2015 FedEx St. Jude Classic

[mvmac]

The 2015 FedEx St. Jude Classic will be played at the TPC Southwind, a par-70 measuring 7,239 yards in Memphis, Tenn.

As the last tournament before the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay, some of the top players choose to take the week off, while others use it as a final tune-up. Dustin Johnson (No. 7 in the OWGR), Phil Mickelson (No. 19), Billy Horschel (No. 20) and Brooks Koepka (No. 23) are in the field this week, surely looking to build momentum heading into the year’s second major championship.

Last year, Ben Crane defeated Troy Merrit by one stroke on a marathon Sunday, capping off a week of storms and delays, to win his fifth PGA Tour title.

POWER RANKINGS: FEDEX ST. JUDE CLASSIC

RANK		PLAYER	COMMENT
1 Billy Horschel Always streaky and now peaking. T13 at THE PLAYERS and T11 at the Memorial. Validated a T10 at TPC Southwind in 2013 with a T6 last year.
2 Dustin Johnson The 2012 champ added a T10 in 2013 and a T24 last year. Top 15s at TPC Four Seasons and Muirfield Village. Fourth in adjusted scoring.
3 Ryan Palmer Inspired by flak over MC at Colonial, tied for 10th at TPC Four Seasons. Top fives here in 2012 and 2013. Sits 13th in strokes gained: tee-to-green.
4 Webb Simpson Focus of converging trends with a T3 here last year and a T2 in last start at Quail Hollow. Fourth in strokes gained: tee-to-green; third in all-around.
5 Phil Mickelson Dedicated to this event to stay sharp for the U.S. Open, but has played well at TPC Southwind. Co-runner-up in 2013 and T11 last year.
6 Shawn Stefani At 19th in adjusted scoring and eighth in the all-around, he's a potential breakout every week. Nine top 25s this season. T7 here in 2013.
7 Harris English Winner here in 2013 added proof that first-timers can reign at TPC Southwind. Inconsistent of late, but tied for 18th at Muirfield Village.
8 George McNeill Defying his course history of late with career-bests at Colonial (T5) and Muirfield Village (T13). Top 20s in five of last seven starts.
9 Jason Bohn Career-best four top 10s this season, including a T9 at Quail Hollow and T2 at Colonial. Top 25s here the last two years. T4 in par-4 scoring.
10 Chesson Hadley Connected four top 25s before T49 at Memorial. T13 in his only previous start here last year, ranking T2 in GIR and first in par-5 scoring.
11 Jamie Donaldson Debut appearance. Gets benefit of the doubt with a T8 at TPC Sawgrass and a T18 at Wentworth in last two starts. T34 in scrambling.
12 Will Wilcox Just his ninth start this season due to conditional status, but has four top 25s. Nineteen of last 23 rounds are sub-par. T19 in his debut here in 2014.
13 Brian Harman With top 10s at TPC Sawgrass and Colonial, sites where the lefty isn't overmatched, the game is there. Shared sixth here last year.
14 Cameron Tringale Blends a little bit of success (T8, 2011) and steady scoring at TPC Southwind with pockets of brilliance in the last two months.
15 Camilo Villegas Current form is lousy, but he's a horse for a course. He's 8-for-9 here with top-11 finishes in four of the last five editions and six top 25s overall.

[Natural Patrick]

I thought this was the one event you could always count on John Daly playing in. Did not see his name in the field ?

[Chilli Dipper]

What is FexEx?

[Natural Patrick]

What is FexEx?

Maybe it's what some men may refer to their first wife as ?

[RJH999]

Maybe it's what some men may refer to their first wife as ?

Zing!

[atb5079]

Not an awful field?

[RJH999]

That moment when google starts predicting David Duval's next career result.

[Thrash13]

Damn, that's harsh. Lol. That being said, it's probably accurate unfortunately. I really like Horschel this week, and Villegas might surprise after a solid showing in U.S. Open qualifying and a great record here.

[joekelly]

The 'Internationals' currently have the Pro golf world under control.  One of those guys will be on top in WA, due mostly to experience in weird set-ups, ugly weather, golf without trees, sand dunes for tee boxes, etc.

[joekelly]

Oops,  Wrong thread.   Put above post under 2015 US Open in WWW (weird  wild  washington)

[Crim]

DJ bogeys the first 3 holes....he better get it together if he wants to be on my fantasy team again...

[Crim]

Looks like Dustin Johnson withdrew after 9.....sh*t.

Update:

PGA TOUR Media ‏ @PGATOURmedia 16 minutes ago

Dustin Johnson WD from @ fesjcmemphis during the first round, due to illness.

[inthehole]

Looks like Dustin Johnson withdrew after 9.....sh*t.

Update:

PGA TOUR Media ‏@PGATOURmedia  16 minutes ago

Dustin Johnson WD from @fesjcmemphis during the first round, due to illness.

Great, thanks DJ for KILLING me this week

[Wally Fairway]

That moment when google starts predicting David Duval's next career result.

Who am I to argue with google, and Duval is likely to miss the cut.

Anyone else thinking DJ's illness was that he was sick of being over par after 9 holes?

[Crim]

Graeme McDowell is having one seriously bad year. Shoots a first round +6. He's been really trying to convince everyone on social media that his game is improved lately.

[ChrisP]

Graeme McDowell is having one seriously bad year. Shoots a first round +6. He's been really trying to convince everyone on social media that his game is improved lately.

I don't know what's going on with him. Very surprising. The one thing he does have going for him next week, though, is he plays pretty well in West Coast US Opens. A first and a second in his last two.

[Vinsk]

Only Thursday luckily ....cuz criminey what a snooze fest for a leaderboard.....now here come they guys who'll say Brown, Alker and Gainey are big time leaders who everybody knows....

[David Sok]

I took Brooks Koepka vs Luke Donald ML(-130).

Koepka is coming off a great year, leading the tournament.