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This week we are at TPC Southwind for the World Golf Championship (WGC) St Jude Invitational. A par 70, 7,244 yard layout in Memphis, Tennessee which has hosted the 'St Jude Classic' in years past. But the event has been upgraded to WGC status and now hosts a cracking field of 64 players in a no-cut event, meaning all golfers play the whole four rounds (unless withdrawals during the event!). Due to the PGA’s scheduling, the St. Jude is now the weekend after the Open Championship. The top 46 of the top 50 ranked players have committed to the event, so we can expect the competition to be of quality standard. 

TPC Southwind is a test for the field this week with narrow fairways playing into small Bermuda grass greens. Water is in play on 10 holes (which a lot of balls tend to find itself into) and eight of the 12 par 4’s are over 445 yards or more. This is a long par 70 course, although the weather should not be a factor with light winds and sunny warm conditions for the event.

With a quality field and no cuts, you could employ a strategy of leaving salary on the table to make sure your lineups are not duplicated. Playing ‘stars and scrubs’ is also a good strategy to squeeze in more studs in this week. To break down a little further, you need to focus on quality ball strikers and putters. Bear in mind, the field has travelled from Northern Ireland last week, so you may need to factor in fatigue from players who battled the wild elements on Sunday at Royal Portrush. 

According to rotogrinders.com we need to look at this week’s key statistics in building teams:

Key Statistics (In Order of Importance)

1) Strokes Gained Approach

2) Birdie or Better %

3) Par 4 Scoring

4) Bogey Avoidance

5) Strokes Gained Putting

Draftkings this week have posted a $800,000 Resurgence contest for a $10 buy-in. A $150,000 Birdie contest for a $3 buy-in is also available. There are other great single entry and three max entry contests, which if you are a first time player on Draftkings, are a great way to get involved with the no-cut rule this week. 

On Draftstars, the '3-ball' contest is back for the St. Jude for an entry of $3 for a $1,000+ prize pool. A $10,000 contest is also available for a $15 entry. 

Let’s see who I am keen on this week for the St Jude Classic!

Rory McIlroy - ($11,100 DK $21,380 DS) Rory will be disappointed with his Open effort, but he did give Royal Portrush a nudge where he shot 65 in the 2nd round to miss the cut by one. I can see Rory giving TPC Southwind a fair old spanking if his mindset is razor sharp. 3rd in the field for Birdies or Better % and 8th in the field for SG: Approach. Easy fades from Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka this week means Rory (and my recency bias is non-existent) is my guy this week.

Rory's last 4 starts following a missed cut: Win, 2nd, T-12, Win.

— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) July 22, 2019

Justin Rose ($9,500 DK $17,500 DS) Sure, we had a Sunday that Rose would rather forget at the Open, but his other three rounds were excellent championship golf. I'm targeting Rose’s precision Iron play and tour-leading putting on this course. This, however, will be Rose’s first time at TPC Southwind where he'll be looking to keep his form going in this hot field. Will be underowned with Tommy Fleetwood and Xander Schauffele around the same salaries.

Hideki Matsuyama ($8,900 DK $17,040 DS) Whilst Hideki missed his first cut in a whole year, he does love playing these no-cut WGC events. He's been a winner twice in this format and will be looking to make it three to break his current drought that's gone on for a little longer than he'd have liked. His approach play has be on point and all this season, and a good putting week will mean a realistic chance of getting the W. Great price point on the sites too.

Webb Simpson ($8,200 DK $15,510 DS) I purposely faded Simpson last week at the Open and I was annoyed that he shot 68 1st round. He did fade away for the rest of the weekend and ended with a solid 57 fantasy point score. Simpson, however, is still 1st in the field for scrambling and that was apparent at Portrush last week. He was runner-up in Canada three starts ago and he was a respectable 16th in the US Open in-between. Great price on DS.

Keith Mitchell - ($6,500 DK / $8,000 DS) In a no cut event this is my main 'scrub' target. He just missed the cut at the British Open by one stroke, and whilst he hasn’t set the world on fire in terms of fantasy scoring, we are getting Mitchell at a course where he came 37th in a full field last year. In exactly the same scenario is Nate Lashley ($6,500 DK, $8,000 DS) who like Mitchell, missed the open cut by 1 stroke and was also 37th in a full field last year. Either of these are a value play. 

Kevin Na - ($6,800 DK / $9,880 DS) Na is the easy fade this week as his neck injury is still giving him a bit of a bother. Sure, it's a small chance that he will actually tee it up in Memphis, but he will still receive a paycheck if he withdraws after dribbling one down the 1st tee. Avoid. UPDATE - Na did post on Instagram that he is ready to go. So for those risk takers this week he is at a good price.

The Daily Fantasy Rankings "Dragon" has scoured the Australian sports betting markets and found some great value picks for this event. Check out his picks for the day below and click on the links to follow his betting plays!

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