Fantasy Golf: FedEx St. Jude Classic preview

The Today’s Golfer Fantasy Golf game, in association with Your Golf Travel, stays in America this week for the PGA Tour’s FedEx St. Jude Classic.

The host course is TPC Southwind, a par 70 measuring over 7,200 yards making it one of the toughest tests tee-to-green on the PGA Tour outside the majors.

Statistics from recent years suggest both the fairways and greens are harder to find.
The putting surfaces are smaller than the Tour average and undulating too, making the targets even smaller. Therefore, scoring is more about avoiding bogeys than it is finding birdies.

Aim to pick golfers who are long off the tee but not erratic and those who scramble well as there will be plenty of greens missed this week.

Some players have decided to rest ahead of next week’s US Open while others are looking to find some form and maintain their competitive edge. Those players include Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Padraig Harrington and Dustin Johnson.

Here is the six-man Today’s Golfer team for the FedEx St. Jude Classic:

Dustin Johnson, $3.2m
Following a 10-week layoff due to injury, Johnson bounced back with a T-19 finish at The Memorial last week. He’s fresh and his length is a massive advantage on this par-70 layout.

Rory McIlroy, $5m
Rory has missed three cuts in a row but showed signs of a recovery during round one of The Memorial last week, shooting one-under par with a quadruple bogey on his card. Defends his US Open crown next week so will be desperate for a good showing here.

Zach Johnson, $1.9m
There may be players with higher world rankings in the field but no one is playing better than Johnson right now. He won at Colonial in his last outing and he was second in two of his three starts prior to the victory.

Ryan Palmer $1.3m
Palmer plays tough courses as well as anyone. Has shot par or better in eight of last nine rounds, and has top-10s in three of his last four starts.

David Toms, $2.4m
Toms is quietly having an impressive season with a pair of top 10s and five top 25s. He’s the all-time leading money winner at St. Jude with two wins (2003, 2004) and seven top 10s in 20 events.

Spencer Levin, $1.2m
The last time Levin gave up the lead on Sunday he bounced back the next week and finished in the top 10. He held the third round lead at The Memorial last week, eventually finishing T-4. He’s also 20th on the TOUR in strokes gained-putting, and he tied for 15th last year in Memphis.

>>> You can see a full list of all the golfers playing this week and their prices by clicking here. You have until 12.30pm on Thursday 7th June to select your team.