Golf betting tips: Preview and tips for the 2022 FedEx St Jude Championship

This year, the rebranded FedEx St Jude Championship replaces the Northern Trust to lead off the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

The Top 125 players qualify for The FedEx St St Jude Championship based on FedEx Cup points amassed during the regular PGA Tour season.

In 2019, the FedEx Cup Playoffs were reduced from four events to three. The Playoffs feature a progressive cut, with fields of 125 for this week’s FedEx St Jude Championship, 70 for the BMW Championship and 30 for the Tour Championship.

The FedEx St Jude Championship will cut the field to low 70 and ties after 36 holes, while the BMW Championship and Tour Championship are no-cut events.

The first two Playoff events award 2,000 points to the winner (quadruple points of regular season events), while the Tour Championship, features a strokes-based system called the FedEx Cup Starting Strokes.

The total bonus pool for the FedExCup Playoffs is $75 million, with the FedExCup Champion earning $18 million.

The FedEx St Jude Championship debuted in May 1958 as the Memphis Open and is played annually in Memphis, Tennessee. TPC Southwind has served as tournament host since 1989.

Course Overview

TPC Southwind stands out as one of the more grueling tee-to-green tests on the PGA Tour schedule. It is a 7,200+ yard Par 70 that was designed by Ron Prichard with Hubert Green and Fuzzy Zoeller as player consultants. Each of the holes was meticulously crafted to balance ‘play-ability‘ with strategy.

The course was remodeled in 2004 with new bunkering, additional trees planted, fairways re-contoured and narrowed and over 200 yards added in length. The Par 5 fifth was converted to a Par 4 reducing the overall par to 70. Water is in play on 10 holes and half the holes are dog-legs.

TPC Southwind continually ranks as one of the most challenging tracks for both Driving Accuracy and Greens in Regulation. Greens are smaller than the Tour standard and are undulating which translates into smaller target areas and tricky pin positions.

Players will miss greens and an important statistic to look at this week is Scrambling and Bogey Avoidance. It stands out as a track than should suit the experienced and patient professional.

2021 WGC FedEX St Jude Invitational | Abraham Ancer

Last year, Abraham Ancer, carded a final round -3 (68) to finish at -16 (264), to earn a place in a playoff with Hideki Matsuyama and Sam Burns. A birdie at the second playoff hole was enough to secure victory and his first PGA Tour title.

2020 WGC FedEX St Jude Invitational | Justin Thomas

The 2020 champion, Justin Thomas, carded a final round -5 (66) to finish at -13 (267), three shots clear of four players which included Brooks Koepka, Tom Lewis, Phil Mickelson and Daniel Berger. It was JT’s 13^th PGA Tour victory and his 3^rd win of the season.

Tee-to-green is where all the magic happened for Thomas. He topped the field in Strokes Gained Tee-To-Green which translated a gain of just over 13 strokes on the field average for the week. In particular his approach play was dialed-in. He finished 2^nd in Strokes Gained Approach-The-Green which accounted for nearly an 8 stroke gain. Surprisingly for Thomas, he finished with a negative Strokes Gained Putting, placing 55th for the stat. Other stats for the week include T12 for Driving Accuracy, T44 for Driving Distance, T7 for GIR and T45 in Putts per GIR.

2019 WGC FedEX St Jude Invitational | Brooks Koepka

In 2019, Brooks Koepka, won by three strokes from Webb Simpson to capture the WGC FedEx St Jude Invitational. He closed with a bogey free -5 (65) to finish -16 (264) for the week. It was his seventh PGA Tour title and first WGC win.

Koepka’s game tee-to-green laid the foundation for his victory finishing the week 6th in the Strokes Gained Tee-To-Green category. However, the lion’s share of his gain came from the flat-stick. He topped the field in the Strokes Gained Putting stat which yielded an impressive 9.346 strokes on the field average for the week. Other stats include T9 for Driving Accuracy, 4th for Driving Distance, T8 for GIR and 7th in Putts per GIR.

2018 FedEx St Jude Classic | Dustin Johnson

In 2018, Dustin Johnson holed out for eagle on the Par 4 18th to finish on a score of -19 (261). He won by six strokes from Andrew Putnam with JB Holmes a further 4 shots back. Johnson only squared 4 bogeys for the week shooting rounds of 67-63-65-66 on his way to victory.

Johnson put on an exhibition tee-to-green gaining almost 17 strokes on the field average in the Strokes Gained Tee-To-Green category. This accounted for over 80% of his shots gained for the tournament. DJ finished the tournament T36 for Driving Accuracy, 1st for Driving Distance, T10 for GIR and 2nd in Putts per GIR.

2017 FedEx St Jude Classic | Daniel Berger

In 2017, Daniel Berger successfully defended his title finishing the week on -10 (270), one stroke ahead of the chasing pack. Seven players finished within two strokes of the lead. Berger had this to say after the final round;

Berger’s game tee-to-green was sublime for the week and he topping the field in Strokes Gained Tee-To-Green. He gained an impressive 12.188 strokes on the field average for the week based on this stat. Other stats for the week include T36 for Driving Accuracy, 14th for Driving Distance, T10 for GIR and 2nd in Putts per GIR.

FedEx St Jude Championship Winning Formula

The following table details the Average Strokes Gained in each of the key strokes gained categories for the past five champions of the FedEx St Jude Championship.

Graphing the above Average Strokes Gained gives a visual check on the likely key areas required for success at this week’s FedEx St Jude Championship.

FedEx St Jude Championship Tips

WITHDRAWN Hideki Matsuyama 40/1 (E/W) – followed up a T20 at TPC Southwind in 2020 with a narrow miss in a playoff last year. The 30-year-old is enjoying a stellar season with multiple wins in the ZOZO Championship and Sony Open. The tee-to-green maestro places 7^th in this week’s Stats Analysis, he is also 14^th on Tour for Birdie Average and 25^th for GIR. Only question mark is his recent withdrawal from the recent 3M Open – he had a disastrous +6 (77) opening round citing wrist soreness. However, he does fit the archetype for success this week and no doubting he has the potential and skill-set to make it win No. 3 this season. Hard to resist at these odds.