2011 FedEx St. Jude Classic Preview
Sunday, June 5th, 2011Last Week
Despite some ugly shots down the stretch, Steve Stricker held on to win the Memorial Tournament by one stroke. All four of Stricker’s rounds at Muirfield Village were in the 60s, the only player this week to do so. In addition, he banked a hole-in-one in Round 2. Stricker now owns 10 career victories, seven coming after age 40.
I turned in a pretty strong selection of picks. My Must Start, Matt Kuchar, finished with a share of second thanks to matching a tournament-best round of 65 on Sunday. Luke Donald finished T7, adding yet another top-10 finish to his blistering season. Stewart Cink, T30. J.B. Holmes, T51. Defending champion Justin Rose and Jeff Overton both missed the cut.
This Week
Lee Westwood – Must Start
With a fairly uninspiring field loaded with first timers, Westwood is the easy top-tier selection to make. Westwood won this event last year in a three-way playoff, his first start at TPC Southwind. The Englishman was last seen stateside with a T11 in the Masters but recently finished second to Donald in an epic playoff at the BMW PGA Championship.
David Toms
After losing a heartbreaker in THE PLAYERS Championship, Toms rebounded the very next week to win the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. He’s taken some time off since then and returns to a site where he’s been very successful. Since 2002, Toms has six finishes of fourth or better at Southwind, highlighted by back-to-back wins in 2003 and 2004. This season, Toms is currently second in greens in regulation, third in driving accuracy, sixth in strokes gained – putting, seventh in scoring and first in All-Around Ranking.
Zach Johnson
With three finishes of 12th or better over his last three starts, Johnson is starting to rediscover the form that allowed him to finish third in the 2009 standings. He earned a T12 last year at Southwind, his only start at the venue since finishing T5 back in 2006. Johnson rates fourth in strokes gained – putting, seventh in driving accuracy and 16th in All-Around.
Webb Simpson
Even though Simpson only finished T29 last year at Southwind, he did so by shooting for par or better in each round. However, he’s coming off a T7 at the Memorial and has finished 16th or better in seven of his 13 starts this season. Simpson ranks ninth in birdies and scoring, 15th in greens in regulation and second in All-Around.
UPDATE: Simpson has withdrawn from this event, I’ll take John Senden in his place.
Sergio Garcia
Prior to skipping this event a year ago and missing the cut in 2009, Garcia finished T4 at Southwind in 2008. In seven Tour starts this season, Garcia has yet to miss a cut and has finished 20th or better on five occasions. He sits first in eagles, sixth in scoring and 17th in All-Around.
Brian Gay
Since 2007, Gay has three finishes of 15th or better, including a win in 2009. Over his last three starts, Gay has been productive with pair of finishes 14th or better. He currently ranks first in driving accuracy and fifth in scoring average.
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