FedEx St. Jude Championship Betting Advice

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FedEx St. Jude Championship Betting Advice
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The FedEx Cup Playoffs start this week, but the FedEx St. Jude Championship hasn’t been at the forefront of the golf news cycle. Instead, it’s been the off-the-course stuff that’s dominated the headlines.  

On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Beth Labson Freeman ruled the three LIV players, Talor Gooch, Matt Jones and Hudson Swafford, are not eligible to compete in this week’s tournament. 

The LIV players were attempting to secure a temporary restraining order that would have allowed them to take part in the first week of the FedEx Cup Playoffs.  

The judge’s ruling was just the latest battle between the PGA Tour and LIV. Phil Mickelson and other LIV players have also filed a lawsuit against the Tour on antitrust grounds, saying the Tour has engaged in anticompetitive behavior and is working with other golf entities to ban LIV players.  

But that’s not all that happened. Open winner Cameron Smith remained silent on whether he will be joining LIV. It has been reported he, and fellow Australian Marc Leishman are headed to LIV Golf, but during a Wednesday media conference, Smith didn’t commit one way or the other to either tour.  

Rickie Fowler also announced he split from his caddie, Joe Skovron, ending a 13-year relationship. Fowler missed the cut last week at the Wyndham Championship but ended up making the FedEx Playoffs by finishing right at No. 125.  

The LIV news will hang over the PGA Tour this weekend and for events to come, but the PGA won the first of many legal battles set to happen with LIV. Now, the Tour can also showcase one of its strongest fields of the year with the start of the FedEx Playoffs. To help you with your golf betting, we look at this week's tournament.

TPC Southwind 

At 7,243 yards, TPC Southwind is an average length par 70 course. The track has plenty of variation, with 11 doglegs, water in play on six holes and narrow fairways that are surrounded by penal rough. These obstacles will put an emphasis on off-the-tee performance, so that’s one area I’ll be targeting this week.  

Iron play is also critical. There are eight par 4s between 450-500 yards, meaning players with strong mid-iron games will have an advantage this week. Last year at TPC Southwind, each of the top six finishers all placed within the top nine in shots-gained approach. 

St. Jude Championship Favorites

PlayerOdds
Rory McIlroy +900
Justin Thomas +1400
Xander Schauffele +1400
Patrick Cantlay +1400
Matthew Fitzpatrick +1400
Scottie Scheffler +1400

Best Bet 

Viktor Hovland +3300 DraftKings Sportsbook 

What was lost in Cameron Smith’s back nine 30at St. Andrews to rally and secure The Open title from Rory McIlroy was Viktor Hovland’s no-show on Sunday. 

The Norwegian can partly be forgiven since it was his first time in contention on a Sunday at a major, and it showed. He entered Sunday tied with the lead and had some makeable putts early in the round to gain some momentum, but he eventually faded and did not factor into the win. 

It was a disappointing end for what otherwise was a strong ball-striking week for Hovland.  

Hovland has been one of the better ball strikers in recent history. Over the last 50 rounds, he’s in the top 10 of strokes gained: approach. He also ranks 19th on the season in average strokes gained: off-the-tee.  

A nice thing about these loaded fields is you can get longer odds on elite players such as Hovland. At a place that will emphasize ball striking, Hovland is worth a wager at +3300 at DraftKings.