GOLF

DraftKings Daily Fantasy Golf Helper: WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational

Rory McIlroy returns to action after an emotional missed cut at the Open Championship. Can he bounce back as one of the favorites at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational?

Daily fantasy golf requires a new approach for each and every event.

The course and field change week after week, making no two contests alike. That means you need to refine your approach for each PGA Tour event to try to find golfers who are primed to excel for your daily fantasy golf lineups.

Each week, we have a course primer, and our daily fantasy golf projections and lineup builder can help you get started, but these golfers stand out specifically on DraftKings for the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational at TPC Southwind.

Key Stats

Key Stats for the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational at TPC Southwind
Strokes Gained: Approach
Good Drives Gained
Scrambling Gained
Proximity Gained: 150-200 yards

Let's get to the picks. For details on why these stats stand out this week, check out the course primer.

Stats are from Fantasy National Golf Club and are for golfers in the field over the last 50 rounds, unless otherwise noted.

High-Priced Studs

Rory McIlroy (DraftKings Price $11,100 | FanDuel Sportsbook Win Odds 9/1) - After an emotional weekend and a missed cut at the Open, McIlroy can get back to business at a course that should suit him well. He was tied for seventh at TPC Southwind in 2012, and even with elite distance, McIlroy is still third in this field in good drives gained. Good drives are ones that either hit the fairway or miss but still result in a green in regulation (GIR). So Rory finds himself in good position off the tee, and he is no slouch with the second shot either. He is fifth in strokes gained: approach, and he gains proximity to the hole at an elite level from both 150-175 yards (fifth) and 175-200 yards (ninth). He is more than capable of bouncing back from a poor event, as he won the RBC Canadian Open off his last missed cut at the Memorial.

Justin Thomas ($10,700 | 14) - Thomas is technically the defending champion at this WGC event, though Dustin Johnson was the last to win at TPC Southwind in the event formerly known as the FedEx St. Jude Classic. No matter, as Thomas' game is rounding into form, and the spotty putter from the past few months should find an elixir on these Bermuda greens. Thomas is back to gaining 4.0+ strokes on approach after a dip in the middle part of the season as he recovered from a wrist injury, and he ranks fourth in strokes gained: approach. If he hits it well with his driver and finds himself in the key range of 150-175 yards left, he'll be money in the bank as he ranks third in proximity from that distance. JT is long overdue for a win, and this week could finally be it.

Patrick Cantlay ($9,800 | 18) - Cantlay has maintained elite ball striking numbers for the past two years and shows no signs of stopping. He is sixth in approach and cooks in the key ranges -- third from 150-175 and first from 175-200. He's 4th in scrambling gained and 23rd in good drives gained. The combination of striking it pure, giving himself looks at the flag, and scrambling to save par when he misses is about all you can ask for from a golfer at this course.

Mid-Priced Options

Henrik Stenson ($9,100 | 29) - Stenson's game is tailor-made for TPC Southwind. At a course that values accuracy off the tee and precision on approach, Stenson lines up perfectly and ranks first in strokes gained: approach and sixth in good drives gained. His 3-wood off the tee can keep him in position for the second shot, and he is precise from both 150-175 yards (11th) and 175-200 yards (12th). His season started miserably both Stateside and abroad, but he's been rock solid lately with a T20 at the Open and three top 10s immediately prior.

Matt Kuchar ($9,000 | 33) - Having yielded his lead in the FedEx Cup standings, Kuchar looks to forget his Sunday 79 at the Open that saw him drop all the way down to T41 for the tournament. Kuchar winds down what could turn out to be the best season in his long career -- two wins, top 20s at three of four majors, just one missed cut -- and a WGC title would be a nice warmup for the Playoffs. He is sixth in scrambling gained, eighth in good drives gained, and ninth in strokes gained: approach. He is just fine from the proximity ranges as well, as he ranks 22nd from 150-175 and 17th from 175-200.

Hideki Matsuyama ($8,900 | 27) - Matsuyama will be making his debut at TPC Southwind and should find it to his liking. He is 2nd in strokes gained: approach, 12th in good drives gained, and 13th in scrambling gained. Hideki is a proximity god, ranking inside the top 10 in proximity gained in every 25-yard segment from 75-100 to 200+. He is 7th from 150-175 and 10th from 175-200. If Thomas is overdue for a win, Matsuyama is downright dying for it. He has not lifted a trophy since the WGC-Bridgestone in August 2017, the event the FedEx St. Jude Invitational replaced.

Paul Casey ($8,200 | 41) - One of the course comparisons in the course primer this week was Innisbrook Resort, and Casey is the two-time defending champ at the Copperhead course. Casey unsurprisingly checks all the boxes for TPC Southwind. Difficult fairways? Casey is fifth in good drives gained. Hard-to-hit greens? Casey is 12th in approach, 14th from 150-175 yards and 11th from 175-200. He has also shown some strong bounce-back potential -- Casey's last three finishes outside the top 30 (all missed cuts) were followed by a top-5 finish the following week, including his Valspar win. He was T57 last week at the Open.

Low Priced Options

Chez Reavie ($7,900 | 50) - Another feckless Open finisher looking to get back on track, Reavie got the heck out of dodge and left the Open Championship in the rearview when he returned to comfier confines. Reavie has finished T6 and T4 the past two seasons at TPC Southwind, and he rates out very well statistically. He is first and second in the field in proximity gained from 150-175 yards and 175-200 yards, respectively. He is also 2nd in good drives gained, 16th in strokes gained: approach, and 29th in scrambling gained.

Danny Willett ($7,600 | 70) - The 2016 Masters champion has rediscovered his game and has reached the top 60 in the Official World Golf Ranking after sitting around 270th this time last year. He found a place near the podium at the Open, finishing T6, and he shined at the U.S. Open a few weeks prior with a T12 at Pebble Beach. He can gain strokes in all facets of the game when he's clicking, and surely he relishes the opportunity to compete among the world's best players again in a WGC event. Willett's rounds on the PGA Tour are limited, so he does not have quite as much recent data, but he ranks 16th in good drives gained, 18th in scrambling gained, and 24th in strokes gained: approach.

Billy Horschel ($7,500 | 55) - Like Reavie, Horschel boasts strong course form with three top 10s in the last four years. He is inside the top 30 in all the key stats, highlighted by 5th in scrambling gained. Prior to the missed cut at the Open, he had four top 25s in his last five events.

Jim Furyk ($7,000 | 120) - The hot weather expected in Memphis is certainly a concern for old man Jim, and over his long career, Furyk has managed to run into TPC Southwind just once, a missed cut in 2017. That event was in the beginning of his freefall down the world rankings that saw him crater all the way outside the top 300 around this time last year. It's been a steady climb since then, and he finds himself back inside the top 50. Furyk has been a fairway and green machine, ranking first in good drives gained and second in greens in regulation gained. He is also 3rd in scrambling gained and 11th in strokes gained: approach.

Bargain Basement

Keegan Bradley ($6,900 | 90) - Bradley is third in strokes gained: approach and seventh in good drives gained. Keegan has played three no-cut events in the past year with fields of 60-70 golfers (WGC-Mexico, WGC-HSBC, and the BMW Championship) and has finished top 10 in all of them, including a win. No-cut events suit him because he is able to play well for a few rounds and supremely stink for one. In a regular event, that poor round could cost him the weekend, but without a cut line, Bradley can fire away and iron out the variance over four days.

Corey Conners ($6,400 | 210) - Like several of the names above, Conners is an ace approach player with an inconsistent (or sometimes consistently bad) putter. Conners is 4th in good drives gained, 10th in strokes gained: tee to green, and 13th in approach. He's also 2nd in proximity gained from 150-175 yards and 13th from 175-200.


Mike Rodden is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Mike Rodden also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username mike_rodden. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.