The FedEx Cup Playoffs begin this week with the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind (par 70, 7,288 yards, Bermuda greens) in Memphis, Tennessee. TPC Southwind has hosted a PGA TOUR event every year since 1958 and this is the fifth year in a row that this course is hosting the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Justin Rose (-16) won this event last season by defeating J.J. Spaun in a playoff.
Only the top-70 players in the FedEx Cup standings have qualified for the FedEx St. Jude Championship this week, but only 69 will be competing, as Daniel Berger has opted to skip this event. There will be no cut and following the FedEx St. Jude Championship, only the top-50 in the standings will advance to next week’s BMW Championship. Then, the top-30 following the BMW Championship will advance to the TOUR Championship to conclude the playoffs.
TPC Southwind is a parkland course that features narrow fairways, small greens, thick rough, 75 bunkers and water in play on 11 holes. Similar to last week’s Sedgefield CC, being in the fairway is more important than being long at TPC Southwind, as three of the last five winners here have finished the event top-20 in driving accuracy.
However, with the greens so small at TPC Southwind, your approach play is the most crucial aspect in winning at this par 70. Over the last five years, four of the winners at TPC Southwind have finished the event top-eight in SG APP. Your work on the greens is also critical, as four of the last five victors at TPC Southwind have finished the tournament top-12 in SGP.
TPC Southwind is a classic par 70 that presents 12 par fours and only two par fives. As always, this puts a heavy emphasis on par four performance. For eight years running, the winner at TPC Southwind has finished the event top-three in par four performance.
Let’s dive into three of my favorite DraftKings bargain plays for the FedEx St. Jude Championship, each costing less than $7.5K.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $750K Sand Trap [$200K to 1st]
Top DraftKings PGA TOUR DFS Bargain Plays for the FedEx St. Jude Championship
Ryan Gerard ($7,400) – Gerard missed the cut last week at the Wyndham Championship, but this wasn’t overly surprising, as he had missed the cut in his first two attempts at Sedgefield before last week. Gerard clearly isn’t fond of the track and he should rebound at TPC Southwind. Gerard finished T-44 in his debut at this track last season – including a closing round 4-under 66 – as the No. 49 ranked player in the world. Since then, Gerard has moved up to No. 29 in the rankings, as he is having the best season of his career.
Gerard has made 19-of-23 cuts and carded eight top-25 finishes. The 27-year-old has three runner-up finishes to his name and before the Wyndham Championship last week, Gerard posted back-to-back top-10 finishes, including a T-9 at the Open Championship. Gerard ranks top-30 in total driving, par four performance, SG APP and SGP this season. Another encouraging sign is that he ranks 30th in proximity to the hole on 175-200-yard approach shots, as 23.8% of the approach shots at TPC Southwind over the last five years have come from this far out. Gerard is a sensational match for TPC Southwind and brings high upside at an affordable cost.
Akshay Bhatia ($7,300) – This is an awesome time to buy low on Bhatia. The 24-year-old is coming off missed cuts at the Open Championship and the Rocket Classic, but Bhatia should get back to playing strong golf at TPC Southwind. The lefty still gained strokes on approach and with his putter at the Rocket Classic despite the early exit and before these past two missed cuts, Bhatia had finished T-17 at the U.S. Open and T-5 at the Travelers Championship.
Bhatia is only five months removed from his win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which is one of his nine top-25 finishes this season. Bhatia ranks second in SGP and 20th in par four performance, and last but not least, his resume at TPC Southwind is very impressive. Bhatia has finished T-12 and T-6 in his two starts at this venue. Bhatia shot an opening round 8-under 62 at TPC Southwind last year and he ranks second in this field in strokes gained per round at the par 70.
Harry Hall ($6,400) – Following a bad stretch of missing three cuts in a row, Hall came alive at the Wyndham Championship this past week. The Englishman finished T-5 at Sedgefield, marking his best finish of the season. Hall shot a 6-under 64 in the third round and he gained 6.0 strokes on approach for the week, which ranked seventh for the event and is his best ball-striking performance of the season by a mile.
Hall’s second best is when he gained 3.7 strokes on approach at the Truist Championship in May. Hall clearly found something in his game at Sedgefield and if he can continue to strike the ball at a high level at TPC Southwind, he should easily outproduce this low salary. In his first attempt at this par 70 last season, Hall finished T-22, including a 6-under 64 in the first round.
