The top 125 players in the season-long FedExCup standings qualified for the first leg of the PGA Tour playoffs starting Thursday. The best players in the world, or at least on the PGA side, gather in Memphis for the FedEx St. Jude Championship with the top 70 at the conclusion advancing to the BMW Championship next week. That puts added pressure on players below the cutoff line to perform well. One golfer not worried is Scottie Scheffler, ranked No. 1 in the world and the FedExCup points leader. Despite that, Scheffler finds himself behind betting favorite Rory McIlroy in the outright market and is also an underdog in their matchup. For the first time this event joins the playoff rotation taking the place of the Northern Trust, which was won by Tony Finau last year. Go to BookMaker.eu for a complete list of tournament matchup odds when you’re ready to place a wager.
FedEx St. Jude Championship Matchup Odds
Rory McIlroy -130 vs. Scottie Scheffler +100
Rory McIlroy -140 vs. Xander Schauffele +110
Scottie Scheffler -130 vs. Xander Schauffele +100
Patrick Cantlay -130 vs. Justin Thomas +100
Patrick Cantlay -125 vs. Cameron Smith -105
Justin Thomas -120 vs. Cameron Smith -110
Jon Rahm -120 vs. Tony Finau -110
Jon Rahm -115 vs. Matthew Fitzpatrick -115
Tony Finau -115 vs. Matthew Fitzpatrick -115
Will Zalatoris -150 vs. Cameron Young +120
Will Zalatoris -150 vs. Sam Burns +120
Cameron Young -125 vs. Sam Burns -105
Jordan Spieth -120 vs. Collin Morikawa -110
Jordan Spieth -125 vs. Viktor Hovland -105
Collin Morikawa -115 vs. Viktor Hovland -115
Sungjae Im -165 vs. Joohyung Kim +135
Sungjae Im -160 vs. Hideki Matsuyama +130
Joohyung Kim -110 vs. Hideki Matsuyama -120
Shane Lowry -155 vs. Tyrrell Hatton +125
Shane Lowry -125 vs. Billy Horschel -105
Tyrrell Hatton -105 vs. Billy Horschel -125
Joaquin Niemann -125 vs. Max Homa -105
Corey Conners -135 vs. Russell Henley +105
Adam Scott -115 vs. Keegan Bradley -115
Chris Kirk -125 vs. J.T. Poston -105
Harold Varner III -120 vs. Scott Stallings -110
Cameron Davis -115 vs. Sebastian Munoz -115
Justin Rose +100 vs. Alex Noren -130
Seamus Power -115 vs. Cameron Tringale -115
Maverick McNealy -115 vs. Denny McCarthy -115
Webb Simpson -145 vs. Marc Leishman +115
Lucas Herbert +105 vs. Troy Merritt -135
Kevin Kisner +110 vs. Chez Reavie -140
Sahith Theegala -115 vs. Jhonattan Vegas -115
John Huh -130 vs. Kurt Kitayama +100
K.H. Lee -115 vs. Taylor Moore -115
Doug Ghim +100 vs. Brandon Wu -130
Lucas Glover -115 vs. Rickie Fowler -115
Need to Know
Host of a PGA Tour event since 1989, TPC Southwind makes its first appearance on the playoff schedule. At over 7,200 yards and par 70, it hosted the limited field WGC since 2019 with Abraham Ancer emerging as the victor last year. This is the only playoff tournament of the three with a cut line so guys on the fringe can’t afford to leave valuable points on the course meaning things could get hectic. The course underwent changes ahead of the WGC, though it still yielded a sub-70 scoring average during its tenure. It does present some problems, though. The old dairy farm takes players through a natural stretch of lakes, ponds and creeks. Long and straight off the tee is helpful, but this is more of a second-shot course and hitting greens in regulation is huge.
FedEx St. Jude Championship Matchup Picks
Sam Burns -105 vs. Cameron Young
A three-time winner this season, Burns has bunched eight top-10s and six MCs in his 21 starts making him the ultimate boom or bust player. He’s slowed a bit recently finishing outside the top-25 three times with a MC over his last four starts so it’s possible we see him rebound to the form that produced five top-20s, including two wins and a runner-up, in his previous seven starts. And backing him at this price is worth the investment.
Xander Schauffele +110 vs. Rory McIlroy
Always looking for value there is plenty to be had in Schauffele, who’s been on a massive heater since his MC at the Masters. He finished among the top 18 in each of his last eight starts with three wins, including two in his last three outings. He was ‘just’ T15 last time out at The Open so hopefully the time off won’t affect him. At least his opponent is dealing with the same rest issues and at plus-odds backing the X-man looks like a good bet.
Jordan Spieth -120 vs. Collin Morikawa
His trip to Scotland went well giving Spieth a boost of confidence heading into this event. Following a T37 and MC, Spieth was his usual consistent self with a T10 at the Scottish Open and T8 at The Open Championship. He’s also played well at TPC Southwind with a pair of T12s over his last three starts where all but two of his rounds were 70 or lower.
Tyrrell Hatton -105 vs. Billy Horschel
With two MCs in 17 starts Hatton has put together a solid season. And he usually makes the most of his opportunities placing among the top-25 in 10 of his finishes. Two of those came on the Scotland swing and we saw Hatton get greased up for this event with a T8 at the Wyndham last week. It wasn’t his best effort but we saw Hatton place among the top-20 at TPC Southwind last year giving me confidence to back him in this matchup.
Cameron Smith -110 vs. Justin Thomas
I don’t think you can go wrong backing Smith in this matchup. Coming off his first win in a major at The Open, his third title this season, and finishing among the top-25 11 times, he enters on a roll and at a decent price. Many of his strengths fit on TPC Southwind and we saw a convergence last year when he carded a second-round 62 on his way to T5.
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