St. Jude Preview: DJ's Tough To Top

The best golfers in the world head back to the states this week as Memphis takes center stage. Yes, we are continuing on with the season, even though all four majors are in the books. I have to admit, as much as I like the new schedule, this gap of over 260 days until the next major is going to be tough to manage. It's worth it, though, as we needed a more condensed season and the spacing of the majors this season was great as there were no long droughts between. 

Although the majors are in the rear view, we still have a handful of tourneys left and most  should be entertaining. One takes place this week, as the WGC-FedEx St. Jude will bring out the top players in the world. This event has a new home, but fortunately it's a familiar home. TPC Southwind has been home to the St. Jude Classic for decades, which means we have plenty of course history in play this week. We also have a lot of candidates for major hangovers this week, both good and bad.           

This Week: WGC-FedEx St. Jude – TPC Southwind, Memphis 

Last Year: Justin Thomas won this event last year in Ohio, while Dustin Johnson won the event that was held at the TPC Southwind.  

FAVORITES

Dustin Johnson (10-1) 

Now we're back in Johnson's wheel house. I'm not sure DJ will ever go on a run at the majors, but we know he's capable of taking down titles outside the majors. Case in point, he's won several WGC events throughout his career. Why is he the favorite this week, though? Well, it just so happens that he's very adept at getting around this particular track. DJ won on this course last year, just as he did in 2012. Between those wins, he has two additional top-10s and a top-25. Yeah, he looks like a good pick this week.        

Rory McIlroy (10-1)   

And here's the first case of the aforementioned "major hangover". McIlroy enters this week off a very disappointing MC at the Open Championship in front of his home crowd. Will that serve as motivation or will he be down in the dumps? There's no way to be sure, but considering he's the co-favorite, he doesn't seem to have much value this week. He has played fairly well on this track, but he's only played it twice and not since 2012. There are better options this week.       

Brooks Koepka (12-1) 

Here we go again. Koepka's ability to perform at the majors is unmatched in today's golf, but his inability to thrive anywhere else is almost as certain. It's amazing that someone this good, who can apparently get locked in whenever he needs to, simply can't get up for anything outside of a major. Yes, he is capable of winning any given week, but until he starts showing some consistency outside the majors, he shouldn't be among the favorites. Koepka does have a decent track record on this course, however, with a runner-up and a T3 in five starts.            

MID-TIER GOLFERS                        

Patrick Cantlay (20-1) 

Outside of Johnson, there aren't many players in the field this week with a long history at the TPC Southwind, which means I'll be leaning more on recent form this week. Cantlay made the cut at the Open Championship last week but didn't fare well on the weekend. However, he's been one of the hotter players on the PGA Tour the last couple months and this looks like a good spot for him to get a breakthrough win.            

Xander Schauffele (25-1) 

This is right up Schauffele's alley. Sure, he's been getting plenty of pub for his play at the majors the last couple years, but he's yet to win one. That's not the case for WGC events as he picked up one of those late last season. He also has a Tour Championship title under his belt, so we know the stage will not be too big this week. Schauffele was all over the place last week at the Open, but he certainly showed flashes of brilliance from time to time, like his second-round 65 on Friday.      

Bryson DeChambeau (30-1) 

Prior to last week's Open Championship, DeChambeau was on a roll. Predictably, the unpredictable elements of the Open Championship did not compute for DeChambeau and he ended up missing the cut. Well, we're back in the states this week and I expect DeChambeau to pick up where he left off when we last saw him in Minnesota.            

LONGSHOTS

Chez Reavie (60-1)  

Again, another situation where we need to just throw out the results of the Open Championship. Reavie has a good mix of recent form and track history on his side this week, with only a concern of complacency after his big week a few weeks back. Reavie's had enough time to celebrate that win, and now it's time to move forward. His track record at the TPC Southwind includes a T6, T4 and T12 in his last three starts here.         

Justin Harding (150-1)  

Perhaps I'm a year too early on Harding, as he's shown an inability to close on the weekends, but the fact that he's jumped out near the lead at the majors on multiple occasions this season is certainly promising. There's no course history for Harding and he hasn't made any waves during the other WGC events this season, but it feels like he's on the brink of seriously contending one of these weeks.      

ONE AND DONE GOLFER 

Highly Owned Pick: Dustin Johnson - I can't imagine there are many OAD players who managed to hang onto DJ this long, but if you have, this is definitely the time to deploy him. DJ hasn't been that far off during the majors this season, and he's always ready for events like these. He's as solid of a favorite this week as just about any week on the PGA Tour.               

Moderately Owned Pick: Xander Schauffele - Schauffele was a pretty popular pick last week and while that didn't work out, I expect a much better effort this week. I don't have him available, but if I did, he'd be near the top of the list. The pressure of not winning a major will begin to mount for Schauffele and that could start to impact his performances, but there's no such pressure this week and as such, he should be a factor on Sunday.         

Lightly Owned Pick: Bryson DeChambeau - With a poor performance last week and a less than stellar track record on this course, DeChambeau likely will get overlooked, but that would be a mistake. DeChambeau appears to be nearing the form that saw him tear through the PGA Tour late last season and if that's the case, he's going to make a serious run this week.                  

Buyer Beware: Rory McIlroy - There's a chance McIlroy comes out hopping mad this week and rips apart this golf course, but I don't think he's mad at all, I think he's incredibly disappointed about his play last week and it's hard to get up for anything when you are in that mode. If this were a normal event, with a normal field, I'd give him a fighting chance, but he's facing the best in the world again this week and he'll need his mind to be present and that's a lot to ask.                  

Last Week: Xander Schauffele (T41) - $36,925; Season - $6,748,227  

This Week: Adam Scott - It's rare that my pick is not among the players listed above, but when you get late into the season, your options are limited. I don't have a lot to work with this week, and while I'm still a little angry at Scott for missing the cut last week, I'll go back to him in this spot because his form overall has been good this season and well, you know, this week will in no way resemble the Open Championship. Scott also scored a T10 in his most recent start on this course.                                             
FANDUEL PICKS  

High/Mid/Low: Dustin Johnson ($12,000)/Bryson DeChambeau ($10,400)/Chez Reavie ($8,700) 

SURVIVOR PICK 

Last Week: Adam Scott - (MC); Streak - 0 

This Week: no cut