2021 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational: Top 10 power rankings at TPC Southwind

Louis Oosthuizen could have salvaged a year of close misses at the majors by vying for a medal last week at the Olympics. The South African instead opted for rest after playing The Open and 3M Open in consecutive weeks where he expended a lot of energy to earn T-3rd and T-2nd finishes, respectively.

The 38-year-old would love to have a trophy by now to show for his otherwise impressive 2021 performance, but he still brings a lot of momentum to Memphis.

The UPS ambassador comes to the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational on a streak of 11 cuts made worldwide (though this week has no cut).

That features a pair of runner-up finishes at the PGA Championship and U.S. Open.

He nearly holed out for eagle on the 72nd fairway at the 3M Open. Had that went in, it could have gotten him into a playoff with eventual champion Cameron Champ.

Oosty didn’t come to Tennessee until its event evolved into a WGC. It took just one competitive round under his belt before he looked like a horse for the course by climbing up T-20th (73-69-66-67) after a slow start in 2019. Oosthuizen improved to T-6th (68-67-68-68) in 2020 where he was just a shot out of second place.

The 2010 Champion Golfer of the Year ranks first on the PGA Tour this season in strokes gained putting (.979). That’s been a key component to his steady ball striking (at least until the back nine Sunday in majors).

Oosthuizen also checks in at second in total strokes gained (1.973) and does not have a glaring statistical weakness. He’s 20th in sand saves (58.02%) and 16th in par-5 scoring (4.55).

It won’t hit the same as one of the big four, but it’d still be a weight off Louis’ shoulders to notch that first win on American soil this week. I’m sure the folks at FedEx would love it.