DraftKings preview: FedEx St. Jude Championship
4 Min Read
Written by Landon Silinsky
The PGA TOUR heads to Memphis, Tennessee, this week for the first event of the FedExCup Playoffs -- the FedEx St. Jude Championship. The 7,243-yard, par 70 TPC Southwind will host on its Bermuda greens.
The field this week will consist of the top 70 players in the FedExCup standings, led of course by world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. In addition, there will be no cut this week, nor for the remainder of the Playoffs.
Below, I have outlined three of my favorite DraftKings plays for the week.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $1M Summer Sand Trap [$200K to 1st].
1. Collin Morikawa ($10,000)
Prior to the Olympics, where he finished a very respectable T24, Morikawa had been playing some of his best golf of the season. Across his previous 10 starts, the two-time major champion had finished no worse than T16, while posting five top-five finishes, including at the Masters, PGA Championship and the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday.
Over his past 36 rounds in this field, only Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Rory McIlroy have averaged more Total Strokes Gained per round than Morikawa, while only McIlroy and Scheffler have averaged more SG: Tee-to-Green than him.
Morikawa also seems to like TPC Southwind quite a bit, as he's finished T26 or better in all four of his starts here, including a T5 in 2022. The world No. 6 has had a resurgent season after a mostly lackluster 2023, and I firmly expect him to make a run at the FedExCup title over the coming weeks. He's about as safe as it gets in this spot at $10,000.
2. Aaron Rai ($8,200)
Maybe the most deserving winner we have seen in some time, Rai finally got it done last week at the Wyndham Championship for his first career PGA TOUR victory. If you have been following golf this season you'd know that Rai has been one of the best ball-strikers on the planet, which bares itself out in the numbers as well.
Aaron Rai’s winning highlights from Wyndham Championship
On the year, the Englishman ranks eighth on the PGA TOUR in SG: Approach, 36th in SG: Off-the-Tee and third in driving accuracy. Being accurate at TPC Southwind is a must, as there are water hazards in play on 11-of-18 holes, and no one in the field this week is more accurate than Rai.
Rai's career-best finish at this course is T12 back in 2019, but he's a way different golfer now and has posted four top-five finishes across his past five starts. Even after the win, his price remains quite affordable this week at just $8,200.
3. Cameron Young ($8,100)
Young will be making his third trip to TPC Southwind, with the first two resulting in a pair of T31 finishes. However, if you look under the hood you'll find that those would have been marginally better if not for some woeful putting performances. Young has lost strokes on these Bermuda greens in six of his eight rounds, while simultaneously gaining strokes on both approach in six-of-eight, and off-the-tee in eight-of-eight.
An abhorrent final round with the flat stick saw him settle for a T22 finish at the Wyndham last week, but he still ranked No. 1 in the field in SG: Off-the-Tee and 27th on approach at Sedgefield Country Club. Young had also been rounding into form prior to his performance in North Carolina, with finishes of T9 and T6 at the Travelers Championship and Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Young's driver will keep him out of trouble this week, and if his putter cooperates at all like it did for his first three rounds last week, he will easily pay off this $8,100 price tag.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $1M Summer Sand Trap [$200K to 1st]
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and customer (my username is Lan1228) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.