Fantasy Golf Predictions – 2013 FedEx St. Jude Classic

Fantasy Golf Predictions for the 2013 FedEx St. Jude Classic, June 6-10th, 2013

Preview:   The final tune-up before golf’s next biggest stage (the US Open) will kick off this week in Memphis, Tennessee at TPC Southwind. Last year, we saw Dustin Johnson emerge with a strong victory here before heading over to Olympic Country Club for last year’s Open.  There are a lot of hot golfers in the field this week, most of which will be contending next week for a chance at a major.

The Course:  TPC Southwind measures 7,239 yards and plays as a par 70. The course was built on a dairy farm just south of Memphis, and was recently upgraded in 2004 to reshape several holes adding yardage and replacing its bentgrass greens with more heat-tolerant Bermuda grass. Southwind’s par-3 11th hole is similar to the 17th at TPC Sawgrass, requiring a short iron over water to a small island green. In January 2012, TPC Southwind was ranked No. 23 in Golf World magazine’s Exclusive PGA Tour Course Rankings. The course has long been rated one of the more challenging tracks on the PGA Tour schedule.

Photo by TPC.com

The Weather at TPC Southwind (from Weather.com):

• Round 1: Thursday (June 6) 80 degrees, 60% chance of rain, scattered T-storms.
• Round 2: Friday (June 7) 79 degrees, 20% chance of rain, partly cloudy.
• Round 3: Saturday (June 8) 81 degrees, 10% chance of rain, partly cloudy.
• Round 4: Sunday  (June 9) 85 degrees, 20% chance of rain, partly cloudy.

2012 Results:  After a being laid up for two and half months with a back injury, Dustin Johnson returned to the TOUR to beat John Merrick on the final day for a one-stroke victory.  His birdies at 16 and 17 helped him finish off a 4-under-par 66, which turned out to be good enough when Rory McIlroy, Chad Campbell and Nick O’Hern all put their tee shots into the lake on 18. Earlier, DJ had to shut it down for a while due to a back injury that, from what we understand, was caused by wave running.  He left Memphis as the first player since Tiger Woods to win in each of his first five seasons on the circuit since leaving college.

Notes:  Johnson, who hasn’t done much since his kick off win at Kapalua, comes into Memphis having played just three competitive rounds since the Masters. He withdrew after one round at THE PLAYERS, and then missed the cut at Memorial. Phil Mickelson is also back in contention this week but will be changing up his usual pre-Open schedule. Phil typically plays the Memorial, but sat out this year to schedule St. Jude.

Top 5 Picks/Odds to Win The 2013 FedEx St. Jude Classic:

• Brandt Snedeker (Golficity Odds 6/2): Snedeker missed cut at Muirfield Village last week (a course that has always taken a particular toll on Brandt). The Nashville native already has has six top 10s under his belt this year and ranks 10th in fairways hit, 11th in GIR, 18th in strokes gained-putting, 11th in adjusted scoring and first in par-4 scoring. This guy has to win at some point this year, and we think this could be his week…watch out.
• Boo Weekley (Golficity Odds 13/1): Weekly was stellar two weeks ago at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial grabbing the win away from last week’s winner Matt Kuchar. Boo is 5-for-7 in cuts made at Southwind with a T4 in 2008 and currently ranks 17th in fairways hit and fourth in greens in regulation.
•  Phil Mickelson(Golficity Odds 20/1):  This will be the third appearance here (2001, 2009) for the well-rested Phil, who missed the cut at THE PLAYERS and took third the week before at Quail Hollow (his third top-three finish of the season). Mickelson is currently eighth in strokes gained-putting and 27th in adjusted scoring.
• Ryan Palmer (Golficity Odds 22/1): We like the strength with which Palmer has been playing lately who rested last week after a T14 at Colonial (where he opened with a 62), his third top 15 in six starts. Both of his cuts made in five starts at TPC Southwind are top 10s and he came out T3 here last year.
• Dustin Johnson (Golficity Odds 36/1): The defending champ won in his debut at TPC Southwind in what was also just his second start following nearly three months off with a back injury. DJ hasn’t done much on TOUR this year since his win at Kapalua, but has the ability to repeat here.

Sleeper Picks/Odds to Win:

• DA Points (Golficity Odds 50/1):  The hot DA Points cooled off a bit last week at Memorial, missing the cut by four after having a string of made cuts at 7. In that stretch he had four top 15s, including a win and a solo second. During his recent run, Points jumped a whopping 92 spots to a season-best T81 in strokes gained-putting.
• Scott Stallings (Golficity Odds 50/1): Scott comes into Memphis with two consecutive T4s and with three total on the season. He sits 57th in FedExCup points and has been very consistent throughout the year.  Stallings ranks 37th in the all-around and the Tennessee Tech grad tied for 25th in his debut here in 2011.

Last Week’s Fantasy Golf Predictions Results (The 2013 Memorial Tournament)

Top 5 Picks/Odds to Win

• Tiger Woods (Golficity Odds 6/2):  T65
• Justin Rose (Golficity Odds 13/1):  T8
• Brandt Snedeker (Golficity Odds 20/1): MC
•  Matt Kuchar (Golficity Odds 22/1):  WINNER
•  Jimmy Walker (Golficity Odds 36/1): 73

Sleeper Picks/Odds to Win:

•  Adam Scott (Golficity Odds 50/1):   T13
•  Billy Horschel (Golficity Odds 50/1):  T41

[embedplusvideo height=”365″ width=”600″ standard=”http:http://www.youtube.com/v/o-bFC2egoeM?fs=1&hd=1″ vars=”ytid=o-bFC2egoeM&width=600&height=365&start=&stop=160&rs=w&hd=1&autoplay=0&react=0&chapters=&notes=” id=”ep6228″ /]

Sign up for our Free Golficity Newsletter to receive our Fantasy Golf Predictions in your inbox each week.

(Cover Photo Credit)