Who is favorite to win FedEx St. Jude Championship? Ranking top 5 contenders at TPC Southwind
The start of the 2023 FedEx St. Jude Championship has been highly anticipated. The current FedEx Cup season has had a high level of competitiveness, so much so, that the Top 70 was defined almost with the last shot of the Wyndham Championship.
However, that is now history. All eyes are on the TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee, where the FedEx St. Jude Championship will be teeing off this Thursday.
Never settle.
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Stability in performance throughout the season is the main result that brought the 70 players to the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Based on that parameter, the best of the best can also be evaluated.
Top 5 contenders at the FedEx St. Jude Championship
Since it is the first event of the postseason playoffs, the same high competitiveness can be expected at the FedEx St. Jude Championship that has been experienced throughout the season.
Let's take a look at the five players to watch in the event:
#1 Scottie Scheffler
The Texan has been the most stable player all season. He occupies the first place in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) and is number two in the FedEx Cup ranking, only 126 points behind the leader heading into the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
Scottie Scheffler had two victories during the season, including The PLAYERS Championship, his main result of the year. In addition, he finished in the Top 10 of three of the four majors, and in the fourth (The Open), he finished T23.
As if that wasn't enough, he strung together 18 Top 12s between October 2022 and June 2023, without being cut once during the season. An impressive year.
#2 Jon Rahm
And if we are talking about who is having an impressive year heading into the FedEx St. Jude Championship, Jon Rahm must be mentioned. The Spaniard is first in the FedEx Cup Ranking and third in the OWGR, thanks to his four historic season victories.
Rahm signed in 2023 the main result of his career so far by winning The Masters Tournament. But he also won two of the Designated Events of the year (The Sentry and The Genesis), not to mention The American Express in January.
His results don't stop there, as Rahm finished outside the top 30 in only three of the 16 tournaments played (he withdrew from one). That includes his only cut of the season, which came near the end, at the Travelers Championship.
#3 Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy had another great season, starting the FedEx St. Jude Championship second in the OWGR and third in the FedEx Cup rankings. He achieved two victories, the most recent of which came just three weeks ago at the Scottish Open.
His only bad moment of the year came after being cut at The Masters, which brought about four weeks of instability.
But he bounced back like the greatest and has since racked up seven top 10s in eight tournaments, including T7 at the PGA Championship, runner up at the U.S. Open and T6 at The Open Championship.
#4 Viktor Hovland
Maybe Viktor Hovland is one of the surprises on this list, but there is no way to exclude him. Fifth in the OWGR and seventh in the FedEx Cup rankings, this has been his consecration season.
No cuts in 20 tournaments played, Top 25 in 15 of them and Top 20s in all four majors could be enough to speak for him. But he also won one of the big ones: The Memorial.
#5 Max Homa
Homa is one of the most stable players on the PGA tour today, although he has lacked that "big shot" in his career. Nevertheless, his two victories this season, his seventh place in the OWGR and his fourth position in the FedEx Cup ranking, speak for themselves.
The American finally made it into the top 10 of a major when he finished T10 at The Open Championship. That momentum may give him the confidence he needs to be among the most serious contenders at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.