The PGA TOUR is hosting the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind (par 70, 7,288 yards, Bermuda greens) in Memphis, Tennessee, which is the first of three events for the FedEx Cup Playoffs. This is a field of 69 players and there will be no cut. After the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the top-50 players in the FedEx Cup standings will advance to next week’s BMW Championship. Then, the top-30 players in the standings after that event will advance to the TOUR Championship.
Below, I have featured some head-to-head tournament matchup bets to consider for the FedEx St. Jude Championship on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Top FedEx St. Jude Championship Matchup Picks
Harris English over Keegan Bradley (-110)
English is ascending right now, while Bradley is trending in the wrong direction. English is coming off a runner-up finish at the Open Championship, which is his second runner-up at a major this season and his third top-12 finish in his last five starts. Bradley on the other hand did win the Travelers Championship in June, but after that, he has finished T41st, T30th and MC, in that order. When we compare this field’s last 12 rounds, English ranks fifth in total strokes gained, while Bradley ranks 33rd.
These veterans now head to TPC Southwind, where English has the upper hand in course history. The 36-year-old has carded two-top 10s in seven starts at TPC Southwind, whereas Bradley’s best finish in six starts at the par 70 is a T25 in 2011. Outside that finish, he has never finished higher than T43rd at TPC Southwind. At this track, Bradley is losing strokes 0.89 strokes per round for his career, while English is ironically gaining a solid 0.89.
Everything is aligning for English to outperform Bradley this week and the former is an easy choice for this tournament matchup.
Hideki Matsuyama over Ben Griffin (-105)
Matsuyama has been outstanding at TPC Southwind. The 33-year-old is the defending champion of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, and he finished runner-up at TPC Southwind in 2021. Matsuyama has tallied four straight top-20 finishes at the par 70. He is also gaining 1.54 strokes per round at TPC Southwind, which ranks third among this field. On the other side of this matchup, Griffin has been underwhelming at TPC Southwind. In his two starts at the venue, Griffin has finished T24th and T50th, and he is losing 0.24 strokes per round.
As for recent form, both of these players competed at last week’s Wyndham Championship and Griffin finished T11th, whereas Matsuyama finished T19th. However, this marked Matsuyama’s third top-20 finish in a row, while Griffin had missed two straight cuts heading into this event. When we analyze this field’s last 12 rounds, Matsuyama ranks eighth in total strokes gained, while Griffin ranks 13th.
Looking to defend his title at TPC Southwind, Matsuyama should finish higher than Griffin this week and Matsuyama is a great wager to win this matchup at this reasonable -105 price.
