Golf betting tips: St. Jude Championship – Xander Schauffele confident as Tommy Fleetwood lurks
The PGA Tour regular season is now over and all eyes turn to Memphis this week for the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
As expected, it’s a stacked field, with nobody outside of the top 70 in the FedEx rankings making the cut for the postseason.
Hosted at TPC Southwind for the fourth year running, accuracy off the tee is a must as the fairways trend on the thin side around the 300-yard mark.
Here, Sports News Blitz’s Sam Condy breaks down four of his favourite picks ahead of the FedEx Cup opener in Tennessee.
Xander Schauffele
On paper, Xander Schauffele’s season looks rather disappointing, but he was plagued by injury at the start of the campaign and has looked far more like his old self of late.
The American recorded back-to-back top 10s recently – at the Scottish Open and The Open – and looks to be finding form at the perfect time.
Schauffele has also been playing an intelligent style of golf over the last few weeks, racking up impressive numbers in both off-the-tee and approach metrics.
He finished second here in 2024, so the course clearly suits him, and after striking a run of form, he will be full of confidence.
Best odds: 18/1 (5EW, 1/5) with Betfred
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Russell Henley
Not many players on tour are on a better run of form than Russell Henley, who has notched up four straight top 10 finishes.
This includes T10 at both the US Open and The Open, proving that Henley can show up against even the most elite fields.
The only downside to his game is his lack of distance off the tee, but that won’t bother him here; if anything, his laser accuracy – ranking 15th in driving accuracy – will help him around TPC Southwind quite well.
Best odds: 12/5 (Top 10) with AK Bets
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Tommy Fleetwood
Staying with driving accuracy as the winning formula, it’s hard not to back Tommy Fleetwood.
Granted, his metrics off the tee aren’t as good as in previous seasons, but he still ranks 43rd in Driving Accuracy and SG: Off the Tee.
Perhaps more importantly, he’s a far more complete golfer than he was last year, having made some pretty mammoth strides in his approach game.
The Brit now ranks ninth in SG: Approach to Green and is looking nicely well-rounded compared to 2024.
It’s hard to tip Fleetwood to win, given that he seems to have a real monkey on his shoulder when it comes to entering the winners’ circle, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he comes agonisingly close yet again.
Therefore, predicting a top 10 finish seems the play here.
Best odds: 21/10 (Top 10) with AK Bets
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Hideki Matsuyama
Hideki Matsuyama is another player who turns up when the competition is hot.
With wins at the Genesis Invitational (2024), FedEx St. Jude Championship (2024), and The Sentry (2025), Matsuyama has proven he still has the game to shine on the big stage.
He now returns to Tennessee to defend one of those titles at an event where he has racked up four top-fives since 2020, with the action taking place at TPC Southwind since 2022.
Matsuyama currently ranks 14th in SG: Total and 16th in SG: Approach to Green, so as long as he can get his big stick to cooperate, the former Masters winner will likely find himself near the top of the board come Sunday.
Best odds: 8/5 (Top Asian) with Betfred
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