Out of the Rough: FedEx St. Jude Championship (2026)
The 2026 PGA Tour regular season has come to an end as attention is now turned towards the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
The three-week long playoffs kicks off this week as the top-70 golfers of the season-long FedEx Cup standings head to TPC Southwind for this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship.
From here, the top 50-golfers within the standings will advance to next week’s BMW Championship and ultimately the top 30-golfers will play in the Tour Championship in two-weeks time.
There is still time for those in the 51-to-70 range to make some moves as players received 500 points for winning a regular PGA TOUR event but can receive 2,000 points for winning this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship.
This event was established as the Memphis Open in 1958 before becoming the St. Jude Invitational in 1970. In 2018, the event became a World Golf Championship event, elevating its status.
The World Golf Championship is no-longer a thing but this event still holds a prestigious tag after replacing the Northern Trust in 2022 as the kick-off tournament for the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
The Field
As previously mentioned, just the top-70 of the season long FedEx Cup Standings have made the field for this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship.
With that being said, all of the Tour’s biggest names will be teeing it up this week in Memphis.
Daniel Berger is the lone golfer to have qualified for this event and will not be playing this week. This will see the field set at 69-golfers, opposed to 70.
Outside of tracking the leaderboard this week, eyes will be set on the top-50 cut-off line of the FedEx Cup Standings as those within the top-50 move on to next week’s BMW Championship at the Bellerive Golf Course.
As it currently sits, Alex Noren, Michael Brennan, Matt McCarty, Keith Mitchell and Maverick McNealy are the first five names within the top-50.
Harris English, Max Homa, Sungjae Im, Jordan Spieth and Sam Stevens are the first five names out.
Justin Rose comes in as the defending champion, as he topped J.J. Spaun in a playoff a season ago. Rose will be back to defend his title this week.
Hideki Matsuyama (2024) is the only other former winner of this event at TPC Southwind to be playing this week.
The Course
To best describe TPC Southwind, we can simply take a look at its name. The course embodies all of the characteristics of a southern Bermuda course while also susceptible to high winds. Simple enough.
TPC Southwind was designed by Ron Prichard in consultation with Fuzzy Zoeller and Hubert Green and opened in 1988.
The course, upon opening, offered a stern test to the world’s best but was made even more difficult in 2004.
A total of 125 trees were planted and 15 new bunkers were installed (totalling to 96.) Additionally, the par five fifth hole was converted to a par four which reduced the par from 71 to 70.
The fairways were re-contoured and narrowed as well as over 200-yards were added to the course.
The course now plays as a par 70 measuring 7,244 yards.
The fairways are undulating and water is in play on ten holes. The track also features nine holes that include doglegs.
The course shows its teeth when playing from outside of the fairways. TPC Southwind ranks top six in penalty from missed fairways and approach difficulty from the rough. It also features top-ten most-narrow fairways on TOUR.
This will add an emphasis on driving accuracy off-the-tee as golfers will look to find the fairways with such difficulties coming if they are missed. Additionally, with the greens rolling firm and fast, there will be an emphasis on scrambling this week as well.
However, accuracy isn’t the end all, as it has proven in year’s past that this course can be attacked by bombers and fairway-finders alike.
TPC Southwind also features smaller-than-average Bermuda greens that run at 12 on the stimpmeter.
The greens roll firm, fast and true and traditionally serve as some of the easiest in putting difficulty on the entire PGA TOUR.
This will allow for the field’s weaker putters to come back to field average. In the same sense, elite putters may receive an even bigger benefit as they have the opportunity to ‘explode’ on the greens this week.
The Weather
As of the time of writing this, there is at most a five-percent chance of precipitation across all four days this week. However, it is going to be hot, very hot. Temperatures are currently set at highs of 98-degrees on Thursday, 99-degrees on Friday and 100-degrees across both days of the weekend. Winds will be the highest on Thursday at ten miles-per-hour before dropping to nine miles-per-hour on Friday and settling at eight miles-per-hour across the weekend.
Key Stats
Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (SG: TTG)
Greens in Regulation Percentage (GIR%)
Strokes Gained: Approach
Ball Striking
Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (SG: OTT) / Driving Accuracy
Strokes Gained: Putting on Bermuda (SG: PUTT Bermuda)
Scrambling
Par Four Average Scoring
Bogey Avoidance
Birdie or Better Percentage
Proximity to the hole from 150-175 Yards
Sand Saves Percentage
Betting Card
Tommy Fleetwood (+2000)
This was my first click this week so take that with a grain of salt as each time I’ve “first clicked” Fleetwood this season, it hasn’t been great. However, he is currently third on Tour in scrambling, fifth in SG: TTG, sixth in bogey avoidance, 12th in driving accuracy percentage, 23rd in SG: OTT, 31st in sand saves percentage, 43rd in SG: APP, 49th in ball striking, 53rd in both par-four average scoring and birdie-or-better percentage, 58th in proximity to the hole from 160-175 yards, 82nd in GIR% and 133rd in SG: PUTT Bermuda. He’s also been in amazing form dating back to the Memorial Tournament. He placed fourth at The Open Championship, 13th at the Genesis Scottish Open, 14th at the Travelers Championship, 11th at the U.S. Open, 11th at the RBC Canadian Open and fourth at the Memorial Tournament. He’s also been great here at TPC Southwind across the last three seasons. He placed third a season ago, 22nd in 2024 and third in 2023.
Matt Fitzpatrick (+2200)
As the trend continues this season, I’m going back to Fitzpatrick. I know he missed the cut in his latest outing at The Open Championship but prior to that he placed third at the Genesis Scottish Open, fourth at the Travelers Championship, 22nd at the U.S. Open and second at the RBC Canadian Open. He of course is a three time winner already this season, winning each of the Valspar Championship, RBC Heritage and Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Now, he hasn’t been the best here at TPC Southwind but we can all agree, he’s having the best season of his career this year. He placed 32nd a season ago, 18th in 2024, 66th in 2023 and fifth in 2022. Fitzpatrick is currently first on Tour in SG: APP, second in SG: TTG, third in ball striking, fifth in GIR%, sixth in par-four average scoring, tenth in bogey avoidance, 13th in birdie-or-better percentage, 17th in driving accuracy percentage, 23rd in proximity to the hole from 150-175 yards, 34th in scrambling, 47th in SG: OTT, 91st in SG: PUTT Bermuda and 101st in sand saves percentage.
Russell Henley (+4000)
I had a hard time constructing this card but I think there’s great value with Henley at 40/1. He is currently second on Tour in driving accuracy percentage, third in proximity to the hole from 150-175 yards, sixth in par-four average scoring, ninth in scrambling, 11th in bogey avoidance, 35th in birdie-or-better percentage, 39th in SG: OTT, 41st in SG: TTG, 47th in sand saves percentage, 51st in SG: PUTT Bermuda, 53rd in SG: APP, 63rd in GIR% and 64th in ball striking. In other terms, he is top-64 in each of the 13 statistical categories I took into consideration this week. He also placed 20th at the Rocket Classic, ninth at The Open Championship, 12th at the Travelers Championship, 65th at the U.S. Open, 22nd at the Memorial Tournament and won the Charles Schwab Challenge. He placed 17th at this event a season ago, 30th in 2024, sixth in 2023 and missed the cut in 2022.
Jacob Bridgeman (+8000)
My longshot this week is Bridgeman. On Tour, he is currently sixth in par-four average scoring, ninth in proximity to the hole from 150-175 yards, tenth in birdie-or-better percentage, 14th in SG: PUTT Bermuda, 34th in bogey avoidance, 47th in SG: APP, 54th in both driving accuracy percentage and scrambling, 63rd in SG: TTG, 73rd in ball striking, 77th in SG: OTT, 86th in GIR% and 136th in sand saves percentage. He placed 26th in his latest outing at the Rocket Classic. Prior to that he placed 28th at The Open Championship, 26th at the John Deere Classic, 47th at the Travelers Championship, 39th at the U.S. Open and 11th at the RBC Canadian Open. He placed 17th here a season ago in his lone start.
2025 Betting Card
Russell Henley (+3000) - T17th
Viktor Hovland (+3250) - T32nd
Robert MacIntyre (+5000) - T38th
Aaron Rai (+6000) - T22nd
2024 Betting Card
Collin Morikawa (+1400) - T22nd
Corey Conners (+4000) - T50th
Sungjae Im (+4500) - T40th
Davis Thompson (+8000) - T33rd
Victor Perez (+17500) - T40th
2023 Betting Card
Patrick Cantlay (+1600) - 2nd
Tony Finau (+3000) - 64th
Jason Day (+3300) - T52nd
Tom Kim (+4500) - T24th
Alex Smalley (+15000) - 65th
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