Blog #165 Preview St Jude Championship

Blog#165 Preview  

St Jude Championship

TPC Southland Memphis,TN

Par 70 Aug 15-18, 2024 

Purse $20M same as 2023

History 

This is the 1st of 3 tournaments in the Championship series.  It consists of 70 players in this 1st of 3 weeks of competition on 3 different courses.  After the1st week the field will be reduced to 50 and after week 2 there will be 30 players competing for the championship.   Last years St Jude winner Lucas Glover who did not qualify this year.  

The tournament started as the Memphis Open in 1958.  In 1969 entertainer Danny Thomas agreed to add his name and help fund St Jude Hospital which opened its doors in 1962.  He was the driving force behind creating this hospital for children.  In 1986 FedX became the sponsor.

Favorites

1 Scottie Scheffler 3/1 He was 7/1 to win last year and finished out of top 10 with poor putting.

2 Xander Schauffele 8/1 He was picked #5 last year and did not make the top 10.

3 Rory McILroy 9/1  Finished 5th at Olympics but was +11 at the OPEN and missed cut.

4 Collin Morikawa 12/1 Finished 24th at the Olympics, if he can put 4 RDs together could win.

5 Tommy Fleetwood 20/1 Has played well this year, won silver at Olympics, could get 1st win.

6 Ludvig Aberg 20/1 No hence he has been too erratic this year. 

7 Patrick Cantlay 22/1 He has won before and is playing better and is due for a win. 

8 Hideki Matsuyama 28/1 Won the bronze at the Olympics and could surprise.

9 Tom Kim 30/1 Everyone expects him to break out of his year long slump but not now.

10 Tony Finau 33/1 No idea why he is rated this high.

My Prediction

Scottie Scheffler who won the Gold Medal shooting a bogie free 62 on the final RD and has won 4 tournaments this year, I can’t see anyone beating him.  However winning 3 straight is tough. 

Longshots All of these guys have a shot but I think it is one of the top 4 or anybody could win.

1 Sahith Theegala 40/1 Too many bad shots to pull off a win.

2 Cameron Young 45/1 This guy has to win his first sometime, it could be this week.

3 Adam Scott 55/1 He has been in contention in a few tournaments but never a threat this year.

4 Alex Noran 80/1 Another guy who is always up there but never seems to be able to close.

5 Maverick McNealy 90/1 Same as above.

6 Max Grayserman 100/1 Knew little about him until loosing last week which may motivate him

7 Nick Dunlap 125/1 Has won twice this year, may surprise and be a good bet with the odds.