FedEx St Jude Championship Betting Tips: 6 Southwind Selections From The Panel

The first leg of the PGA Tour Playoffs tees off on Thursday when 70 players compete at the FedExCup St Jude Championship where the weather should be hot and humid without much wind.

Two weeks ago, Kurt Kitayama obliged with a 40/1 winner for The Panel at the 3M Open and Emiliano Grillo also delivered a share from a top-20 finish, so hopefully there will be more success for the trip to Memphis, Tennessee.

Rory McIlroy, second in the standings, is skipping the event which means world number one Scottie Scheffler is a runaway 3/1 favourite on betting sites to win the tournament for a first time.

Scheffler finished fourth last year, three shots behind winner and 2021 runner-up Hideki Matsuyama, who can be backed at 40/1 with Betfred for a successful title defence.

TPC Southwind is average in terms of difficulty, but this par-70 course measuring 7,288 yards can be unforgiving if errant tee shots find the Bermuda rough, and water comes into play on 11 of the holes.

Players who hit the fairly tight tree-lined fairways then have the task of finding the small putting surfaces, so it’s no surprise that winners have generally excelled in the approach and tee-to-green statistics over the years.

Some players are under pressure to finish in the top 50 for next week’s BMW Championship and there are also crucial Ryder Cup rankings points up for grabs, which potentially means a tense four days in Germantown.

Once again, The Panel have picked out four outrights, a first-round leader and top 20 for their St Jude Championship betting tips.

St Jude Championship Betting Tips: Focus On Fitzpatrick

With four wins in his last eight outings, it’s impossible to dismiss the merits of Open champion Scheffler, but with one top 10 here in seven visits, The Panel prefer to look elsewhere, starting with the resurgent Matt Fitzpatrick.

It’s been quite a year for the 2022 US Open champion who split with caddie Billy Foster and long-time coach Mike Walker in a bid to arrest a slump in form which began last year.

Fitzpatrick turned to Alabama-based English coach Mark Blackburn, who discovered his client had long arms - problematic when hitting irons - and poor shoulder flexion.

Since linking up with Blackburn, Fitzpatrick has posted five top 10s in his last 10 outings, including fourth place at both the Scottish Open and Portrush which saw him break back into the world’s top 40.

The Yorkshireman’s fourth successive top 10 came at last week’s Wyndham Championship during which he posted positive numbers in all the major metrics, so it’s clear he is on a roll as he heads to a course where he has excelled in previous visits.

In six appearances at the St Jude Championship, Fitzpatrick has finished sixth or better on three occasions.

At 41st in the FedExCup standings, Fitzpatrick still has work to do in order to make it to the Tour Championship at East Lake and he also hopes to be part of Luke Donald’s Ryder Cup team next month.

A combination of course and current form is exactly the sort of thing punters want when trying to pick a winner, so Fitzpatrick looks a livewire at 28/1 with golf betting sites. 

St Jude Championship Prediction 1: Matt Fitzpatrick (Each-Way) - 28/1 With PricedUp (Five Places)

St Jude Championship Betting Tips:

• Matt Fitzpatrick (Each-Way) - 28/1 With PricedUp (Five Places)
• Russell Henley (Each-Way) - 30/1 With Betfred (Five Places)
• Aaron Rai (Each-Way) - 40/1 With PricedUp (Five Places)
• Wyndham Clark (Each-Way) - 50/1 With Unibet (Six Places)
• Chris Kirk (Each-Way) First-Round Leader - 66/1 With Unibet (Six Places) 
• Chris Kirk Top 20 - 23/10 With Betfred

St Jude Championship Predictions: Henley Looks Hot

Russell Henley is no stranger to The Panel’s golf previews and the quiet American makes the cut once more on a course which favours accuracy over power.

Henley, like Fitzpatrick, has made the top 10 in his last four appearances – two of which were majors – and he also finished one shot behind Travelers Championship winner Keegan Bradley in June.

It’s been feast or famine for Henley at Southwind in the last 11 years where he has mixed three missed cuts with a couple of top 10s, including sixth place two years ago.

However, his skills suggest he should perform well here, standing eighth in the Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green stats and 14th for Approach. 

The Panel have enjoyed some success on Henley this year, namely the Arnold Palmer Invitational which he won at 35/1, and it would be no surprise if he repeated the trick this week.

Henley is 30/1 on betting apps and is the next of The Panel’s St Jude Championship betting tips. 

St Jude Championship Prediction 2: Russell Henley (Each-Way) - 30/1 With Betfred (Five Places)

St Jude Championship Betting Odds: Rai Of Hope

Englishman Aaron Rai is just outside the top 50 in the FedExCup rankings, so he needs a good four days if he is to make it to next week’s BMW Championship.

Rai warmed up for the St Jude Championship with an excellent performance at Sedgefield last week when he finished fifth.

Encouragingly, the 30-year-old from Wolverhampton topped both the Tee-to-Green and Approach rankings using the Strokes Gained measurement which should stand him in good stead at this course.

Twelve months ago, Rai carded a bogey-free three-under-par 67 to finish 16th at Southwind where he also finished 12th in 2019.

Although he has yet to post a top 10 in five visits to this track, last week’s display – admittedly against a much inferior field – suggests he could go well and secure a place in the second leg of the Playoffs at Caves Valley Golf Club.

Rai can be backed at 40/1 with PricedUp as The Panel’s third selection.

St Jude Championship Prediction 3: Aaron Rai (Each-Way) - 40/1 With PricedUp (Five Places)

St Jude Championship Tips: Clark On A Roll

Wyndham Clark is another player who is peaking just in time for the Playoffs and makes the cut at 50/1.

After posting just four top 20s in the first six months of the season and incurring a ban from Oakmont for smashing a locker at the US Open, Clark is running into form: 11th at the Renaissance Club, fourth at Royal Portrush and 12th at the 3M Open.

Clark is only just inside the top 50 in the FedExCup rankings, so the pressure is on to keep the momentum going in time for the BMW Championship.

The American had a blemish-free card over the weekend at last year’s St Jude Championship where a closing 64 gave him a share of seventh place.

His approach and tee-to-green numbers have not been great this season, but Clark showed significant improvement with the former in his last outing at the 3M Open where only Kitayama was better and he was inside the top 10 with the latter.

Clark’s putting has also been on an upward trajectory, so if he can keep his emotions in check, a good week looks on the cards. 

St Jude Championship Prediction 4: Wyndham Clark (Each-Way) - 50/1 With Unibet (Six Places) 

St Jude Championship Top-20 Tips: Double Up On Kirk

Chris Kirk may not be entering the winner’s circle on Sunday night, but The Panel are with him for the final two selections, starting with a top-20 finish at 23/10 with Betfred.

Kirk would have paid out in that market in two of his last four visits to Southwind (sixth in 2019 and 16th two years ago) and his current form is also decent.

The American was 14th at the 3M Open and fifth last week, but don’t assume he is just a flat-track bully because he was 12th at the US Open.

All in all, Kirk has top 20s in four of his last six outings and it would be no surprise if he added to his tally – something he needs if he is to break into the top 50 in the FedExCup rankings.

St Jude Championship Prediction 5: Chris Kirk Top 20 - 23/10 With Betfred

St Jude Championship First-Round Leader Tips: Kirk Can Make Fast Start Again

Kirk also catches the eye at 66/1 with Unibet to be first-round leader just as he was at this course 12 months ago.

A hole in one at the 14th helped Kirk sit top of the leaderboard with an opening-round 64, despite blemishing his card with a bogey at the last.

Kirk has been bursting out of the blocks lately, seventh at both the Rocket Classic and the 3M Open, and also fired a four-under-par 66 at Sedgefield last week.

Solid from tee-to-green and approach, Kirk could be sitting pretty heading into Friday’s round. 

St Jude Championship Prediction 6: Chris Kirk (Each-Way) First-Round Leader - 66/1 With Unibet (Six Places)