2020 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational Tournament Preview

Its been a fast and frenetic return for golf since the restrictions were lifted, and were about to go up another gear as we enter the business end of the campaign.

Were about to go into major season, with the PGA Championship next week and the U.S. Open and The Masters to come in the next few months, and theres also the climax of the FedExCup to consider.

This week, we have the first of the WGC events since golfs return, and the St Jude Invitational is highly anticipated this year given the quality of players on show and the narratives that will inform the action.

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Jon Rahm will be looking to cement his status as the number one player in the world he opened up with a round of 62 here 12 months ago, while others like Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay will be hoping to hit form heading into this juicy part of the season.

Lets face it some courses on the PGA TOUR are wholly unforgettable.

But others, like TPC Southwind, have the ability to test out every aspect of the best players in the world theyll need classy ball striking, efficient rescue play around the greens and a sure putting hand to thrive.

We hope that the weather doesnt soften the greens too much and ruin the complexity of the assignment, because TPC Southwind is a fun test that challenges the approach play and chipping of the best in the business thanks to the rapid, smaller-than-average Bermuda greens.

Some of the hole feature quite pronounced doglegs too, so accurate driving is key, but there is some fun to be had on a couple of drivable Par 4s too and a Sawgrass-style island green Par 3.

With Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson on the winners roll of honor at TPC Southwind, you might think this is a standard bomb-and-gouge style contest, but with wet, tangly rough just whacking the ball aimlessly off the peg isnt going to cut the mustard sorry, Bryson.

This is a golf course that suits Jon Rahms game just fine, but even so were going to take a chance that Justin Thomas can outlast the Spaniard this week.

Top of the FedExCup standings, theres no shortage of motivation for JT right now and you can tell hes hungry to add win number 13 to his collection as soon as possible he lost out in a play-off at the Workday Charity Open you may recall.

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Adverse conditions wont affect Thomas, who is an outstanding scrambler, and indeed there is a certain familiarity to this part of the world for a young man who was raised in Kentucky and who was schooled in Alabama.

There are some high-quality campaigners in the field this week, but none are striking the ball quite as well as Xander Schauffele right now.

Remember how tough the conditions were at Muirfield Village for the Memorial Tournament? X-man ranked second for Strokes Gained Off-the-Tee there and first for Greens in Regulation, which really was an outstanding effort.

Hes one of the few players on Tour without any weaknesses in his game, and already at a young age Xander is developing the profile of a prolific winner who can claim multiple majors. WGCs arent too bad on the resum either.

The fact that theres no cut this week could play into the hands of Jordan Spieth, who will feel some off the pressure lifted for that fact and who can relax back in familiar territory back down south.

No cut events are interesting for Spieth because we know he can connect birdies and shoot super-low numbers, so even with a bad round in the mix he can still get up the leaderboard.

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Even as his game bounces between finding some form and otherwise, Spieth has continued to be a excellent grinder and chipper, and if his famous putting stroke can find some confidence he can do really well this week.

In form heading into the event, TPC Southwind could not suit Mackenzie Hughes any better.

The Canadian has banked some big checks in the past couple of weeks, with T3 at the Travelers Championship backed by T6 in the Memorial.

What do those events have in common? Theres some tight sightlines off the tee and the smaller-than-average greens run at a fair pace, and that lets Hughes enviable short game shine.

These are not good times for Dustin Johnson, who returns to a course he loves but in a state of some disrepair.

He was way out of the mix at the Memorial, missing the cut by a country mile, and in withdrawing from the 3M Open it was perhaps proof positive that, for now at least, DJ is playing all the wrong tunes.

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Your sportsbook will offer different match-up options, but the one we really like is Matt Fitzpatrick, who will be available at a meaty odds-against price in this h2h.

The Brit boasts an elite-level chipping game and hes in decent form too with two good outings Muirfield Village. Fitzpatrick was T4 here last year as well.

Its an easy play this and feels like kicking a man when hes down, but Brooks Koepkas formline of MC-62-MC since the restart tells its own story.

Hes leaking shots on the green left, right and center, and while it would be typically Brooks to come out and win this week, were happy to put our money where our mouth is and say that he wont.

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GOLFICITY BETS: The 2020 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational Gambling Guide - Golficity