Fantasy Golf: FedEx St. Jude Championship Preview

It feels like I've been starting a lot of recent posts with some version of "when you get to be my age . . ." which apparently is just something you naturally start doing when you, um, get to be my age. I assume the next stage is where I don't even realize I'm doing it so I will try to delay that creeping sign of senility by continuing to acknowledge it whenever possible.

Anyway, when you get to be my age, you've inevitably accumulated a lot of stuff. As if the sheer volume of useless crap you've purchased yourself isn't enough, this is also about the time when your parents downsize and decide that you should become the curators of their useless crap. Whatever you do during this time, do not let your kids have a say. Otherwise you'll find yourself the proud owner of a 20lb dark green vinyl staff bag full of Wilson blade irons from 1972 . . . with the original grips.

Eventually you run out of room so you need to find a place to keep this stuff that you will inevitably foist on your own kids. Enter the self-storage industry. Among the great geniuses of our time is the person who thought "I have all of this junk that I can't stand to look at anymore and frankly, I never really want to see it again but I feel guilty throwing it away so where do I put it?" Then that person realized that there are probably many others in the same boat and an entire industry was built on nostalgia.

It would actually be more accurate to say that the industry was founded on crime and then grew thanks to nostalgia. You'll recognize this the first time you visit your new storage unit as it is impossible not to feel like you're recreating a scene from Breaking Bad. It doesn't matter that what you're wheeling down the oddly lit hallway is nothing more than a box of soccer trophies, two rugs, your grandmother's priceless (worthless) China and a broken lamp. You can't help but look around like you're up to no good. Maybe it's because you really should be pushing that cart towards a dumpster.

My favorite part of the process might be the survey they send you after every trip asking "how was your visit?" I mean it was great. I got to feel like Walter White for fifteen minutes while paying you $80 a month to store the trash that I'm too sentimental to part with. Everybody wins.  

GOLF ANALYSIS

It's been fun to occasionally put this season in perspective by comparing my one and done total with that of the guy winning my league. Despite picking Ryan Gerard who missed the cut last week, he has accumulated over $22M this year while I stand at $6.6M. In my defense, he is $7.5M ahead of second place which is what happens when you pick six outright winners including Rory McIlroy at the Masters, Cam Young at the Cadillac Championship and Matt Fitzpatrick at the RBC Heritage. I have no idea who this Nostradamus is but he's more than earned a slow golf clap from the FGR this year.

We press on because quitting is not an option. (I mean it is and an attractive one on these late season Wednesday mornings but we're not taking it). Sam Burns has been knocking on the door for months lately and this feels like his week. He's got two recent top fives in Memphis and the look of a guy who couldn't win anything that mattered but is due for a lucrative consolation prize. It would be no surprise to see him win the FedEx Cup and add his name to the list of candidates for the Hall of Very Good along with recent champions Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland and Patrick Cantlay. 

Our wagering attention this week is focused on that middle tier including Misters Hovland and Cantlay along with defending champion Justin Rose who has been lurking off the radar lately. He should arrive well rested and hungry after not playing since his missed cut at the British Open. 

We would also encourage a hard look at Sungjae Im as a top ten or top twenty option. He finished top fifteen in his last two events and he hasn't missed a tournament at TPC Southwind since 2020 which means he actually likes the golf course enough to visit Memphis six years in a row. That's saying something. 

Place	Player	Odds
Winner	Sam Burns	+2200
Top 5	Patrick Cantlay	+475
Top 10	Viktor Hovland	+250
Top 10	Justin Rose	+375
Top 20	Sungjae Im	+190

One and Done Pick: Viktor Hovland

You know what they say,
when all else fails, go
with the smiling Viking.

Other Guy I'd Pick: Sam Burns

Sleeper Pick: Sungjae Im

DraftKings Top Ten Values

Tommy Fleetwood	$10,200
Matthew Fitzpatrick	$9,900
Sam Burns	$9,500
Patrick Cantlay	$8,800
Viktor Hovland	$8,400
Justin Rose	$8,000
Maverick McNealy	$7,600
Akshay Bhatia	$7,300
Jacob Bridgeman	$7,200
Sungjae Im	$6,700

This week's Historical Performance Chart is dedicated to the asshole who honked his horn at arguably the nicest lady in my office because she dared to drift over the line in a two-lane traffic circle that he was careening around the inside lane of at the time. 

THE ROAD RAGING RONNIE

HISTORICAL PERFORMANCE CHART

Like every mediocre golf course, TPC Southwind doesn't yield consistently high finishes by the best players and the list of winners is random and uninspiring. With that being said, Ben Griffin and Corey Conners are worth a look based on the intel below while checking the random and uninspiring boxes.  

	DK Price	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021
Scottie Scheffler	$13,500	T3	4th	T31	MC	14th
Rory McIlroy	$11,500	DNP	T68	T3	MC	T12
Tommy Fleetwood	$10,200	T3	T22	T3	DNP	T46
Xander Schauffele	$10,000	T22	T2	T24	T57	T46
Matthew Fitzpatrick	$9,900	T32	T18	T66	T5	T57
Cameron Young	$9,700	5th	T61	T31	T31	DNP
Sam Burns	$9,500	T28	T5	T52	T20	T2
Collin Morikawa	$9,300	T22	T22	T13	T5	T26
Ludvig Aberg	$9,100	T9	T40	DNP	DNP	DNP
Hideki Matsuyama	$9,000	T17	1st	T16	DNP	T2
Chris Gotterup	$8,900	T54	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Patrick Cantlay	$8,800	T9	T12	2nd	T57	T23
Si Woo Kim	$8,700	T14	T50	T16	T42	65th
Russell Henley	$8,600	T17	T30	T6	MC	DNP
Wyndham Clark	$8,500	T56	T7	T66	T28	DNP
Viktor Hovland	$8,400	T32	T2	T13	T20	T36
Robert Macintyre	$8,300	T38	T7	DNP	DNP	T15
Jackson Koivun	$8,200	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Justin Thomas	$8,100	T28	T30	DNP	T13	T26
Justin Rose	$8,000	1st	T22	T20	MC	T54
Tom Kim	$7,900	DNP	T50	T24	T13	DNP
J.J. Spaun	$7,800	2nd	DNP	T24	T42	DNP
Ben Griffin	$7,700	T9	T50	T24	DNP	DNP
Min Woo Lee	$7,700	T68	T22	DNP	DNP	62nd
Maverick McNealy	$7,600	T28	T12	DNP	T31	DNP
Kurt Kitayama	$7,600	T9	DNP	T52	MC	DNP
Rickie Fowler	$7,500	T6	DNP	T58	T64	DNP
Michael Thorbjornsen	$7,500	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Ryan Gerrard	$7,400	T44	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Michael Brennan	$7,400	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Shane Lowry	$7,300	T59	T50	DNP	T46	T23
Akshay Bhatia	$7,300	T6	T12	DNP	DNP	DNP
Jacob Bridgeman	$7,200	T17	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Nicolai Hojgaard	$7,200	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Alex Noren	$7,100	DNP	T30	DNP	W/D	DNP
Krist Reitan	$7,100	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Jake Knapp	$7,000	T62	67th	DNP	DNP	DNP
Adam Scott	$7,000	DNP	T18	DNP	T5	T36
Alex Smalley	$7,000	DNP	DNP	65th	MC	DNP
Harris English	$6,900	T48	T61	T52	DNP	4th
Jordan Spieth	$6,900	T38	T68	T6	MC	T12
Keith Mitchell	$6,900	DNP	DNP	T43	T31	DNP
Aaron Rai	$6,800	T22	T16	T49	T51	T26
Ryan Fox	$6,800	T50	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Alex Fitzpatrick	$6,800	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Corey Conners	$6,700	T50	T50	T6	T28	T36
Sungjae Im	$6,700	T17	T40	T6	12th	T46
Gary Woodland	$6,700	DNP	DNP	DNP	T51	DNP
Sahith Theegala	$6,600	DNP	T46	T13	T13	DNP
Eric Cole	$6,600	DNP	T18	T31	DNP	DNP
Jordan Smith	$6,600	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Brian Harman	$6,500	T22	T50	T31	T3	T36
Michael Kim	$6,500	T59	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Bud Cauley	$6,500	T14	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Harry Hall	$6,400	T22	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Nick Taylor	$6,400	T44	65th	T24	MC	DNP
Max Homa	$6,400	DNP	70th	T6	T42	T51
J.T. Poston	$6,300	T22	T33	T24	T20	DNP
Nicco Echavarria	$6,300	T38	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Ryo Hisatsune	$6,300	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Sepp Straka	$6,200	T17	T61	63rd	2nd	MC
S. Yallamaraju	$6,200	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Ricky Castillo	$6,200	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Sam Stevens	$6,100	T54	DNP	T37	DNP	DNP
Aldrich Potgieter	$6,100	T59	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Matt McCarty	$6,100	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Matti Schmid	$6,000	T38	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Patrick Rodgers	$6,000	T38	T33	T52	MC	DNP
Pierceson Coody	$6,000	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

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