AFTER the battle for Majors, and then the scrap for medals in Paris, the focus turns to money on the PGA Tour over the next three weeks as the FedEx Cup builds to a climax.
The top 70 on the season-long rankings are still standing for the first play-off event, the FedEx St Jude Championship this week, before the best 50 go forward to next week’s BMW Championship in Colorado.
From there, only 30 will advance to the Tour Championship at the traditional home of East Lake in Atlanta, when the FedEx Cup will be handed out, along with the $15 million dollar cheque for topping the standings.
That prize may no longer be the biggest in golf given the arrival of LIV on the scene, but it is still not to be sniffed at, and all 70 players who are eligible to tee it up this week are in attendance at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee.
Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele are the top two on the FedEx Cup list as it stands, with the pair the dominant players throughout 2024, and it would be grossly unfair were one of them not crowned FedEx champion come the conclusion of the Tour Championship.
Scheffler has now won seven times, including his second Masters title, and claimed the Olympics gold medal in Paris 10 days ago, when there was no money handed out but glory more than made up for it.
Schauffele, meanwhile, broke his Major duck in the US PGA Championship at Valhalla before quickly following up with a stunning display in the Open at Royal Troon, keeping his cool while most around were losing theirs in high winds and rain.
Going into the play-offs, world number one Scheffler leads his compatriot by almost 2,000 points but that offers very few guarantees, so weighted is the FedEx system towards the last three events.
The winners this week and next get 2,000 points, so there is every chance Scheffler doesn’t lead going into the Tour Championship, and even if he is still in top spot, that will only equate to a two-shot headstart on the much-criticised staggered leaderboard.
That is all looking down the line a little, and the laser-focused Scheffler will only be worried about winning in Memphis, where he goes in as a hot favourite at 7/2 generally, with Schauffele no bigger than 8/1.
TPC Southwind has been a standing dish on the PGA Tour for 36 years, but it has really come to the fore since 2019, when the St Jude Classic – previously played before the US Open with very average fields – was upgraded to a World Golf Championship.
It then become a play-off host venue in 2022, ensuring all the big guns head to the sweltering heat of Tennessee in August, where they are met by a par 70 lay-out reaching 7,243 yards.
It is not a massive course by modern standards, and players can get away with some errant driving, but rock-solid approach play has been key in recent seasons, with an ability to scramble when required a significant bonus.
All of that stacks up well for Scheffler, who leads all the long game stats in 2024, but for some reason he has a poor enough record at TPC Southwind by his standards, while the 7/2 is of little interest.
Schauffele is very likely to go well, but I’m drawn to the third member of the trio at the top of the betting and would suggest Rory McIlroy may just start to make up for a frustrating summer with a victory in Memphis.
The world number three described himself as a ‘nearly man’ after coming up short in his quest for a medal when fifth at the Olympics, missing out on bronze by two shots thanks to a visit to the water at the 15th on the final day, which came on the back of five successive birdies.
That neatly summed up McIlroy’s summer, but we shouldn’t forget that either side of a shocking missed cut at Royal Troon, he has been playing very well.
He was in total control of his game for 69 holes in the US Open before the Major demons kicked in, then fourth at the Genesis Scottish Open and fifth in France.
With Scheffler and Schauffele taking the headlines, it is easy to forget McIlroy has also won three times this term, while he really comes into his own at this time of the season as the only player to win three FedEx Cups.
Only Dustin Johnson can match his six play-off victories, and while none of those have come at Southwind, he was third here last term, 12th in 2021 and fourth in 2019, so he can play the course.
McIlroy needs a good week with his irons to win this, but they were very good at Le Golf National, and at 10/1 (Bet365), I think he represents a cracking each-way bet at least.
Finau can get over out-of-Troon Open bid
Tony Finau is another player who flopped at Troon when quietly fancied, the Friday storms blowing him well off course.
That said, he has been in fine form elsewhere and should give a good account of himself on a course where he was fifth in 2022 and has all the tools to go well again.
Finau is second to Scheffler in approach play this term, while his putting has improved markedly in recent times, which has so often been his Achilles heel.
The Utah native was 12th at the 3M Open last time out, and has also been eighth at The Memorial, third in the US Open and fifth in the Travelers Championship during a fine summer, so there looks to be win around the corner and at 33/1 (Paddy Power) he should be of interest here.
Aaron Rai did get the win he has been strongly hinting at when lifting the silverware at the Wyndham Championship on Sunday night, and there are many reasons to suggest he could go close again very quickly.
The Englishman has been second in the Rocket Mortgage Classic, joint-fourth in the Scottish Open and seventh in the John Deere this summer, all built on excellence from tee-to-green and much-improved putting.
He now ranks sixth for approach play, which will stand to him at a venue where he was 12th in 2019.
A far better player now, Rai could easily emulate Lucas Glover, who won the Wyndham and then this event last term, while back-to-back champions are common-place at this time of year, with nine of the last 11 play-offs series having a double winner.
Rai could just go in again at 45/1 (William Hill), while Russell Henley (35/1) is also worth a look after a quietly impressive summer in which he was seventh in the US Open and fifth at Royal Troon.
The latter effort was built on keeping it in play and doing the basics well, a plan that could also pay dividends in very different conditions in Memphis with rich rewards on offer.
FEDEX ST JUDE CHAMPIONSHIP SELECTIONS
Rory McIlroy, e/w, 10/1 (Bet365);
Tony Finau, e/w, 33/1 (Paddy Power);
Aaron Rai, e/w, 45/1 (William Hill);
Russell Henley, e/w (35/1, William Hill)
