Fedex St Jude Championship
Overview
Dates: August 15, 2024 to August 18, 2024
Location: Memphis, Tennessee
Course: TPC Southwind
Course Par: 70
Course Length: 7243
Prize Purse: $20000000
Well as I am sure you are aware we took a week off for the Olympics.
The last few weeks have not been without incident. Kurt Kitayama’s eagle on the last at the 3M was nearly enough to break even on the week. Max Greyserman’s solo 2nd at the same tournament was enough for us to take another look at him at the Wyndham (Especially as he was widely offered at 70/1).
In a Hurricane Debby affected tournament, Greyserman seemed to confirm our faith. After a slowish first round, he ignited with a 60 in Rd 2 and followed that up with a 66 in round 3. In rd 4, Leading by 4 with 5 to play, he simply made a bad choice off the tee at the hardest hole all week no.14 ending up with a quad. He bounced back admirably with a birdie on 15 only to 3 stab 16 and parred in, sadly it wasn’t enough to prevent an excellent first PGA Tour win and FormGolfer favourite Aaron Rai to win by 2. We have recognised Aaron’s excellent play regularly this season but sadly not this week.
True to form Matt Kuchar showered himself with glory by opting to mark his ball while his playing partners finished, meaning he had to come out the next day to hit 3 shots on his own with all the other pro’s having left the night before. As a result, many staff who deserved a nice Monday off had to come in to make sure the tournament was complete.
Well Played Matt.
Preview
The season is nearing its climax as we head into the first of the three FedEx Cup playoffs, starting with the FedEx St Jude, held at TPC Southwind. Seventy players take their place in the field, with points quadrupled and only the top 50 heading forward to next week.
TPC Southwind plays host for the FedEx St Jude as the top 70 in the season-long points list take aim at the huge windfall on offer for whoever goes on to succeed in a couple of weeks’ time at East Lake. Measuring 7243 yards and playing to a par of 70, much of the challenge comes from the many water hazards on site, although the fairways are relatively generous. Lucas Glover coming off a win in the previous week at the Wyndham Championship was last year’s champion, beating Patrick Cantlay in a dramatic playoff. Back to back wins put him right in the frame for Ryder Cup selection but Zach Johnson opted for JT and Jordan Speith as captains picks (and we all know how that ended up). Unfortunately Lucas’s form has not reached the stella heights of last year and has failed to make the playoffs. Other previous winners on this course include Abraham Ancer, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Daniel Berger – there doesn’t appear to be any particular angle on specific strokes gained metrics, so it’s likely that the winner will need to have all parts of their game in decent order. With the greens being small and tricky to find, we’ll be putting a premium on approach accuracy.
Outrights
| Player | Points | Type | UK Odds | Places | Outright US Odds |
| Ludvig Aberg | 5 | Each Way | 18/1 | 7 | +2200 |
| Corey Connors | 3 | Each Way | 35/1 | 7 | +3500 |
| Russell Henley | 2.5 | Each Way | 35/1 | 7 | +3500 |
| Sepp Straka | 2 | Each Way | 66/1 | 7 | +7000 |
The 70 man field means a reduction in places and a slight adjustment in strategy to find value as the big guns rarely provide decent returns.
Our headline pick Ludvig Aberg is completing his first full season in 2024 having joined half way through 2023. Not a bad start to his professional career, 27 out of 32 cuts made, 1 PGA Tour Win, 1 DP World win, 3 runner ups, 7 top 5’s and 11 top ten’s earning $11.25m and of course a Ryder cup. 18/1 EW, 7 places (5 Points) seems good value here.
Second up is Cory Connors, his ball striking is highly regarded amongst his peers and at 33/1, 7 places (3 points) he represents solid value.
Thirdly, Russell Henley 35/1, 7 places (2.5) going under the radar every year and really shouldn’t. His performances at majors this year (and in general) and in pressure situations and hard courses display that his game is well suited for the big occasion.
Finally, our outsider pick really should’t be an outsider. 2 years ago Sepp Straka 66/1, 7 places (2points) lost in a playoff to Will Zalatoris and is very likely to have some good “Feels” around this weeks course.