Featured Groups: World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational

The FedExCup race heats up at the World Golf Championships – FedEx St. Jude Invitational at TPC Southwind, where Nos. 1 and 2 Brooks Koepka and Matt Kuchar, respectively, are separated by just 37 points. Both are in the select, 63-player field, and the tournament is the second to last before the start of the FedExCup Playoffs.

Related: Expert Picks | Power Rankings | Tee times

The winner will get 550 FedExCup points, and a three-year PGA TOUR exemption.

No one has ever gone back-to-back as FedExCup champion, but reigning titleholder Justin Rose comes to Memphis at 11th. Rory McIlroy, who leads the TOUR in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and SG: Tee-to-Green, is one of the favorites, and Dustin Johnson has won here twice.

This is a new venue for the final WGC of the season, but not a new course on TOUR, as 7,237-yard, par-70 TPC Southwind hosted the FedEx St. Jude Classic from 1989 to 2018.

Here’s a look at some of the Featured Groups (FedExCup ranking in parenthesis):

THURSDAY

Gary Woodland (5)– Long-hitting U.S. Open champion is coming off two straight missed cuts at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and Open Championship.

Jon Rahm (10)– One of the hottest players on the planet this summer, he was in the mix at Portrush until a final-round 75 dropped into a T11 finish. Finished T3 at U.S. Open.

Xander Schauffele (4)– Two-time winner this season has been close to winning form lately with T3 at the U.S. Open and T41 at Portrush, where he shot bookend scores of 74-78.

Tee time: 12:53 p.m. ET off 10th tee

Paul Casey (8) – Has gotten better with age and enjoyed a career resurgence thanks in large part to the Valspar Championship, which he’s won twice in a row.

Dustin Johnson (7) – Six all-time WGC wins are second only to Tiger Woods. Johnson is also a two-time winner at TPC Southwind (2012, ’18).

Justin Thomas (17) – Wrist injury hampered his season, but no stranger to heating up at this time of year after winning last year’s final WGC at Firestone South.

Tee time: 1:04 p.m. off 10th tee

FRIDAY

Rory McIlroy (3) – Has 11 top-10 finishes, including two wins, this season. Even MC at Royal Portrush, with a second-round 65, was impressive. Scrutiny will be less intense in Memphis.

Brooks Koepka (1) – He’s not only FedExCup No. 1, he’s world No. 1. At the end of a brutal putting week at The Open he still finished T4, and TPC Southwind should be to his liking.

Jason Day (37) – Former world No. 1 missed the cut by a shot at The Open and is still trying to find form in what, for him, has been a bit of a down season.

Tee time: 12:53 p.m. ET off 10th tee

FAN VOTE CHOICES:
12:31 p.m. Matthew Wolff / Corey Conners / Ian Poulter
12:42 p.m. Matt Kuchar / Justin Rose / Jordan Spieth
1:04 p.m. Kevin Kisner / Patrick Reed / Lucas Bjerregaard

HOW TO FOLLOW

TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 2-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, noon-1:45 p.m. (GC), 2-6 p.m. (CBS).

PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 12-7 p.m. ET (featured groups). Twitter window 12 p.m. to approximately 1:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m. ET (featured groups), 2 p.m. move to featured holes at the par-3 14th and par-4 17th. Twitter window 10:30 a.m. to approximately 11:45 a.m. We will have a fan vote on Twitter to determine the second Featured Group on Friday (see choices above). International subscribers (via GOLF.tv): Thursday-Friday, 13:00 to 23:00 GMT. Saturday-Sunday, 13:30 to 22:00.

RADIO: Thursday-Friday, 1-7 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com).