southwind over the last five years: 2021 – T17, 2020 – T25, 2019 – T9, 2018 – T51, and 2017 – T4.
Joohyung Kim (Salary: DraftKings – $8.0K) – What an impressive win last week by Kim at the Wyndham Championship, even if he did gain 12.55 strokes putting. He has three top 7’s over his last five starts and five top 26’s over his last six starts. He has been ball-striking up a storm lately and as we saw last week, can pop with his flat stick. St. Jude Classic and WGC finishes at TPC Southwind over the last five years: None.
The $7K Range
Russell Henley (Salary: DraftKings – $7.8K) – Henley is coming off back-to-back top 10’s and he did it through outstanding ball-striking which is always a positive. He hasn’t played here in five years, but ball-striking travels well, and if it continues, then a top 20 is certainly doable. St. Jude Classic and WGC finishes at TPC Southwind over the last five years: 2017 – Cut.
Scott Stallings (Salary: DraftKings – $7.1K) – I was on him again last week and he came through once more with a T13, he has four straight top 13’s including a T4 at the John Deere Classic, and has four top 10’s in his last seven starts. Every part of his game is in fine form right now, especially his ball-striking as he has gained over 24 strokes combined in the stat category over his last four events played. St. Jude Classic and WGC finishes at TPC Southwind over the last five years: 2018 – T30 and 2017 – T37.
Taylor Pendrith (Salary: DraftKings – $7.6K) – Last week wasn’t supposed to be a good course fit for Pendrith, but it didn’t matter as he still finished T13 and now has five straight top 13’s including a T2 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic two weeks ago. Everything is working for the talented Canadian right now, and you should deploy him again this week given his solid play throughout. St. Jude Classic and WGC finishes at TPC Southwind over the last five years: None.
The $6K Range
Taylor Moore (Salary: DraftKings – $6.8K) – Moore has really cranked things up over his last two starts with a 6th at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and a T5 last week at the Wyndham Championship – gaining strokes across the board. He has four top 24’s over his last five starts, and is a great scrubs option this week. St. Jude Classic and WGC finishes at TPC Southwind over the last five years: None.
Callum Tarren (Salary: DraftKings – $6.6K) – His ball-striking wasn’t so strong last week but his short game made up for it to finish T27, he has two top 7’s over his last six starts and four straight top 27’s. He may be a bit over his head this week in the first playoff event of his career, but if he regains his solid ball-striking and the putter stays hot, then another top 30 isn’t out of the question. St. Jude Classic and WGC finishes at TPC Southwind over the last five years: None.
Alex Smalley (Salary: DraftKings – $6.8K) – I really like what I’ve been seeing out of Smalley this year with two top 6’s, and three top 16’s over his last four starts. He had his first gain with the putter last week in seven starts – his ball-striking is good, around the green play is quite decent, and if his flat stick shows up again this week, then he should hold his own in TN. St. Jude Classic and WGC finishes at TPC Southwind over the last five years: None.
