Fantasy Golf Predictions
Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions – WGC-Fedex St. Jude Invitational
Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions for the WGC-Fedex St. Jude Invitational
WGC-Fedex St. Jude Invitational Fantasy Preview
There’s always a fun debate to be had in golf handicapping in deciding which formula is most successful when drafting your DFS roster – do you want premium ball-strikers who find some heat with the putter, or reliable putters who suddenly find something from tee-to-green?
Well, Michael Thompson struck a blow for the latter camp when he took down the 3M Open ahead of Tony Finau and a host of other ball-strikers.
Thompson was outstanding with irons in hand at TPC Twin Cities, and while there was a significant charge from a number of players on Sunday, the 35-year-old held firm with a round of 67 of his own including a birdie at the last. It was just his second PGA TOUR win and his first since the Honda Classic in 2013.
There is a genuine feeling that the ante is being upped on Tour these next few weeks. The first WGC of the restart – the FedEx St Jude Invitational – takes center stage this week, followed by the first major of the calendar year with the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park starting August 6.
Last Week’s Fantasy Results
Our top guy last week was Tony Finau who poured on an impressive display finishing T3 with 4 round under 70 with 20 birdies and an eagle on the week.
Straka and Gooch offered some cheaper fire power with their T18 finishes, but no Michael Thompson on our radar last week.
We’ll. be honest, it wasn’t our best week. Time to shake it off and head into another big WGC event!
2020 WGC-Fedex St. Jude Invitational Field
Just 78-men make up these WGC fields, and there’s plenty of quality operators on show as form is hunted ahead of the business end of the campaign.
The newly-anointed Jon Rahm makes his first start as the OWGR number one, and he will be looking to hold off a number of players looking to take that crown away from him – Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Bryson DeChambeau to name just three.
Defending champion Brooks Koepka will be looking to arrest his slide in form, and he will be joined at TPC Southwind by Dustin Johnson and Daniel Berger – a duo who boast a recent PGA TOUR win to their name and a pair of victories at this course into the bargain.
Henrik Stenson makes his first start anywhere for months, while European Tour regulars Shaun Norris and Sebastian Soderberg will be hoping to make an impression as they make a rare start Stateside.
This Week’s Course Preview
It’s off to a wet and wild Memphis, Tennessee this week.
Last year was the first time that TPC Southwind had been granted WGC status, but it’s not hard to see why given that this Ron Pritchard layout is well respected by the peers.
It’s what we might term a ‘fair’ test of golf. The fairways are fairly narrow which promotes accuracy off the tee, and the slick Bermuda greens are fast and bouncy – weather permitting, of course.
It means that this track is an excellent all-round test of skills, with long and short game challenged in equal measure.
But there’s a decent bit of length to this Par 70 real estate at 7,244 yards, and as you would expect it is the two Par 5s which are by far the easiest holes on the course – the 530-yard sixteenth saw more eagles than bogeys last year.
The Par 4 second and fifteenth can be driven by the longer hitters too, although it’s not all a question of length with nine of the holes averaging over par last year for those straying too far from the short stuff. As for the 230-yard Par 3 fourteenth, well, you can probably imagine how tough that plays when the wind is blowing.
Weather Forecast for Memphis, TN
You would expect a trip to the South to bring plenty of hot sun and trouser-shredding winds.
Well, we should have plenty of the latter – the breeze looks set to be consistent at around the 10-12 mph mark across the four days.
But the sun is only expected to make a fleeting appearance, with heavy rain and thunderstorms the order of the day in the early forecast with none of the four days missing out on a downpour or two.
At least it will still be warm though, with the mercury consistent at the 80-82°F.
Last Year’s Results for WGC-Fedex St. Jude Invitational
It’s promotion to a WGC event saw the St Jude Invitational attract a high-quality field to TPC Southwind.
Jon Rahm took to the new surroundings with aplomb, opening up a three-shot lead after the first round and standing six clear of the man who would later go on to usurp him, Brooks Koepka.
It wasn’t until the weekend until Koepka made his move, carding 64-65 – nobody played the closing 36 holes better – to climb to the summit of the leaderboard at -16, three clear of the field to land yet another major payday.
Webb Simpson was the next best at -13, with Marc Leishman at -12 and a European trio tied in T4 – Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick.
Brooks Koepka’s winning highlights from WGC-FedEx St. Jude 2019
In the 2019 World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, Brooks Koepka claimed his seventh victory on the PGA TOUR with rounds of 68-67-64-65 to finish at 16-under at TPC Southwind. SUBSCRIBE to PGA TOUR now: http://pgat.us/vBxcZSh The World Golf Championships – FedEx St. Jude Invitational is contested at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee.
Where to Play Fantasy Golf for WGC-Fedex St. Jude Invitational this Week
There’s no Milly Maker on DK this week for the St Jude, and so you wonder if they have something big up their sleeves for the PGA Championship next week. This time around, there’s still a varied slate of both large and smaller scale contests.
- PGA $1.75M Southwind Special: It’s not quite a Milly Make – the winner banks $500k, but there is a nice balance to the prize slate in this contest with the top 35 players home winning at least $1k for their $25 entry.
- PGA $300k Drive the Green: For smaller budget players, this particular contest only costs $3 to enter and still features a handsome $50k top prize. The first 135 players win at least $100.
This Week’s Fantasy Notes for WGC-Fedex St. Jude Invitational
Normally, TPC Southwind is perfect for players happy in hot, sweaty and fast conditions. However, the weather forecast may have something to say about that in 2020, and it will be interesting to see if the greenkeepers can keep their Bermuda surfaces running at around 12.5 on the stimp.
There’s a bit of wind in the forecast too, and you wonder if the rough will be left up to give this event a genuine WGC feel? After all, only seven players finished double-digits under par last year.
There are some doglegging holes and some interesting sightlines off the tee, and with some fairways narrowing there is an emphasis on long, accurate driving – even if the first cut of rough isn’t that penal, traditionally speaking.
The great thing about TPC Southwind is that every aspect of a golf game is tested. There’s a need to controlled length off the tee and to land drives in the right areas of fairways to allow a sighter of the green, and – given their small size – there is a demand to chip well with missed greens a likelihood.
And you’re not going to win a tournament of this stature unless you putt well, so it will surely take a classy performance to win the WGC St Jude Invitational this week.
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Our Top 5 (and Top 2 Sleeper) Fantasy Picks and Odds to Win WGC-Fedex St. Jude Invitational
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Top 5 Picks/Odds to Win WGC-Fedex St. Jude Invitational
Top Tier Pick:
Justin Thomas (Odds: 12/1, FPPG: 86.0, GPFP: 111.80 Salary: $10,700)
They say that golf is a game of numbers.
The prescience of that statement will not be lost on Justin Thomas, currently standing number one in the FedEx Cup standings and third in the OWGR. He will be eyeing Rahm enviously.
Other numbers of note for JT include 12 career wins worldwide – two of them coming this season, and eight top-10 finishes in 13 starts this season.
Thomas was one number short of winning the Workday Charity Open in his penultimate start on the PGA TOUR, and his season-long stats – first for Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, ninth for Scrambling – reveal a player who can get it done in any conditions.
The 27-year-old has connections in this part of the US thanks to his upbringing in Kentucky and his college studies in Alabama, and if his putter heats up – as it can very much do on Bermuda – Thomas will surely go very close this week.
Key Stats:
- SG: Tee-to-Green – 1st
- Birdie Average – 3rd
- Scrambling – 9th
Top-Tier Pick #2:
Xander Schauffele (Odds: 22/1, FPPG: 82.3, GPFP: 65.86 Salary: $9,800)
It’s a top-heavy roster this week, but it would be foolish to ignore Xander Schauffele given how well he played at the Memorial Tournament.
He drove the ball impeccably in tough conditions at Muirfield Village, and ranking first for GIR at one of the sternest tests the players have seen in quite some time is absolutely no mean feat.
You suspect in time that Schauffele will become something of a specialist in these small green assignments on Bermuda, as he showed when winning the Tournament of Champions earlier in the year and in other top-10s at the RBC Heritage and the Phoenix Open.
What a great way to continue that tradition this week….
Key Stats:
- Greens in Regulation – 3rd
- SG: Off-the-Tee – 7th
- Scoring Average – 8th
Mid-Tier Pick #1:
Jason Day (Odds: 40/1, FPPG: 56.4, GPFP: 62.58 Salary: $8,200)
It’s official – Jason Day is the best player around the greens on the PGA TOUR.
One of the reasons the Aussie does so well at Pete Dye courses is because he can let his short game shine on that architect’s notoriously small greens, and the same set-up is in play at TPC Southwind too.
A prolific champion, Day is able to stand up to the game’s absolute elite when his body stands up to the rigors of modern golf, and his recent form – T4 at the Memorial, T7 at the Workday Charity Open – shows that he is in good heart right now.
Key Stats:
- SG: Around-the-Green – 1st
- Scoring Average – 24th
- SG: Putting – 56th
Mid-Tier Pick #2:
Chez Reavie (Odds: 125/1, FPPG: 58.2, GPFP: 53.51 Salary: $6,700)
There are no frills and no airs and graces to Chez Reavie’s game, and that stands him in good stead at courses like TPC Southwind where trouble lurks if you try to do too much with your ball.
The 38-year-old has a string of form of 27-6-4 at this layout, and that is primarily because he is so good with both irons and wedges in hand.
A lack of length could hurt him in this illustrious company, but we’re always happy to get behind a player who relentlessly finds fairways, and if he finds something with the putter on greens he clearly enjoys then another strong run from Reavie is not out of the question.
Key Stats:
- Driving Accuracy – 6th
- SG: Around-the-Green – 26th
- SG: Approach – 56th
Low-Tier Pick:
Mackenzie Hughes (Odds: 150/1, FPPG: 50.3, GPFP: 40.21 Salary: $6,400)
The Canadian has been playing some excellent golf since the restart, and if TPC Southwind plays firm and fast – if the weather somehow holds – it will be right up Mackenzie Hughes’ street.
He excels at courses with small greens where chipping and scrambling become key – T3 at TPC River Highlands and T6 at the Memorial Tournament are proof of that.
Indeed, in his last six starts on the PGA TOUR Hughes has finished T6 or better in three of them, and he is ready to compete with the great and good of world golf.
Key Stats:
- SG: Around-the-Green – 9th
- SG: Putting – 27th
- Driving Distance – 89th
Sleeper Pick for WGC-Fedex St. Jude Invitational
Matt Wallace (Odds: 125/1, FPPG: 56.1, GPFP: 44.90 Salary: $6,700)
If the weather does take a turn for the funky then TPC Southwind could become something of a battleground this week, in which case you’ll want tough cookies like Matt Wallace on side.
The Brit loves a scrap and his game is well suited to it too, with an excellent scrambling and chipping technique that gets him out of trouble more often than not.
This would represent the biggest win of his career, of course, but Wallace is already fairly prolific in Europe with four wins prior to turning 30 – he studied in Alabama, too.
Key Stats:
- SG: Around-the-Green – 7th
- SG: Putting – 55th
- Par 5 Birdie or Better Leaders – 63rd
Alternative Sleeper Pick for WGC-Fedex St. Jude Invitational
Byeong Hun An (Odds: 160/1, FPPG: 62.5, GPFP: 50.15 Salary: $6,500)
In we go again with the incomprehensible inconsistent Byeong Hun An.
The Korean is such a good player that he really ought to be a multiple PGA TOUR winner by now, and the reason he isn’t is because he simply can’t putt for toffee.
However, he does seem to give it a good roll on faster greens, and with greens likely to be missed by all this week the hope is that his outstanding chipping game can get him closer to the hole than most in the field.
Key Stats:
- SG: Around-the-Green – 16th
- Driving Distance – 23rd
- Par 4 Scoring Average – 68th
This Week’s Sample DraftKings Lineup
Note: Sample lineups provided as examples only. Be sure to mix-and-match players to best fit individual contests.
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Fantasy Golf Predictions This Season (2019-2020)
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