19th Hole

Vincenzi’s 2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship betting preview: Rory ready to roll again in FedEx Cup playoffs

Published

2 years ago

Aug 12, 2024

With the PGA TOUR regular season in the books, it’s time to begin the 2024 FedEx Cup playoffs.

Previously known as the St. Jude Classic and the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, the event will serve as the first leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs for the third consecutive season.

TPC Southwind is located in Memphis, Tennessee and has been a regular TOUR stop since 1989.

TPC Southwind is a par 70 measuring 7,244 yards. The course features Bermuda grass greens and rough. With 94 bunkers and 10 water hazards, there is potential trouble on almost every hole.

The FedEx St. Jude Championship will play host to the top 70 players in the FedEx Cup standings and will be a no-cut event.

Past Winners at TPC Southwind

The FedEx St. Jude Championship

2023: Lucas Glover (-15)
2022: Will Zalatoris (-15)

FedEx St. Jude Invitational

2021: Abraham Ancer (-16)
2020: Justin Thomas (-13)
2019: Brooks Koepka (-16)

St. Jude Classic

2018: Dustin Johnson (-19)
2017 Daniel Berger (-10)
2016: Daniel Berger (-13)
2015: Fabian Gomez (-15)

In this article, I’ll be using the Rabbit Hole by Betsperts Golf data engine to develop my custom model. If you want to build your own model or check out all of the detailed stats, you can sign up using promo code: MATTVIN for 25% off any subscription package (yearly is best value).

Key Stats For TPC Southwind

Let’s take a look at five key metrics for TPC Southwind to determine which golfers boast top marks in each category over their last 24 rounds.

Strokes Gained: Approach

TPC Southwind is a relatively short course, and it isn’t necessary to be a long hitter off the tee to compete. In 2020, we saw Justin Thomas win here by gaining 7.7 strokes on approach as opposed to just 2.3 off of the tee. In 2021, Abraham Ancer gained 4.4 strokes on approach and just 1.4 off the tee. In 2022, Will Zalatoris gained 8.7 strokes on approach and last year Lucas Glover gained 4.0. Golfers with all types of skill sets can win at the course, but there is no doubt that Strokes Gained: Approach is the most predictive statistic this week.

SG: App Over Past 24 Rounds:

Scottie Scheffler (+1.72)
Tony Finau (+1.23)
Xander Schauffele (+1.19)
Tom Hoge (+0.89)
Collin Morikawa (+0.89)

Strokes Gained: Ball Striking

Strokes Gained: Ball Striking does factor in approach, but it also includes golfers who are keeping the ball in play in addition to solid approach play. While distance off the tee isn’t the most important factor this week, golfers will get into some serious trouble if they spray the ball off the tee.

Strokes Gained: Ball Striking Over Past 24 Rounds:

Scottie Scheffler (+2.23)
Xander Schauffele (+1.65)
Jhonnatan Vegas (+1.52)
Collin Morikawa (+1.51)
Rory McIlroy (+1.39

Greens in Regulation Percentage

Green in Regulation percentage at TPC Southwind is 59.8% compared to the TOUR average of 65.8%. Golfers who are in control of the golf ball have had a lot of success at the course historically. The scoring should be relatively difficult this week; therefore fairways and greens will be the recipe to success.

GIR % Past 24 rounds:

Jhonnatan Vegas (74.5%
Ben Griffin (72.2%)
Erik Van Rooyen (72.0%)
Xander Schauffele (72.0%)
Scottie Scheffler (71.8%)

Course History

This statistic will incorporate players who’ve done well at TPC Southwind in recent editions of the tournament.

Course History Over Past 36 Rounds:

Russell Henley (+2.27)
Sungjae Im (+2.22)
Billy Horschel (+2.05)
Cameron Davis (+1.98)
Byeong Hun An (+1.78)

Bogey Avoidance

TPC Southwind features six holes with bogey percentages above 17.5%. Holes 5, 7, 12, 14, 17, and 18 are all very difficult and will give the field some trouble. With par being a good score on these particular holes, it will be important to target golfers who tend to avoid blemishes on the scorecard.

Bogey Avoidance Over Past 24 Rounds:

Xander Schauffele (9.3%)
Scottie Scheffler (11.6%)
Jhonnatan Vegas (12.3%)
Aaron Rai (12.7%)
Collin Morikawa (12.7%)

FedEx St. Jude Championship Model Rankings

Below, I’ve compiled overall model rankings using a combination of the five key statistical categories previously discussed — SG: Approach (27%), SG: Ball Striking (23%%), GIR Gained (18.4%), Bogey Avoidance (18.4%), and Course History (14%).

Xander Schauffele
Scottie Scheffler
Sungjae Im
Jhonnatan Vegas
Russell Henley
Tony Finau
Collin Morikawa
Ludvig Aberg
Corey Conners
Shane Lowry

2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship Picks

Rory McIlroy +900 (FanDuel)

Throughout his career, Rory McIlroy has arguably been the best player in the world in the FedEx Cup playoffs. The Northern Irishman is tied with Dustin Johnson for the most wins in FedEx Cup history with six.

McIlroy has had success at TPC Southwind, finishing in the top 10 in three of his past six starts. Last year, he finished in a tie for 3rd, finishing one shot outside of the playoff between Lucas Glover and Patrick Cantlay.

Since the beginning of May, Rory has only finished outside of the top-15 once, and that was when he got a bad weather draw at The Open Championship. In that stretch, he’s won and had an addition four top-5 finishes. He’s gained strokes off the tee in eight consecutive starts and on approach in six of eight, with the two outliers being in Scotland. In his past 24 rounds, McIlroy is 5th in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking and 9th in Bogey Avoidance.

Winning majors has proven to be difficult for McIlroy over the past decade, but winning FedEx Cup events has not. The 35-year-old feels due for one more win this season and I believe it may come this week when the golf world has overlooked him after the emergence of Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele.

Adam Scott +5500 (FanDuel)

Adam Scott has had a strong final month leading into the FedEx Cup playoffs. The veteran finished 2nd at the Genesis Scottish Open and followed the performance up with a tied for 10th place finish at the Open Championship. At the Renaissance Club, the Australian gained 2.7 strokes on approach and 4.4 strokes off the tee and continued the positive play at Royal Troon, gaining strokes across the board in all significant statistical categories.

Over those two starts, Scott was significantly better off the tee than he has been over the past few years. Prior to the Scottish Open, he switched to the new Titleist GT driver and new Diamana WB shaft, which seemingly paid immediate dividends. This is a great sign for the Aussie at a course like TPC Southwind with danger lurking on many holes.

Heading into this week’s event, Scott sits at 46th on the FedEx Cup points list, meaning he needs a strong performance to get into next week’s BMW Championship. Over his past 36 rounds, Scott has been a strong player in the FedEx Cup playoffs, ranking 13th in the field. He has had success at TPC Southwind as well, finishing in a tie for 5th here in 2022 to go along with a tie for 10th in 2017.

Scott hasn’t won since 2019 but is playing some great golf and I believe has what it takes to win a big event if he finds himself in contention over the weekend.

19th Hole

How much each player won at the 2026 Masters

Published

1 month ago

Apr 13, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

Rory McIlroy made it two wins in as many years at Augusta National, seeing off the challengers on a dramatic Sunday to slip on the green jacket once again. The victory earned Rory a whopping payday of $4.5 million, with Scottie Scheffler his closest challenger earning $2.43 million for his sole runner-up finish.

With a total prize purse of $22.5 million up for grabs, here’s a look at how much each player won at the 2026 Masters tournament.

For players that did not make the cut, they still earned $25k for their efforts at the year’s opening major.

1: Rory McIlroy, $4.5 million
2: Scottie Scheffler, $2.43 million
T3: Tyrrell Hatton, $1.08 million
T3: Russell Henley, $1.08 million
T3: Justin Rose, $1.08 million
T3: Cameron Young, $1.08 million
T7: Collin Morikawa, $725,625
T7: Sam Burns, $725,625
T9: Xander Schauffele, $630,00
T9: Max Homa, $630,00
11: Jake Knapp, $562,500
T12: Jordan Spieth, $427,500
T12: Brooks Koepka, $427,500
T12: Hideki Matsuyama, $427,500
T12: Patrick Reed, $427,500
T12: Patrick Cantlay, $427,500
T12: Jason Day, $427,500
T18: Viktor Hovland, $315,000
T18: Maverick McNealy, $315,000
T18: Matt Fitzpatrick, $315,000
T21: Keegan Bradley, $252,000
T21: Ludvig Aberg, $252,000
T21: Wyndham Clark, $252,000
T24: Matt McCarty, $182,083
T24: Adam Scott, $182,083
T24: Sam Stevens, $182,083
T24: Chris Gotterup, $182,083
T24: Michael Brennan, $182,083
T24: Brian Campbell, $182,083
T30: Alex Noren, $146,250
T30: Harris English, $146,250
T30: Shane Lowry, $146,250
T33: Gary Woodland, $121,500
T33: Dustin Johnson, $121,500
T33: Brian Harman, $121,500
T33: Tommy Fleetwood, $121,500
T33: Ben Griffin, $121,500
T38: Jon Rahm, $105,750
T38: Ryan Gerard, $101,250
T38: Haotong Li, $96,750
T41: Justin Thomas, $92,250
T41: Sepp Straka, $87,750
T41: Jacob Bridgeman, $83,250
T41: Kristoffer Reitan, $78,750
T41: Nick Taylor, $74,250
46: Sungjae Im, $69,750
47: Si Woo Kim, $65,250
48: Aaron Rai, $61,650
T49: Corey Conners, $57,600
T49: Marco Penge, $57,600
51: Kurt Kitayama, $55,250
52: Sergio Garcia, $54,000
53: Rasmus Hojgaard, $52,650
54: Charl Schwartzel, $51,300

19th Hole

CBS’s Sunday Masters coverage slammed by golf fans

Published

1 month ago

Apr 13, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

While Sunday was a dramatic day at the Masters, many golf fans were left feeling frustrated by the CBS final round coverage.

There were plenty of moments that golf fans took to social media to air their frustrations on Sunday over, including a lack of shots being shown throughout the day, being behind the live action, confusion over the approach shots of the final group on 18, and providing an angle for the winning putt where the cup couldn’t be seen.

Here’s a look at some of the criticisms that were directed at the CBS coverage throughout the day on X:

This has been a brutal broadcast for CBS. When the folks from Augusta sit down with them this year, you can bet they’ll talk about this 15 seconds where we have no idea where Rory’s ball went, and Dottie moans. #TheMasters pic.twitter.com/ak3mkpIN7V

— Ryan (@PossiblyRy) April 12, 2026

It’s rare criticism coming in for CBS, who are usually heavily praised for their Masters coverage each year.

19th Hole

The surprise club Tommy Fleetwood says is key to his Masters chances

Published

1 month ago

Apr 7, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

Tommy Fleetwood goes in search for the first major victory of his career again this week, with the Englishman proving to be a popular pick at Augusta National.

Fleetwood’s best showing at Augusta came back in 2024 where he finished T3, and while speaking at his pre-tournament press conference, the 35-year-old emphasized the importance of his 9-wood in his pursuit of the green jacket.

Speaking on Tuesday to media, Fleetwood said:

“It’s a great 9-wood golf course. I think it’s always been — I can’t remember when I first put like a 9-wood in or a high lofted club, but it’s a perfect like 9-wood golf course. I’ve had that in the bag for a few years.”

The Englishman continued, revealing that his strategy for the week won’t just be to hit driver off the tee as much as possible:

“Yeah, it’s funny really because I know Augusta is probably associated with being fairly forgiving off the tee in a way, so you think you can whale around driver a little bit. But I don’t necessarily think that’s always the play for me. I think there’s holes that set up really well where I can draw it with the mini driver if I’m feeling less comfortable with the driver and things like that.”

That strategy he believes will make his TaylorMade Qi10 9-wood extra critical this week in Georgia:

“The biggest thing is the 9-wood for me. If I can put myself in position on the par-5s or the 4th long par-3, like it — for me, I can’t really hit that high 4-iron, so 9-wood helps me a lot.”