The PGA TOUR has reached the FedExCup Playoffs, and the first of the three playoff events will take place at the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee. The event tees off on Thursday, August 7, and will continue through Sunday, August 10. Let’s take a quick look at the history and format of this event and the course that will host this week’s tournament!
The History of the FedEx St. Jude Championship
The FedEx St. Jude Championship dates back to the Memphis Open, which took place from 1958 through 2018 on different courses around the Memphis area. Several different companies have been the title sponsor, but it was called TPC Southwind from 1989 to 2018.
In 2019, the WGC Invitational took place in Memphis and went by the name “WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.” In 2022, when the WGC events left the calendar, the first playoff event in the FedExCup playoffs moved to TPC Southwind with its new name, the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
While the format and exact name has varied along with the format, the event has remained prestigious and draws a strong field, especially now that it’s part of the postseason.
Before becoming the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first playoff event went by the names “The Barclays” and “The Northern Trust.” Since it moved to TPC Southwind, the three winners have been Will Zalatoris, Lucas Glover and Hideki Matsuyama. Zalatoris and Glover claimed their victories in the playoffs, while Matsuyama won by two strokes over Xander Schauffele and Viktor Hovland.
The top 70 in the season-long FedExCup points race qualify for this event, with the top 50 in the standings advancing to next week’s BMW Championship. This year, Rory McIlroy opted to skip the event, leaving 69 players in the field this week. It will be a no-cut event, so all 69 players will play all four rounds barring withdrawal or disqualification.
The FedEx St. Jude Championship will award a total purse of $20 million, with $3.6 million going to the winner. For more info about the full field, check out this post from my colleague Ciaran Doyle.
A Closer Look at the Course
TPC Southwind will host the first event of the playoffs for the fourth straight year. The course used to be a dairy farm but is now a par-70 layout winding through the hills of the farmland just southeast of Memphis.
The course deserves its reputation as a ball-strikers’ paradise, and players who excel on approach and on Bermuda greens typically perform well at this venue. The rough is usually thick and penalizing, with plenty of water in play as well if drives or approaches wander off line.
Ron Prichard designed TPC Southwind, which opened in 1988. Prichard is famous for restoring Donald Ross courses, but this is a full Prichard design, although it does have some influences from Ross layouts. It typically plays as one of the toughest TPC courses in the regular rotation.
Here’s a look at the latest major renovation, which just wrapped up:
Here’s a quick reminder of some of the tough approach shots that will face the pros this week (although it doesn’t reflect the renovation from this year).
As you can see in both of the videos above, TPC Southwind has plenty of water in play with multiple lakes, streams and ponds putting water directly in play on 11 holes. Over the last several years, TPC Southwind has the most “water balls” on the PGA TOUR by a wide margin. Since 2003, TPC Southwind’s 6,298 balls that ended up in the water are the most at any PGA TOUR stop during that timeframe.
In general, Strokes Gained: Approach is the top metric to lean on this week, along with Total Driving, since missing the fairway can lead to bad approach shots. With just two Par 5s on the card, Par 4 scoring is also extremely important this week, along with Strokes Gained: Putting on Bermuda. Since the top golfers have played this course so many times, it’s also important to consider course history as you make out your betting cards and fantasy golf lineups for this week.
