FedEx St. Jude Classic 2017: 5 groups to watch in Rounds 1 & 2

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Jun 1, 2017; Dublin, OH, USA; Adam Scott looks on before teeing off on the first hole during the first round of The Memorial golf tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports /

1. Daniel Berger, Rickie Fowler, Adam Scott

Round 1: 10th tee, 7:50 a.m.

Round 2: 1st tee, 12:50 p.m.

This is easily the most high-profile group of the week. With the defending champion, a former PLAYERS champ and a former Masters champ, this is definitely the group that will have the biggest following at TPC Southwind. All three are already in the field at Erin Hills but all three will be looking to gain some momentum going into the U.S. Open.

World No. 9 Rickie Fowler, a late addition to the field as usual, had a real shot to win at the Memorial but just couldn’t quite close things out on the back nine on Sunday as two bogeys in the final five holes allowed Jason Dufner to walk away with the victory. Outside of a T-60 finish at THE PLAYERS, Fowler has been playing extremely well. After winning the Honda Classic, he finished tied for 16th at the WGC-Mexico Championship, tied for 12th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, tied for third in Houston, tied for 11th at The Masters and had that second-place finish last week. THE PLAYERS was his only hiccup in the last couple of months and he’s coming in hot.

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Adam Scott dropped out the top 10 in the OWGR following a T-31 finish at the Memorial but has some recent success to look back on. He finished tied for ninth at The Masters and tied for sixth at THE PLAYERS so his game is pretty sharp. He still has the prettiest swing on the PGA TOUR and may just be looking to tighten a few things up this week in preparation for the U.S. Open. This is Scott’s first trip to Memphis in a decade but he does have a fond memory from that week in 2007. Scott finished in solo seventh back when this event was still called the Stanford St. Jude Championship.

And then, of course, there is defending champion Daniel Berger. I’ve already discussed his win from a year ago so there’s no need to walk you through that again but it will be interesting to see how his short layoff has affected his game. He hasn’t teed it up since THE PLAYERS, where he finished tied for 65th, and has played just twice since The Masters. But he obviously knows how to win this golf tournament so you certainly can’t count him out of anything.

Next: FedEx St. Jude Classic fantasy picks

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