2009 St. Jude Classic Predictions

Written by Jason Lowry

mickelson This week the PGA Tour heads to Memphis for its annual stop at TPC Southwind for the St. Jude Classic, and with just one week separating the best players from the US Open, this is a great chance for many golfers to get their game at the level needed to win a major. Southwind sets up very similar to that of Muirfield Village where Tiger Woods won in come from behind fashion last week at the Memorial Tournament. Southwind has a difficult layout that makes it hard for players to find the green in regulation, and what makes this course even harder than Muirfield Village is the fairways off tee are not near as easy to find. For example Justin Leonard won here last year with a 4 round total of just 4 under, but did need a playoff to win outright. To help you get going on the big tournament this weekend, here is a look at the 3 golfers I feel have a great shot at winning this weekend.

Phil Mickelson +1000 to win: This will be the first start for Mickelson since the Players Championship where he finished tied for 55th, as he took a nearly a month off to be with his wife after she discovered she had cancer. The reason I like Mickelson is this guy can turn it on whenever he wants, and I have a pretty good feeling that he is going to be playing with a little extra emotion and desire to win this weekend. Not only that but Mickelson needs his game ready to go for the US Open next week. Mickelson has only played once here at Southwind, but I don’t think that will hold him back this weekend. Mickelson is 72nd in greens in regulation, but what will be really important is how well he hits the driver, as this course does not allow you to just hit it all over and still make birdies. The one thing you have to love about Mickelson is his ability to scramble around the greens and turn what should be bogeys into just a simple old par. I know it might be a little bit of a long shot with all the time he has missed, but I got a real good feeling he comes away with a victory this weekend.

Justin Leonard +1500 to win: Here is guy no stranger to this tournament, as he has won twice in the last 4 years and finished in the top 10 five times in 10 starts at Memphis. What really makes Leonard a strong play this weekend, is he is one of the more accurate golfers on tour. Leonard is 17th in driving accuracy, 45th in greens in regulation, and 8th in putting average. Leonard is also very good at scrambling around the green, as he comes in 17th on tour in that category. In his last 3 starts Leonard hasn’t finished outside of the top 16, and I think there is no reason to think he falls out of the top 10 this weekend.

Scott Verplank +4000 to win : Finally I always like to add a golfer that might not have the best odds to win, but still has a very good shot at coming away with a victory. Verplank is another great ball striker that should fair well on the difficult layout of Southwind. In fact Verplank has done just that over the last two years, as he has finished tied for 8th in each of his last two starts on this course. Verplank is 8th in driving accuracy, and 42nd in greens in regulation, and those are two very good stats for this course. If you are looking for a sleeper to surprise this weekend, I feel like Verplank is just the guy you are looking for.

For those of you looking to do some PGA Tour betting this weekend, be sure to check out our expert golf picks and grab the latest golf odds for every tournament at Betfirms.

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