The St Jude Classic is the traditional curtain-raiser for the U.S. Open, which from 2019 will receive WGC-status. The week before a Major is never the best spot to be for a 'regular' tournament on the PGA Tour and as ever the field is weak. Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson grace the top of the betting, but lower down we are seeing the tradional swathe of WDs from players who got through USO Sectional Qualifying yesterday, or quite simply need a rest (Beau Hossler). TPC Southwind is a tough par 70 with lots of water in-play. 8 par-4s play at +450 yards and as a set they are difficult. The 2 par-5s present eagle opportunities and the 8 looks at them need to be maximised. Fairways are zoysiagrass, with Champion Bermudagrass greens. Temperatures get up to 35 degrees Celsius so the tournament tends to be slog and tightly contested. Little wind this week and invitating playing conditions across Thurs/Fri, so scoring likely to be around the -12/-14 winning mark. Elite players with a win agenda can take this, as can Tour maidens. sometimes at rather tasty prices.
I'm going with Luke List (50/1), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (50/1), Matt Jones (150/1), Wesley Bryan (200/1) and Ryan Blaum (300/1).
I'm going with Luke List (50/1), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (50/1), Matt Jones (150/1), Wesley Bryan (200/1) and Ryan Blaum (300/1).
