The Rundown: 2023 FedEx St. Jude Championship

The regular season is in the rearview mirror as we head to Memphis for the FedEx St. Jude Championship and the start of the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

The FedEx St. Jude formally a WGC is now the 1st leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. The first round will feature the top 70 golfers in the FedEx rankings. After the tournament’s conclusion on Sunday, the top 50 golfers will move on to the BMW Championship next week.

Last year was the first year as a playoff event but there were 120 golfers compared to only 70 this year. Will Zalatoris got his first career win in a three-hole playoff against Sepp Straka.

The FedEx St. Jude Championship is played at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee. It’s a 7,200 yard Par 70 with Bermuda greens.

There are two par fives that play as the easiest holes on the course. There are four par threes, two of which measure 160-170 yards with the other two playing right around 200 yards. Six of the twelve par fours are 450-500 yards.

There are 94 bunkers and there are A LOT more balls that end up in the water here than anywhere else on tour. With all that trouble in play accuracy is a huge advantage. Both fairways gained and greens in regulation percentage are lower than tour average placing even more emphasis on accuracy. Despite many players opting for a less-than-driver approach off the tee, driving distance comes in at 285 yards on average.

Hitting fairways goes a long way toward hitting greens in regulation. Approach shots from 150-175 yards make up 26 percent of all approach shots at TPC Southwind. Another 22 percent come from 175-200 yards.

TPC Southwind is demanding tee to green so golfers will have to gain off the tee while keeping balls out of the water both off the tee AND on approach to have any chance this week.

2023 FedEx St. Jude Championship: The Key Stats

• Strokes Gained Ball Striking
• Fairways Gained
• Scrambling
• Par 4 Scoring (450-500yds)
• Approach 150-175
• Approach 175-200

Previous Winners at TPC Southwind

• 2022: Will Zalatoris -15
• 2021: Abraham Ancer -16
• 2020: Justin Thomas -13
• 2019: Brooks Koepka -16
• 2018: Dustin Johnson -19