Breaking down our FedEx St. Jude Championship DraftKings picks with our top plays, top fades and a lineup to navigate this week’s PGA DFS slate.
We’ve reached the first leg of the playoffs after the conclusion of the PGA Tour regular season, which means that the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, TN will play host to the first FedExCup Playoffs event in the tournament’s history. And with this loaded field — one that will not include the LIV Golf defectors — it’s gut-check time for our DraftKings picks.
Last week was forgettable in the most laughable way with our picks. We had Tom Kim as our top play and in our lineup, which was great as he went on to win the Wyndham. However, the rest of our lineup either finished outside of the Top 60 or withdrew from the event. Needless to say, that didn’t cash.
But it’s a new day and a new PGA DFS slate for the FedEx St. Jude Championship, so let’s dive into our top plays and fades from each pricing tier before we build our lineup with our DraftKings picks for this week in Memphis.
DraftKings picks for FedEx St. Jude Championship PGA DFS lineups: Top Plays
$10,000: Rory McIlroy ($11,000) – Despite the elite talent in the $10K range, this is too affordable of a price for Rory McIlroy. He’s been the best player in the world this year statistically, particularly with his tee-to-green play, which is crucial at TPC Southwind. He has a T4 and T12 finish here over the past three years and his form indicates to me he’s going to be in contention this week once again. Also Consider: Xander Schauffele ($10,600), Patrick Cantlay ($10,300), Justin Thomas ($10,200)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaGlaeSVii0?feature=oembed
$9,000: Viktor Hovland ($9,000) – As always, you should never be surprised when my outright pick to win is my top play, and such is the case for Viktor Hovland this week. What we saw at The Open inspired a lot of confidence as his ball-striking returned to the stellar form we’re accustomed to from the Norwegian. Moreover, he’s in the midst of the best putting season of his career. His around-the-green struggles always worry me but I see his irons being dialed in enough to where that’s not an issue and he makes a strong push, at minimum, to win. Also Consider: Matt Fitzpatrick ($9,800), Will Zalatoris ($9,500), Cameron Young ($9,300)
$8,000: Billy Horschel ($8,200) – Anyone who’s been following me knows this is a bit off the radar because I rarely know what to do with Billy Horschel. But he’s played the FedEx St. Jude Championship extremely well in his career, registering four Top 25 finishes in just the last five years. He’s also shown decent form with two straight Top 30 showings, so I like him to get to a place where he’s thrived and be a solid, steady rock in the middle of your lineup. Also Consider: Collin Morikawa ($8,700), Sungjae Im ($8,500), Shane Lowry ($8,300), Joohyung (Tom) Kim ($8,000)
$7,000: Chez Reavie ($7,100) – It was admittedly a shock to learn that Chez Reavie might have the best course history at TPC Southwind than anyone, but man is it beautiful. He didn’t play last year but from 2017-20, Reavie finished T6, T27, T6 and T4 at this event. That’s remarkable and he’s coming in with solid form too with a win, another Top 10 and four made cuts in his last five starts. I love this play and think it’s extremely valuable, too much so to not take advantage of. Also Consider: Russell Henley ($7,800), Davis Riley ($7,700), Seamus Power ($7,600), Chris Kirk ($7,400), J.T. Poston ($7,300), Scott Stallings ($7,100)
$6,000: Callum Tarren ($6,600) – I love Tarren this week and basically every week until he proves this isn’t his form. Over the Englishman’s last six starts, he’s finished outside the Top 27 once. He’s gaining over 0.5 strokes on approach per round recently and has been hot with the flat stick as well. He’s trending up in a massive way and I love the value he brings at this price. Also Consider: Taylor Moore ($6,800), Brandon Wu ($6,800), Andrew Putnam ($6,600), Russell Knox ($6,500), Lee Hodges ($6,400), Max McGreevy ($6,000)
DraftKings picks for FedEx St. Jude Championship PGA DFS lineups: Top Fades
$10,000: Jon Rahm ($10,000) – Largely because the $10K is so rich this week, I was going to have to fade a quality golfer this week for this pricing tier and Jon Rahm seems like the most obvious candidate. In his two trips to TPC Southwind, he has a Top 10 and a finish outside the Top 50, which isn’t a lot to go on. More importantly, we haven’t seen the Rahm we’re accustomed to when he’s played over the past few months and, though he’s a clutch performer this time of year, I’m dubious that his game magically resurfaces wholly.
$9,000: Jordan Spieth ($9,100) – Despite solid finishes at TPC Southwind and coming off a T10 and T8 in Scotland, I don’t know how you can trust Jordan Spieth in this field. He’s been exceptionally erratic seemingly from round to round over the past few months and that could be a problem at this venue. There is a lot of value in the $9K range and I don’t think I can justify passing someone else up for the uncertainty, even with the upside, of Spieth.
$8,000: Hideki Matsuyama ($8,400) – This is pretty simple. Outside of the US Open, we haven’t seen Matsuyama play good golf in about three months now. He was T4 in that major but hasn’t been better than T60 otherwise since the middle of May. For whatever reason, his game isn’t there right now and he withdrew at the 3M Open his last time out. I don’t see how you can trust having him in your lineup given what he’s showing us.
$7,000: Keegan Bradley ($7,500) – As this is a ball-striker’s golf course, you might think Keegan Bradley is the right play. Don’t. Not only has he not been in great form since the US Open but he hasn’t finished inside the Top 50 in his two starts at TPC Southwind over the last five years. That’s a combination I can’t get behind, so I’m leaving him out of any consideration for my DraftKings picks this week.
FedEx St. Jude Championship: Best DraftKings golf lineup
- Rory McIlroy ($11,000)
- Viktor Hovland ($9,000)
- Sungjae Im ($8,500)
- Davis Riley ($7,700)
- Chez Reavie ($7,100)
- Callum Tarren ($6,600)
Considering that every player in this field earned their way into the tournament with their performance this season, I feel extremely comfortable adopting a more stars and scrubs approach this week. We know about Rory, Hovland, Reavie and Tarren as our top picks but the other two have high upside as well.
Sungjae Im is entering the week coming off of back-to-back runner-up finishes for him and is just a ball-striking god right now. His course history is the only thing that worries me, but I’m banking on the game being there. As for Davis Riley, I just needed to see signs of life before believing again and he showed it with a pop onto the first page of the leaderboard and a comfy Top 20 at the Wyndham. I think we see him trend heavily again and deliver a good result to stay in contention to make the TOUR Championship.