Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – The FedEx St. Jude Classic

2018 FedEx St. Jude Classic Fantasy Sleeper Report

We are just one week away from the second major of the calendar year, the US Open, and while the host venue, Shinnecock Hills, might be a new layout for many of us to get to grips with, one thing we can be sure of is that it will provide a stern test for the best players on the planet.

One player who might just pique the interest of punters is Bryson DeChambeau, who won the second PGA TOUR title of his career at the Memorial Tournament over the weekend. The mercurial talent saw off Kyle Stanley and Byeong-hun An in a playoff at Muirfield Village to cement his status as one of the best young prospects in the game, and his methodical approach could certainly yield results at what many consider to be the toughest major on the rotation.

Bryson DeChambeau poses with the trophy after winning The Memorial…

Bryson DeChambeau poses with the trophy after winning The Memorial Tournament Presented By Nationwide at Muirfield Village Golf Club on June 3, 2018 in Dublin, Ohio. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

Of course, there is one more item of business to take care of first and that’s this week’s FedEx St Jude Classic, which will once again be hosted by TPC Southwind. Once again forced into a pre-US Open timeslot, the field is somewhat weaker than normal with many choosing to work at their craft away from prying eyes. For those in the field, it’s one last opportunity to find that moment of magic that just makes a game click together.

Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Henrik Stenson….these are the guys who want to head to Shinnecock Hills with a hot hand.

But this is also an event where it feels as though an outsider – who doesn’t have to worry about the US Open, simply because they won’t be there – could come to the fore. Their focus will solely be on picking up a trophy, trousering a paycheque and banking some FedExCup points; this is one of those events where the sleeper plays really could come to the party.

That is, of course, if they ca get past Daniel Berger, the two-time champion here looking to complete the PGA TOUR’s first three-peat since Steve Stricker’s triple-hand at the John Deere Classic. Can he make it a hat-trick this week? Stranger things have happened….

Another reason why we might see a sleeper win at Southwind is because this course is fabulously inclusive. It’s a short 7,244 yard Par 70, and with just two par 5s to attack this is not a week where the bombers will have any real advantage. Keeping your ball in play and avoiding bogeys is the key strategy in Memphis, Tennessee.

So who do we think can get the job done at a lofty price with the sportsbooks? Let’s dive into a few of this week’s favorite sleepers…

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The FedEx St. Jude Classic Fantasy Sleeper Report

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The FedEx St. Jude Classic Fantasy Sleeper Report

Peter Uihlein – Vegas Odds 50/1 – It has taken him a while, but the penny seems to have dropped for Peter Uihlein on the PGA TOUR.

Prodigiously talented, he had a great time on the European Tour and won one of the toughest Web.com Tour events, the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, in 2017.

But he has struggled to take that form onto the main tour….until recently. Fifth at the Wells Fargo Championship, Uihlein repeated that feat at the Memorial Tournament last week where a closing round of 66 was mightily impressive.

Naturally long, these shorter courses might just suit the 28-year-old as he can keep his temperamental driver holstered, by and large, and that should give his strong iron game – he ranked ninth for SG: Approach at Muirfield Village – a chance to thrive.

Russell Knox – Vegas Odds 55/1 – Another player who routinely gets stuck into Par 70/71 layouts is Russell Knox.

The Scot has top-10s to his name in this event, the Sony Open and the OHL Classic, and was T16 in the AT&T Byron Nelson just a couple of weeks ago.

Short and straight off the tee, Knox was in good form at the Memorial last week in gaining more than a stroke on the field from tee to green, but once again the flat stick let him down.

But perhaps a switch back to Bermuda, which is native to his adopted home of Florida, will pay dividends.

Tom Hoge – Vegas Odds 125/1 – There is a concern that Hoge’s erratic driving could lead him into trouble at Southwind, but an okay-ish record here of MC-34-12 at least suggests he knows which fairways to miss and where.

The real skill in his game is on approach, and Hoge is also an excellent scrambler. That recipe earned him a T13 finish at the Memorial last week, and extends a fine season in which roughly a third of his starts have delivered top-25 finishes.

He has played well at Waialae and Torrey Pines this season, and that suggests he is capable of mixing it when the weather conditions are tricky and the fairways are hard to find.

Like many other tee-to-green merchants, Hoge needs a good week with the putter to go low, and last week the hard work he has been putting in with the putter appeared to be paying dividends.

Ben Crane – Vegas Odds 125/1 – Crane is playing some of his best golf so far this season right now, and that’s timely ahead of a trip to a course he clearly enjoys.

Not the most consistent of players, there’s a rather big cue that Crane loves Southwind in his return of 10-41-37-1-18; yes, one of his five PGA TOUR titles came here in 2014.

Within his last four starts the 42-year-old has finished T11 at the Texas Open and T8 in the Fort Worth Invitational, and so you don’t need to be a genius that, on paper at least, Crane should have another good run this week too.

Patton Kizzire – Vegas Odds 250/1 – This is one of those bets you place when you believe the sportsbooks have gotten the prices wrong.

Is there less chance of Kizzire, who has already won at two correlating courses in Mayakoba and Waialae this season, winning this event than the likes of Denny McCarthy, Scottie Scheffler and Cody Gribble?

The answer is a big fat no, and so we can conclude that Kizzire is a value bet this week, even if his form is rather poor.

He missed four cuts in a row between Augusta and Sawgrass without ever stinking the place out, but has at least made the weekend in his last two starts in the Fort Worth and Memorial.

The element of risk is built into the price, of course, but to be able to back a proven winner on short tracks at this kind of number is almost too good to be true.

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Want more of this week’s fantasy predictions? Check out our full fantasy preview for FedEx St. Jude Classic here.

Sleeper Report Predictions This Season (2017-2018)

[skill_bar heading=”Total Top 3s” percent=”2.14%” bar_text=”3 out of 140 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 10s” percent=”9.28%” bar_text=”13 out of 140 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 25s” percent=”26.43%” bar_text=”37 out of 140 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Winners Picked” percent=”3.57%” bar_text=”1 out of 28 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Runners-Up Picked” percent=”3.57%” bar_text=”1 out of 28 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Made Cuts (Includes Sleepers)” percent=”61.42″ bar_text=”86 out of 140 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″]

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