FedEx St Jude Championship 2022
Overview
Dates: August 11, 2022 to August 14, 2022
Location: Tennessee, USA
Course: TPC Southwind
Course Par: 70
Course Length: 7243 yards
Prize Purse: $15000000
The FedEx Cup playoffs begin this week with the FedEx St Jude Championship outside Memphis, a city that’s held a PGA Tour event every year since 1958. Tony Finau looks to defend his title from last season’s FedEx Cup opener after recently winning back-to-back titles on Tour.
Results
The first of the FedEx playoffs saw Will Zalatoris finally secure his maiden PGA Tour title, following a crazy playoff against Sepp Straka. It made for compelling viewing, although disappointingly none of our picks were in contention. Sungjae Im performed best, continuing his recent return to form with a solid-enough tie for 12th. But that was as good as it got for us on this occasion.
Preview
In a flash, the regular season is behind us and the three FedEx Cup playoffs start this week with the top 125 qualifying and only the top 70 after this event moving onwards. Unfortunately it takes place against a background of last-minute litigation as three of the LIV defectors are trying to squeeze their way into the field by overturning their PGA Tour bans. Evidently the money they are receiving from their new employer isn’t enough.
It’s been a frustrating few weeks for us, seeing two golfers we flagged at The Open in Tony Finau and Joohyung Kim go on to pick up the next three events between them. A little bit of luck and good timing is required in this game and having been on the right end of it a few times earlier in the year, we’ve definitely seen the other side of the coin recently. Sometimes it’s worth sticking with players for a few weeks when you feel they’re running into form, and we’ll follow that thread with a couple of our selections.
As you would expect, the field this week is stuffed with talent and the list of potential winners is a long one. Over the years, TPC Southwind has been a venue that favours exceptional tee-to-green play, with most winners scoring particularly well on that measure.
Outrights
| Player | Points | Type | UK Odds | Places | Outright US Odds |
| Taylor Pendrith | 2 | each way | 90/1 | 8 | +10000 |
| Xander Schauffele | 3 | each way | 18/1 | 8 | +2000 |
| Max Homa | 1.5 | each way | 55/1 | 8 | +6000 |
| Davis Riley | 15 | each way | 90/1 | 8 | +10000 |
| SungJae Im | 2 | each way | 25/1 | 10 | +3500 |
We’ll start this week’s selections with a relative longshot in Taylor Pendrith (2pts each way, 90/1, 8 places). Having missed a good chunk of the season due to a rib injury acquired in March, he has returned in cracking form, posting some solid finishes and excellent TTG stats. Given the potential for further improvement after his absence, he is easy to include at the price available.
Xander Schauffele (3pts each way, 18/1, 8 places) doesn’t win as often as his talent and consistency would suggest he should, but he’s been trending the right way in the latter part of the season and my sense is that he might fancy a big run at the FedEx title this year. Second in the field TTG over the last three months, he makes the post appeal of the market leaders, with his game arguably better suited to this venue than McIlroy, who is a worth favourite but on a tight and tricky course may not be seen to best effect here.
Max Homa (1.5pts each way, 55/1, 8 places) has had a very solid season and his TTG stats shape up well – like Pendrith, he is in very close proximity to Jordan Spieth, Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Smith, Will Zalatoris and ahead of Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm in recent months. Yet he is available at a much bigger price than any of those, and his putting form is an added bonus.
Davis Riley (1.5pts each way, 90/1, 8 places) had an expensive hour on Sunday for FG followers, throwing away what looked like a great chance to pick up some nice place money for us. But he showed himself to be in decent form and at a much bigger price this week (admittedly in a much deeper field), I’m happy to give him another chance.
I’m also reluctant to let SungJae Im (2pts each way, 25/1, 10 places) go unbacked this week, having secured a T2 for us in the Wyndham. I’m convinced he’s back on an upward curve, he’s shown in recent years that he’s capable of churning out good finishes week after week and if he can cut out the careless errors with his putter he’s surely capable of adding another win to his CV before long.
There are many others for whom a win wouldn’t surprise at all. Tony Finau is in the form of his life and the fact that he’s clearly found the key to winning could see him finally realise his potential over the next 12 months. Joohyung Kim’s performance last week was remarkable, surging back from an opening quadruple bogey to ultimately win with something in hand. He played superbly last week and I’m convinced we’ll hear a lot more from this kid in the years ahead. Only a slightly compressed price puts me off. And Cameron Young, as always, was in my thinking, but I feel 30/1 quotes are about right – not quite enough to warrant inclusion.
The first of the FedEx playoffs saw Will Zalatoris finally secure his maiden PGA Tour title, following a crazy playoff against Sepp Straka. It made for compelling viewing, although disappointingly none of our picks were in contention. Sungjae Im performed best, continuing his recent return to form with a solid-enough tie for 12th. But that was as good as it got for us on this occasion.