FedEx St. Jude Championship betting tips: Three longshot picks for this week on the PGA Tour

The PGA Tour season reaches the business end this week as TPC Southwind hosts the first of three FedEx Cup playoffs events, the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

A group of 70 will be whittled down to an elite 30 in a matter of weeks.

The top 70 in the FedEx Cup points list are eligible to compete in Memphis. This is followed by the top 50 at the end of the St. Jude head to Bellerive Country Club, Missouri, to contest the BMW Championship.

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All roads lead to a top 30 slug-fest at the Tour Championship at East Lake, where the $10 million FedEx Cup winner’s prize will be awarded.

All but one of the top 70 will compete in Tennessee – Daniel Berger is injured and, at 60th on the points list, has elected to end his season early – with Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy the headline acts.

TPC Southwind, a tough 7,288-yard par-70 course, has hosted a PGA Tour event each year since 1989 and has been host to the first playoff event since 2022.

The Memphis venue, which previously staged the St. Jude Classic and the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, continues to be one of the most difficult tests on the US circuit each year, with the winner usually required to pound greens in regulation.

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FedEx St. Jude Championship betting tips

• Xander Schauffele to win & each-way @ 18/1
• Sam Burns to win & each-way @ 22/1
• Akshay Bhatia to win & each-way @ 55/1

Sharp Schauffele looks ready to win again

Scheffler is the man to beat as always and the adopted Texan will be desperate to rediscover the winning thread, having had a succession of near-misses since winning The American Express in his first appearance of the year.

His chance is as obvious as his short odds suggest, but he could be pipped to another title by Xander Schauffele, who should be equally motivated as he bids for a first triumph in what has been a frustrating year.

Schauffele finished sixth in the 2020 WGC event at Southwind. He was a runner-up in this tournament two years ago, a position he also filled at the Rocket Classic last time out.

The Californian struck the ball superbly at Detroit Golf Club, finding only Michael Thorbjornsen too strong and another solid week from tee to green would put him firmly in the Tennessee title hunt.

Burns’ hot form can continue at Southwind

Sam Burns failed to convert a golden opportunity at the Open Championship, but he remains one of the most in-form golfers in the world. And with his irons firing on all cylinders, the Louisiana man looks a likely Southwind champion.

Burns has finished fourth, 20th, second, 12th and third in his last five worldwide starts and a return to his beloved Bermuda greens will add further comfort for a man who is already one of the world’s best with putter in hand.

He was a runner-up at Southwind in 2021 and fifth in 2024, so there could be more to come this week.

Bhatia to bounce back in Memphis

Take a chance on Akshay Bhatia, who is overpriced after missing cuts at the Open and the Rocket Classic in his last two starts.

Bhatia won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, beating two-time Southwind champion Berger in a play-off. His missed cut at the Rocket, where he shot 68-71, can largely be attributed to one poor hole on Friday afternoon.

Prior to that, he had finished fifth at the Travelers Championship, while two trips to Southwind have resulted in form figures of 12-6.

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