St. Jude Classic: PGA Golf Odds And Predictions

A handful of PGA Tour players are tuning up for next week’s U.S. Open by playing in the St. Jude Classic in Memphis, and this year’s tournament is the end of an era of sorts.

St. Jude Classic Betting

Most golfers are very routine-oriented. That means some guys like playing the week before a major championship to get their game in tune while others simply won’t do it. As of now, 13 PGA Tour pros are set to play this week’s FedEx St. Jude Classic at TPC Southwind in Memphis ahead of next week’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, which promises to be a very tough test. No doubt many guys are there now practicing. Anyone who moves into the Top 60 of the world rankings following this event gets a U.S. Open spot if not already qualified.

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This is the last year that the St. Jude Classic will be played the week before the U.S. Open. It’s getting an upgrade starting in 2019 and moving to later in the summer as it will become the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. The WGC events are the second-biggest on Tour behind the four majors, and FedEx pretty much gets what it wants on Tour because it’s a major sponsor, including of the season-ending FedEx Cup playoffs. The company is based out of Memphis. The WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational will replace the current World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, which has been staged in Akron, Ohio, since 1999.

The Tour has held an event in Memphis every year since 1958 and it moved to TPC Southwind in 1989. It’s a par 70 measuring 7,244 yards. The par-3 11th hole is an island green similar to the famous one at TPC Sawgrass. The first player to ever shoot a 59 on the PGA Tour – the record is now 58 by Jim Furyk – was Al Geiberger at this event in 1977, although at a different course. The TPC Southwind record is a 61. It’s almost surely going to take at least 10-under par to win this week. It has every year but one since 2009.

St. Jude Classic Betting Odds

No. 2 Dustin Johnson is easily the highest-ranked player in the field and also the +700 favourite on the PGA odds board. He won this tournament in 2012 at 9 under by a stroke over John Merrick. DJ has two Top 10s here since but didn’t play in 2017. He comes off an eighth-place finish last week at the Memorial.

Reigning U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka is +900 with Phil Mickelson (one rare big name who tends to play the week before a major) at +1400 and Henrik Stenson +1600. Lefty seems to always contend here, with a worst finish of 11th in the past five but has yet to win it. Koepka was a runner-up in 2016 and third the year before. Stenson plays the tournament for the first time since 2012.

Daniel Berger is in a group at +2800, and he’s the two-time defending champion. Just 27 golfers all-time have won the same event three straight years and no one in Memphis.

Canadian Golf Odds

The highest-ranked Canadian, Adam Hadwin, isn’t playing. Corey Conners is +12500, Ben Silverman +15000, Mackenzie Hughes +25000, Nick Taylor +25000 and David Hearn also +25000. Conners missed the St. Jude cut in 2015 in his only appearance but comes off an eighth-place finish at the Fort Worth Invitational. Silverman, in his debut here, was 11th in Fort Worth. No Canadians have won this tournament, with Americans taking all but six of them.

St. Jude Classic Betting Predictions

We like Berger and Mickelson for Top 10s but the winner is South African Charl Schwartzel at +2800. He did miss the cut at the Memorial but had been playing very well prior to that with three straight Top 10s on Tour and was a co-runner-up in Memphis in 2017.