FedEx St Jude Champ. Betting Odds Preview

The FedEx Cup playoffs begin this week at the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee.

The name of this week’s first FedEx Cup playoff event might cause some confusion. Prior to this year the tournament was called The Northern Trust, and TPC Southwind previously played host to the St. Jude Classic from 1989-2018. As well, there used to be a WGC event called the FedEx St. Jude Invitational also held at Southwind from 2019-2021.

Entry into this week’s tournament is limited to the Top 125 players in the FedEx Cup standings. The leader atop the standings is Scottie Scheffler with 3,556 points, while in second place is Cameron Smith with 2,335 points.

McIlroy sits as favorite on tournament odds

Scheffler and Smith may be sitting one and two in the FedEx Cup standings, but neither golfer is the favorite this week. At the Bovada Sportsbook the tournament favorite is Rory McIlroy at +1100. He’s followed by Scheffler and Smith at +1400, and Justin Thomas at +1600.

McIlroy is a two-time FedEx Cup winner having won in 2019 and 2016. During those Cup-winning years McIlroy did not win the St. Jude Championship which was then known as the Northern Trust and the Barclays. In 2019 he finished tied for sixth place in the Northern Trust at Liberty National, and in 2016 he tied for 31st place in the Barclays at Bethpage Black. This week’s St. Jude will be McIlroy’s first tournament since the placed third at the British Open.

Scheffler also hasn’t played a Tour event since the British Open where he finished tied for 21st. He has built a lead in the FedEx Cup standings thanks to three wins, including the Masters, and six top-five finishes this season.

Finau possible value pick on board this week

Smith won the British Open last month for his first career Major victory and third Tour win this season. In last year’s Northern Trust Smith finished second after losing to Tony Finau in a playoff. Finau heads into the week having won back-to-back tournaments at the 3M Open and Rocket Mortgage Classic and could be a nice value pick at the Bovada Sportsbook at +2000.

Thomas has won at Southwind once before in the WGC FedEx St. Jude Invitational in 2020. Thomas was also the FedEx Cup champ in 2017, but he did not win the Northern Trust that year.

Along with Finau other winners of this event when it was under a different name that are in this week’s field include 2015 winner Jason Day (+12500), 2013 winner Adam Scott (+10000), 2012 winner Nick Watney (+75000), and 2010 winner Matt Kuchar (+20000). None of the winners from 2016-2020 will be in the field this week as they have all departed the Tour for LIV Golf, including Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed and Bryson DeChambeau.