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FedEx St. Jude Classic: Fantasy Expert Picks

Brooks has 3 consecutive top 20 finishes at the FedEx St. Jude Classic

Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

What: FedEx St. Jude
When: June 8th -€” 11th
Where: TPC Southwind
2016 Winner: Daniel Berger (-13)
Purse: $6.4MM ($1.2MM to winner)

Course: TPC Southwind -€” Established in 1988, this 7,240 yard part 70 course was designed by Ron Prichard. One of the more woodsy courses, the Memphis prize has a bucolic mixture of trees, rivers, lakes and wildlife. It is known most for it's 11th hole which mimics the 17th island green at TPC Sawgrass. Accuracy means much more than power and distance at Southwind.

A Golfers.
Rickie Fowler.€” 8th in the FedEx Cup rankings, why not pick him for the FedEx St. Jude? He is having a career year, currently 5th on the tour in strokes gained approaching the green, 6th in strokes gained tee to green. He has missed one cut this year (Zurich Classic -€” if you want to count that as a missed cut) and has top 20 finishes in 7  of his last 9 tournaments.

B Golfers:
Phil Mickelson -€” This is a must pick. In 4 appearances here he has 3 top 10 finishes (2016 -€” 2nd; 2015 -€” 3rd; 2014 -€” 11th and 2013 -€” 2nd). To top that off he has top 25 finishes in 5 of his last 8 tournaments (with the other two being a 29, 41 and a 55).

Chez Revie -€” The 13 year vet out of Arizona State has a solid record at TPC Southwind. He finished 12th here in 2015 (after missing three consecutive cuts leading into that tournament and 27th in 2013. With the consecutive missed cuts, his 2017 is looking similar to his 2015 season, where his recent play this year has yielded 7 missed cuts in the last 12 tournaments. My push is more on his track record here then his results this season.

C Golfers.
Brooks Koepka. Currently 40th in strokes gained around the green, Brooks has a good record at FedEx St. Jude. He finished 2nd last year, 3rd in 2015 and 19th in 2014. Recently he has made 7 consecutive cuts inclusive of 3 top 10 finishes.

Dark Horse:
Billy Horschel. With 6 missed cuts in 14 starts this year, Billy  is not having his best year (despite an impressive win at AT&T Byron Nelson). Billy has now missed the cut in 5 of his last 7 tournaments. He finished 8th at Southwind in 2015 and 6th in 2014. I imagine the Bermuda grass they installed in 2004 is quite similar to what Billy played on in Florida.

Current Stats on picks so far this season:
A Golfers: Avg finish 39th (30th percentile)
B Golfers: Avg finish: 48th (37th percentile)
C Golfers: Avg finish: 53rd (40th percentile)
Sleepers: Avg finish 51st (39th percentile)
2017 average 131 golfers per tournament.