2026 FedEx St. Jude Championship Preview: Everything To Know About TPC Southwind
The FedEx St. Jude Championship returns to Memphis to kick off the PGA TOUR’s 2026 FedEx Cup Playoffs at TPC Southwind. The top 70 qualify for the field, a change from the previous rules of the top 125. Find longer golf odds at the best sports betting sites to increase your potential FedEx St. Jude Championship payouts. Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and Xander Schauffele are the favorites for this year’s FedEx St. Jude Championship.
The heat is on now as the PGA TOUR heads to Memphis, Tennessee, to kick off the 2026 FedEx Cup Playoffs. The first stop is the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind. Our weekly preview begins, as always, with a look at TPC Southwind and the FedEx St. Jude Championship odds.
The FedEx Cup Playoffs continue to evolve their format. Like last year, however, a condensed field of the 70 best players in the FedEx Cup Standings will tee it up in Memphis. Similar to the Signature Event structure earlier this season, this event will feature no cut, with 72 holes guaranteed for the full field. After this week, the top 50 in the FedEx Cup Standings will qualify for the BMW Championship for the second round of the playoffs at Bellerive Country Club. Next week, all players in the BMW Championship field will secure the highly coveted exemptions for all 2027 Signature Events.
Despite all the changes, TPC Southwind is no stranger to the PGA Tour, as it has hosted events each year since 1989. We’ve gotten our fair share of high-stakes, limited-field action here as well, with the top-70 players in the world coming for the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational from 2019-2021. TPC Southwind is known for extremely firm, fast Bermuda greens, penal Bermuda rough and persistent water hazards throughout. Those have given players a stern tee-to-green test and kept winning scores in a modest range.
Typically, when we see a loaded field of all the game’s best players in one place, it comes on a rotating course set up for majors or a playoff event. The unique combination of a limited yet jam-packed field on familiar grounds should result in fewer surprises and a more predictable result from one of the presumptive favorites and, therefore, breed a tighter, more top-heavy betting card. I’ll look to hone in on the players who are best in terms of SG: APP, Total Driving, and SG: P (Firm & Fast Bermuda) when building out my card.
Consider A Donation
I’d be remiss to kick off a preview of this event without encouraging anyone with some spare golf betting winnings to consider a donation to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. It is, without a doubt, one of the best charity organizations out there and one I’m proud to help donate to each year.
Now let’s get into the key facts and info about TPC Southwind for the 2026 FedEx St. Jude Championship.
FedEx St. Jude Championship Odds: The Favorites
Below are the favorites for the St. Jude Championship this week and the best available odds at sportsbooks in your state.
The Field At A Glance
The field is set with the top 70 players in the FedEx Cup standings ready to tee it up in Memphis. In this reduced field of 70, there will be no cut, so all players will have the security of four full rounds ahead of them.
The FedEx St. Jude Championship field is officially locked following the conclusion of the Wyndham Championship. Jackson Koivun impressively held onto the final 70th position at Sedgefield Country Club, needing just six PGA Tour starts this season to do what proven veterans like Keegan Bradley, Brooks Koepka, and Jason Day could not: Make it to Memphis.
For now, all of the top 70 in the FedEx Cup Standings are healthy and ready to play in Memphis this week, with the exception of Daniel Berger. His exclusion from the field is speculated to be injury-related, but nonetheless, we will have a field of 69 at TPC Southwind.
Rory McIlroy controversially skipped the first leg of the playoffs last year, but is a notable inclusion in this year’s field. His decision to play this year and not last year is a curious one, considering he will safely make it to East Lake where there will no longer be starting strokes that incentivize jockeying for position ahead of time.
Like the other Signature Events preceding the playoffs this year, we should expect Scottie Scheffler to be the prohibitive favorite, with McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Ludvig Aberg, and Tommy Fleetwood following distantly as the second tier of headliners. Should there be any withdrawals, there will be no backfill from alternates.
Justin Rose is back in the field to defend his come-from-behind playoff win over JJ Spaun. Hideki Matsuyama and Justin Thomas are the only other past champions at TPC Southwind in the field this week, despite its long history between the WGC-FedEx St. Jude and St. Jude Classic. For reference, Lucas Glover, Daniel Berger, Will Zalatoris, Abraham Ancer, Brooks Koepka, and Dustin Johnson have each won this event over the last decade, but are either not qualified for the 2026 playoffs or have since left the PGA Tour for LIV.
Introduction To TPC Southwind
TPC Southwind is true to its name, in that it embodies all of the characteristics of a southern Bermuda course while also being susceptible to high winds. Southwind will impose more of a test than your typical TPC layout, but can be attacked by bombers and fairway-finders alike. Players with the most balanced, well-rounded skillsets and proven history on Bermuda greens have shown to have the best track record at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
This tournament has endured many changes over the years, but despite the rotating events that have run through TPC Southwind, the course has remained a mainstay since 1989. TPC Southwind hosted the St. Jude Classic and kept the event on the schedule here through 2018. In 2019, the WGC Bridgestone at Firestone CC became known as the WGC St. Jude Invitational, attracting the top 75 players in the world to Memphis for increased prize money. In its three years as host to the WGC event, TPC Southwind produced winners of Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, and Abraham Ancer.
At 7,233 yards, TPC Southwind measures fairly average in terms of length by PGA Tour standards, and the list of contenders over the years would suggest that distance is not a prerequisite for success. The list of contenders of the years on this course suggests an emphasis on players who can consistently position themselves well off the tee and are predominantly comfortable putting on pure Bermuda greens. Since the St. Jude Classic evolved into the WGC FedEx St. Jude, we’ve seen a progression of the cream rising to the top. Skilled players from tee to green should naturally be best suited to navigate this course.
How It Breaks Down
As another par 70, TPC Southwind deprioritizes the importance of Par-5 Scoring. Just two exist on the property, which in turn mitigates the volume of birdie-or-better opportunities. The two par 5s, each reachable in two, are the only holes at TPC Southwind with a scoring average better than 0.1 under par. By contrast, 12 holes have a scoring average above par, with half averaging at least 0.1 strokes over. That sets us up a complete tee-to-green test. It will reward well-rounded players who can keep their tee shots in the fairway and scramble often to save par.
Unlike Sedgefield CC, TPC Southwind features a balanced distribution of hole ranges, which should again suit the most skilled players in the field who possess a diverse arsenal of shots. With that said, a concentration of nearly one in every three approach shots came from 150-175 yards in last year’s FedEx St. Jude Championship. So, players with strong mid-irons should capitalize most on the scoring opportunities. Ten holes fall between 400-500 yards, so as tends to be the case on any given PGA TOUR event, the players who can capitalize on these holes should find themselves in contention by week’s end.
Traits And Recent Notable Facts
The fairways are not as claustrophobic at TPC Southwind as we just saw at Sedgefield CC. But, the combination of below-average fairway width, similarly penal Bermuda rough, and the additional presence of 11 water hazards will place a premium on driving accuracy. Any time we see a combination of below-average fairways and greens in regulation, we can expect a stern test that will reward the best tee-to-green players in the field.
Compared to the other courses on the PGA TOUR rotation, TPC Southwind stands out as one of the easiest in putting difficulty and shortest in average par-3 length. The Champion Bermuda greens roll firm, fast, and true, with little surprises in the reads. Pure greens like these tend to produce a bell curve of putting results. The weaker putters can come back to field average when tasked with more straightforward reads, while elite putters have been able to explode with well-struck putts holding true to their line. That helps in part explain how players like Chez Reavie and Webb Simpson have displayed top-10 course history here despite having opposite long-term putting pedigree.
TPC Southwind begins to show its teeth when played from outside the fairway. It ranks top six in Penalty From Missed Fairways and Approach Difficulty From The Rough. Featuring top-10 most-narrow fairways on TOUR, players will need to play some shots from the rough. And with these greens rolling firm and fast, that will inevitably lead to an emphasis on scrambling as well.
TPC SOUTHWIND COURSE SPECS
- Yards: 7,233
- Par: 70 (4x 3s / 12x 4s / 2x 5s)
- Greens: Bermuda
- Architect: Ron Prichard
- Comp Courses: Pebble Beach, East Lake, Innisbrook Resort, Waialae CC, Harbour Town, TPC Sawgrass, PGA National, Sedgefield CC
Course History And Course Comps
When I think of the FedEx St. Jude at TPC Southwind, names like Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, and Daniel Berger come to mind first as perennial contenders. Unfortunately, none of them will be back in Memphis this week, which creates a more open feeling heading into the first event of the FedEx Cup playoffs.
Hideki Matsuyama leads the way in terms of course history in the 2026 field at the FedEx St Jude Championship. In addition to his win in 2024, he has a playoff loss and three additional top-20s over his last five visits to TPC Southwind. Matusyama is followed on the Course History ranks by Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Thomas, JJ Spaun, Patrick Cantlay, Collin Morikawa, Sam Burns, and Adam Scott. Memphis in August is no walk in the park, so I still find value in referencing course history this week, as certain players are better equipped than others to withstand some of the hottest playing conditions we see all season.
Looking at results over the last five years, there are five players who have posted multiple top-10 finishes: Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay, Hideki Matsuyama, Tommy Fleetwood, and Sam Burns
Course Comps
The emphasis on driving accuracy over distance (particularly to avoid water hazards and gnarly Bermuda rough), and putting on smooth Bermuda greens, are staples of Florida golf that should translate well to TPC Southwind. As evidence, the success seen in recent years by Florida residents Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, and Daniel Berger.
The course that jumps out as the closest embodiment to these conditions is East Lake. East Lake features the same agronomy of Zoysia fairways and pure Champion Bermuda greens, moderate scoring conditions with severe penalty for missed fairways, and consistent names atop the leaderboard like Billy Horschel, Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy.
In addition to East Lake, TPC Sawgrass comes to mind next as a more challenging TPC layout with a similar emphasis on positional tee shots and the option to get more aggressive with the driver from hole to hole. TPC Scottsdale, Sedgefield CC, PGA National, Harbour Town, Waialae CC, and Innisbrook Resort each also feature similar Bermuda grass layouts with overlapping results from players with comparable profiles.
On a secondary level, it’s hard to deny the overlap of success between Pebble Beach and TPC Southwind. Both tracks have exposure to the wind with water in play throughout and have rewarded players with a combination of accuracy off the tee and precision with mid-irons. Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Daniel Berger, and even Chez Reavie highlight the top 10 of course history at both courses.
And finally, TPC Southwind bears plenty in common with last week’s venue, Sedgefield CC. Both are short, positional par-70 courses with Bermuda turf throughout. Lucas Glover proved a hot week at the Wyndham Championship can parlay into continued success in Memphis. Could Michael Brennan be next to follow suit?
Combine performance across this list, and the top-10 players in Comp Course History here are Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Collin Morikawa, JJ Spaun, Patrick Cantlay, Si Woo Kim, and Ludvig Aberg.
Key Stats To Consider With FedEx St. Jude Odds
- SG: T2G
- SG: APP / SG: Ball Striking
- Fairways Gained
- Opportunities Gained
- Scrambling Gained
- Prox 125-200
- SG: P (Bermuda) / SG: P (Firm & Fast greens)
- Par-4 Scoring: 450-500 Yards
- Course & Comp Course History
Rather than overcomplicate the model here, I prefer to hone in on the players who enter in the best overall form. Over the last 16 rounds going into this week, the top-10 players in SG: T2G are Tom Kim, Scottie Scheffler, Hideki Matsuyama, Sam Burns, Cameron Young, Michael Thorbjornsen, Jackson Koivun, Viktor Hovland, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Alex Fitzpatrick. Just eight players rank top-25 in SG: T2G and SG: P on Bermuda greens: Matt Fitzpatrick, Cameron Young, Jackson Koivun, Ludvig Aberg, Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland, and Sam Burns.
Approach play will remain a crucial stat this week on a golf course that has consistently rewarded trending ball strikers. The top 10 in SG: APP entering this week are Tom Kim, Scottie Scheffler, Ludvig Aberg, Alex Fitzpatrick, Collin Morikawa, Matt Fitzpatrick, JJ Spaun, Patrick Cantlay, Jackson Koivun, and Si Woo Kim.
The firm and fast greens are a significant piece of TPC Southwind’s identity. We’ve seen players who excel in these particular conditions go on to find more repeated success at this course. The top 10 in SG: P (Firm & Fast Greens) are Jackson Koivun, Eric Cole, Sam Burns, Akshay Bhatia, Maverick McNealy, Ben Griffin, Russell Henley, Chris Gotterup, Alex Noren, and Tommy Fleetwood.
The ideal player for this week should rank above average across weighted putting categories, SG: T2G, Fairways Gained, Scrambling Gained, and SG: APP. Only five players meet that criteria in this week’s field: Sam Burns, Tommy Fleetwood, Chris Gotterup, Jackson Koivun, and Rickie Fowler.
Correlations
Looking at the correlation charts this week for TPC Southwind, Double Bogey Avoidance noticeably jumps into the top 10 most important stats. More than 5% of the field makes double or worse on three different holes, a side effect of the 11 holes where water hazards come into play.
We also see a larger-than-usual jump in the importance of SG: APP and SG: Short Game this week compared to Tour average. Each of these categories enters the top 10. On the flip side, Par-5 Scoring, Par-3 Scoring and SG: OTT will be stats to deprioritize this week. They have proven far less consequential here than on Tour average.
Only seven players in the field rank above average in each of the above 10 key stat categories: Sam Burns, Tommy Fleetwood, Matt Fitzpatrick, Patrick Cantlay, Russell Henley, Viktor Hovland, and Jackson Koivun.
Player Spotlight: Tommy Fleetwood
The cast of recent winners at TPC Southwind – Rose, Matsuyama, Glover, Zalatoris, Ancer, Thomas – is an eclectic one. What they each shared in common, however, was their ability to win through a ceiling approach week alone. Each of the last five winners had experienced inconsistency off the tee leading in, but were in complete control of their approach game to compensate. When I look through the 2026 FedEx St. Jude Championship field beyond Scottie Scheffler, it’s Tommy Fleetwood who best fits that mold.
I am ready to get hurt again after enduring the full Tommy Fleetwood experience one year ago at this event. He led by multiple strokes late on Sunday, but ultimately watched as his playing partner Justin Rose took charge of the tournament and fell one stroke shy of a playoff. That marked Fleetwood’s second top-3 finish over the last three years at this event; he is the only player in this field who can make that claim.
I thought the floodgates might have opened for Fleetwood after his TOUR Championship win last August. While that may not have happened just yet, I do feel the onus of winning will weigh far less heavily if he puts himself in contention yet again at TPC Southwind. This is a course that accentuates all of Fleetwood’s greatest strengths: approach play, driving accuracy, and Bermuda putting.
His form is as solid as ever leading into this week, with seven top-15 finishes over his last eight starts. It’s crucial to have complete control over all aspects of your game leading into the playoffs, and it’s no surprise that Fleetwood capitalized on his hot end-of-season form this time last year, finishing T4-T4-1st in the 2025 FedEx Cup Playoffs.
Having proven he can handle the Memphis heat, Fleetwood enters the 2026 FedEx Cup St. Jude with the fewest question marks surrounding his course fit and current form. The only thing left for him to do now is to win.
2026 FedEx St. Jude Championship Odds: DFS Player Pool
With all the course-fit profiles in mind, I’m leaning early toward the below player pool. Naturally, I’m looking their way in the 2026 FedEx St. Jude Championship odds as well. I’ve broken the list down by projected pricing/odds tier for DraftKings.
FedEx St. Jude Championship Odds: Model Results & Breakdown
2026 FedEx St. Jude Championship Model Breakdown
In my model, I’m emphasizing SG: T2G, SG: APP, Comp Course History, Weighted Putting (L36, Bermuda, and Firm & Fast Conditions), followed by a more balanced mix of Fairways Gained, Prox 125-200 and Scrambling Gained.
Model Favorites
To no surprise, Scottie Scheffler remains the man to beat, according to my model this week. The margins are narrowing, however, as Scheffler enters the playoffs on the heels of a disappointing regular season by his standards. By anyone else’s standards, however, four top-5s over your last five starts is nothing to panic over.
After Scheffler, the rest of my model’s top 10 features Matt Fitzpatrick, Jackson Koivun, Collin Morikawa, Tommy Fleetwood, Si Woo Kim, Sam Burns, JJ Spaun, Patrick Cantlay, and Rory McIlroy.
When odds open on Monday, I’ll look to center my card around Tommy Fleetwood, Sam Burns, and Rickie Fowler, depending on where odds ultimately fall.
Check back in later this week for more updates, and best of luck navigating the 2026 FedEx St. Jude Championship odds!
Photo Credit: REUTERS
