FedEx St. Jude Classic FanDuel Fantasy Preview

Following an impressive showing by some of the best players in the world last week in the Memorial Tournament, which was won by Jason Dufner, comes the FedEx St. Jude Classic. The long running event, which is held annually in Memphis, Tennessee, has been a fixture on the PGA Tour since 1958 and has called TPC Southwind home since 1989.

The par-70, 7,244-yard course was designed among a natural layout and features a similar par-three on eleven to TPC Sawgrass’ famous 17^th hole. The field is not nearly quite as strong as some of the tournaments that we have seen of late, but there is certainly still some firepower which should bring about a great week.

The man everyone will be chasing this week is last year’s champion, Daniel Berger, who is playing well this season with a standing of 36^th in the FedExCup and a runner-up in the WGC-HSBC Champions. Although he is one of the favorites, it is no surprise that Rickie Fowler is getting the best odds out of Vegas after another tremendous outing last week in which he came in a tie for second and jumped into the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings.

He is the only golfer out of the top-10 teeing it up in Memphis with No. 12 Adam Scott, No. 16 Francesco Molinari, No. 22 Brooks Koepka, No. 23 Phil Mickelson, and No. 26 Kevin Chappell rounding out the players from the top-30.

As mentioned above, it was Daniel Berger’s 13-under performance that separated him from the trio of Mickelson, Steve Stricker, and Koepka by three strokes last year. It was his first, and only, win in his career as he put together an impressive back nine on Sunday which no other player could match.

With the victory, Berger was the fifth American in the last six seasons to take home the trophy here with only Fabian Gomez (2015) winning from the international stage. Berger’s final mark of 13 shots under par matched both Gomez and Harrison Frazar as the low score since Brian Gay posted a big week of 18-under back in 2009.

There has been five players in the tournaments history that have been able to get more than one win, with Dave Hill (1967, 1969, 1970, 1973) having the most and joining Lee Trevino (1971, 1972, 1980) and David Toms (2003, 2004) as winners in back-to-back years. Although Mickelson has not been in the winner’s circle here in the past, he has certainly come close behind four straight top-11 showings in the past four years; including being the runner-up in both 2013 and 2016.

Recent changes to the FanDuel setup has done away with the different players for the week and the weekend and now features eight spots with a $60,000 salary. The changes allow for players to create a more balanced lineup that they can run throughout the entire four days (if the make the cut).

The scoring has remained the same, so it will be important to get golfers who have a good shot at finishing within the top-25, can put together strings of under par holes while staying away from the dreaded bogey, and can bounce back from a poor hole with a birdie or better.

FedEx St. Jude Classic FanDuel Picks

Chad Campbell – $5,600 – Campbell is certainly no sure thing, but you are going to need to find a few guys in this range with some factors working in their favor if you wish to roster some of the upper echelon players. Still, Campbell is no slouch with four Pga Tour victories to his name and a nice track record at TPC Southwind.

Since 2010, the now 43-year-old has been able to make it to the weekend in each of his seven attempts here with two top-10s; his best coming in 2012 when he finished third. That was actually the last time that he finished in the top-three at any tournament, but he has made it to the weekend in 13-of-20 (65%) opportunities this year and can hold his own thanks to being accurate both off the tee (66.89%, 24^th on TOUR) and with his approach (67.78% GIR, 42^nd on TOUR).

Campbell is no longer the stud that he once was, but he has typically performed well here and should pay dividends with a low price tag.

Harold Varner III – $6,200 – Varner really did look great in his rookie season last year, tallying four top-10s over his 28 events played and finishing in the top-100 of the FedExCup standings. His numbers have dipped in 2017 as he has failed to earn himself another top-10, but he comes into this week on the heels of one of his better performances, a 19^th at the Memorial Tournament, and did well here last season with a 16^th-place.

Varner III owns a big drive (299.5 yards per, 28^th on TOUR) and has gained 0.564 strokes on the field from tee-to-green. It may be a while until we see Varner show much consistency, but he is due for a nice showing and looks poised to do just that coming off his nice play in Ohio.

Kyle Stanley – $6,800 – Stanley may not have the best of track records at this tournament, but he comes into the week on fire with made cuts in eight of his past 10 events; three of which were in the top-eight. Last week he was great at the Memorial Tournament, turning in a sixth-place finish after a Sunday 68 where he had six birdies and an eagle.

Stanley has gained 1.318 total strokes on the field (15^th on TOUR) thanks to his deadly accuracy; resulting from 71.65% of GIR (2^nd on TOUR) and 68.32% of fairways hit (16^th on TOUR). The additional par fours that they he will encounter on this par-70 course should give him no issues as he averages a score of 3.98 on such holes (9^th on TOUR).

Stanley is having by far his best season since he first took home a tournament back in 2012 and should continue as we head to TPC Southwind.

Jamie Lovemark – $7,000 – Lovemark continues to look for his first professional win as we head to Memphis and has shown the ability to compete on a weekly basis with three top-10s and 14-of-19 (74%) cuts made. Since the beginning of March (8 events), Lovemark has played all four rounds seven times and has shot a 70 or better in six of his last eight rounds.

He has both power and finesse, pounding the ball for an average of 301.9 yards per (19^th on TOUR) and earning 0.270 strokes from around the green (34^th on TOUR), and will be able to dominate the par four holes with an average of 3.98 (9^th on TOUR). Lovemark should at least make it to the weekend and is someone to watch as the event winds down.

UPDATE: Due to Jamie Lovemark’s WD earlier today we suggest substituting William McGirt in his place. McGirt has played fairly well but fell victim to a rough day during the final round at the Memorial with an 83. We believe he’ll bounce back strong this week especially against a weaker field at TPC Southwind.

Stewart Cink – $7,100 – Cink has been extremely reliable over the last few months, making 8-of-10 trips to the weekend since the Genesis Open and typically is near the upper half of the weekend golfers. His average finish over that time was 24^th, but he never did worse than 28^th and had a top-10 a few weeks ago at the Colonial.

This par-70 layout will reward players who are able to get to the putting surface quickly, and Cink is one of the best out there with 69.83% GIR (12^th on TOUR) as he is also able to earn a birdie of better on 19.88% of par four holes (8^th on TOUR). There aren’t a ton of incredible players in the field this week and someone like Cink has a chance to turn all of those finishes in the mid-20s into a top-10.

Steve Stricker – $7,900 – Despite coming into the tournament at the ripe old age of 50, Stricker has remained competitive on the PGA TOUR thanks to a phenomenal putting and accuracy off the tee. No one has hit more fairways than him this year (72.85%, best on TOUR) and he has gained 0.463 strokes with the flat iron (21^st on TOUR); leading to plenty of cuts made and high finishes.

In his eight starts, Stricker has made it to the weekend on all but one occasion and he recently netted a seventh at the Dean and Deluca Invitational. He has minimal experience at this venue, but certainly showed he can get around the course with ease after posting a runner-up performance in 2016. Stricker has not played very much, but he is someone to get in your lineup at a discount when he does.

UPDATE: Due to Steve Stricker’s WD earlier today we suggest rostering Ian Poulter in his place. Despite Poulter’s up-and-down performance of late, we still believe that he is still a quality pickup at this price tag.

Francesco Molinari – $8,700 – Molinari continues to quietly move up the OWGR and now sits in 16^th after starting the year at the 31^st spot. Week in and week out he is putting up big efforts while going 9-for-10 in cuts made recently. When getting to the weekend he has done no worse than 33^rd and is coming off of a second-place last week in the BMW PGA Championship overseas where he currently ranks 10^th in the Race to Dubai.

Overall, he has 10 top-25 finishes over 13 events played in 2017 while netting some ridiculous stats across the board. Molinari is gaining 1.670 total strokes on the field (8^th on TOUR) with a 72.52% driving accuracy (2^nd on TOUR), birdie or better percentage of 23.67% (11^th on TOUR), and the seventh-best scoring average (69.979). It’s about time the Molinari earned a win on the PGA TOUR and this very well could be the week he does it.

Rickie Fowler – $10,500 – Rickie Fowler has always been great, but he continues to improve his game and is a force each time he is on the entrants list. He was nearly able to win last week in Ohio, coming away with a 10-under, runner-up finish, while adding to his impressive 2017 campaign.

Over the course of the season, the 28-year-old has taken home a trophy at the Honda Classic, made 9-of-11 cuts (82%), and ranks number one on the TOUR in total strokes gained (2.297). There are really no major flaws in his game as he has a nice drive with distance (299.2 yards per, 31^st on TOUR) and accuracy (67.67%, 19^th on TOUR) which has set up 69.01% of his approaches hitting the green in regulation (23^rd on TOUR).

Fowler has no trouble once he gets to the green either, saving strokes with a 72.22% sand save percentage (best on TOUR) and 0.740 strokes gained putting (6^th on TOUR). With a field that lacks much high-end talent, this is the type of player that can dominate and you should expect him to improve on his 13^th earned at TPC Southwind in his last start (2014).