2024 St. Jude Championship predictions, expert picks, odds, field, golf best bets for FedEx Cup Playoffs (2024)

The 2024 postseason is upon us as the PGA Tour travels to TPC Southwind to kick off the FedEx Cup Playoffs for the third straight season. The St. Jude Championship will play host to the top 70 players from the regular season with the field set to trim by 20 names ahead of next week's BMW Championship.

The St. Jude Championship marks a crucial cut-off point for PGA Tour members. Those who qualify for the BMW Championship — i.e. finish inside the top 50 by week's end -- will not only head West for the tournament but immediately be cleared to participate in every PGA Tour signature event for the 2025 season.

Those in jeopardy of not qualifying for those tournaments include former FedEx Cup champion Jordan Spieth, young superstar Min Woo Lee, former U.S. Open champion Justin Rose and a couple winners from this season in Nick Dunlap and Nick Taylor. Reigning FedEx Cup champion Viktor Hovland will be a fixture at those tournaments due to his spot in the Official World Golf Rankings, but the Norwegian finds himself in a dire position heading into Memphis.

Currently No. 57 in the FedEx Cup standings, Hovland needs a big week at TPC Southwind if he hopes to not only defend his BMW Championship trophy next week but also his FedEx Cup crown at East Lake in the Tour Championship two weeks from now.

While Hovland has not been able to replicate the magic of 2023, Scottie Scheffler has and then some. Fresh off donning an Olympic gold medal in Paris, Scheffler seeks his eighth victory of the year. That would create a path to double-digit wins this season alone should he run the table in the postseason. Building up a substantial lead in the FedEx Cup standings, Scheffler aims to enter the Tour Championship with a two-stroke lead for the third straight season.

Hoping to cut Scheffler's edge at the St. Jude is two-time major champion Xander Schauffele, in the midst of his own season to remember. Looking for some of his major magic to transfer over to the playoffs, Schauffele runs second to Scheffler and just ahead of Rory McIlroy.

These three have combined for 10 PGA Tour victories in 2024 while big names like Collin Morikawa, Ludvig Åberg, Patrick Cantlay, Tony Finau, Sahith Theegala, Sungjae Im, Justin Thomas and Brian Harman -- all of whom are inside the top 20 of the FedEx Cup -- have combined for zero.

Notable golfers on the fringe

2024 St. Jude Championship schedule

Dates:Aug 15-18
Location:TPC Southwind — Memphis, Tennessee
Par:70 |Yardage:7,243
Purse:$20 million

2024 St. Jude Championship field, odds

• Scottie Scheffler (7/2)
• Xander Schauffele (7-1): The world No. 2 had eyes on his second straight gold medal before a forgettable Sunday at Le Golf National resulted in a T9 finish. Schauffele has not placed outside the top 25 since the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February, and he has a real chance to steal the FedEx Cup from Scheffler should his quality persist throughout August. A menace at East Lake, Schauffele seeks to solidify his hold near the top of the FedEx Cup before the Tour Championship. He possesses a rather bland history at TPC Southwind with his only top 20 coming back in 2020.
• Rory McIlroy (9-1): McIlroy has positioned himself to make a legitimate run at his fourth FedEx Cup crown. His march begins at a comfortable spot on the calendar as he holds four top-12 finishes in seven trips to TPC Southwind, including a T3 last year when he finished one stroke out of a playoff. With four top-five results in his last six tournaments, McIlroy's beginning to bounce and may well explode should the putter cooperate a bit more.
• Collin Morikawa (12-1): Morikawa is currently experiencing the best season of his career from a strokes-gained perspective. While he has not laid claim to major championships like 2020 and 2021, he has become a much more well-rounded golfer with career highs off the tee, around the green and with the putter in hand. His iron play -- still very good -- has room to improve if it is to return peak levels, but that's a good problem to have if you're Morikawa. He has three top 20s in four trips to Memphis.
• Ludvig Åberg (20-1)
• Patrick Cantlay (22-1): The 2021 FedEx Cup champion is rounding into form at the exact right time. With three top-25 finishes in a row, including top fives at the U.S. Open and the Travelers Championship, Cantlay should be licking his lips at avenging his playoff defeat from a season ago. After a lackluster beginning to his season from tee to green, he has righted the ship and looks much more like his usual self. If he putts like he did three years ago, Cantlay can be a FedEx Cup champion again.
• Tommy Fleetwood (25-1)
• Hideki Matsuyama (33-1)
• Viktor Hovland (35-1): Take away his third-place finish at the PGA Championship, and Hovland's best tournament has been a T15 at the Memorial. A peculiar part of Hovland's 2024 has been how little he has played. Playing in 23 tournaments each of the last two calendar years, he has only teed it up 13 times (plus the Olympics) so for this year. It may prove to only be 14 on the PGA Tour as he has endured career worst marks on approach and around the green where he ranks 175th out of 176 players.
• Tony Finau (35-1)

2024 St. Jude Championship expert picks

Who will win the FedEx St. Jude Championship, and which longshots will stun the golfing world?Visit SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard and best bets, all from the model that's nailed 13 golf majors and is up more than $9,500 since June 2020.