Odds Outlook: Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy headline star-studded field at FedEx St. Jude Championship

The top 70 players in the regular season FedExCup points standings earned a tee time to begin the FedExCup Playoffs this week at TPC Southwind in Memphis. The FedEx St. Jude Championship is the opening event of the FedExCup Playoffs for the fifth consecutive season and hosts 19 of the top 20 players from the Official World Golf Ranking, including the top two choices at FanDuel Sportsbook, No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and No. 2 Rory McIlroy.

The top-ranked player in the world is also the man to beat at the top of the FedExCup Playoffs standings. Scottie Scheffler (+500), who is already qualified for East Lake and the TOUR Championship, can now turn his attention to winning his third career FedExCup Playoffs event. Making his 18th start of the season, the Texan has not won in his previous 17 attempts. Beginning his campaign with a victory at The American Express in January, he added seven podium paydays (five seconds, two thirds) and 11 top-five results to close out the regular season. Scheffler owns top-five results from his last two visits to Memphis, with a T3 in 2025 and a T4 in 2024. He signed for all eight rounds in the 60s, leading to a 29-under-par aggregate. He leads the TOUR in Strokes Gained: Total and SG: Tee-to-Green, and should relish the tight driving conditions and small targets on approach.

The only three-time winner of the FedExCup, Rory McIlroy (+1200), returns to Tennessee after a one-year hiatus following his T68 finish in 2024. His next win in the FedExCup Playoffs would put him at the top of the heap with seven victories in his career. His sixth victory secured his third FedExCup title at East Lake in 2022. The reigning two-time Masters champion checks in at No. 12 in the standings and owns just as many victories this season as Scheffler (one). He will be playing for the first time since back-to-back weeks on the links of the U.K. in mid-July. Last year, Justin Rose (+5000) arrived off the same schedule and defeated J.J. Spaun (+5000) in a playoff to win the event.

Without a victory since October of 2025, Xander Schauffele (+1800) arrives in Memphis as the third choice at FanDuel after earning solo second in his last outing at the Rocket Classic in Detroit. The 10-time TOUR winner posted four rounds of 67 or better at the par-70 layout, but could not catch eventual champion Michael Thorbjornsen (+6000). Schauffele, who was second in Proximity and third in SG: Tee-to-Green, only squared four bogeys on the week in Detroit. His best finish at TPC Southwind was T2 in 2024, his only payday inside the top 20, in four FedExCup Playoffs events in Memphis.

The reigning FedExCup champion, Tommy Fleetwood (+2000), has cashed T23 or better in eight of nine events since the calendar turned to May. The Englishman earned checks for T14 or better in six outings after missing the cut at the PGA Championship, including T4 at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday and most recently T4 at The Open. He returns to Memphis as one of the favorites after a pair of T3 paydays from 2023 and 2025. A victory this week would add more fuel to an already confident fire. No player has won the FedExCup in back-to-back seasons.

The hottest player without a victory in the field this week, Hideki Matsuyama (+2200), leads the group of four players at this number. The former Masters champion is searching for his first victory since opening the season in record-setting fashion at The Sentry in 2025. Arriving in Memphis on a run of 31 consecutive cuts made, the longest running streak on TOUR is NOT in jeopardy this week. The field of 69 players, with only Daniel Berger absent among those who qualified, will not be cut. Matsuyama also arrives on fire. After a disappointing T65 at the U.S. Open, he has produced paydays of T14, T14, T3, T5 and T7 last week at Wyndham. During that streak, he produced just one round above 70, and 17 of 20 rounds were in the 60s. His worst Sunday round over the last three weeks is 66. The 2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship winner by two shots at 17-under par, the lowest winning total of the FedExCup Playoffs at this course, cashed T17 or better in his three visits to TPC Southwind.

With the pressure of defending his first title behind him, Cameron Young (+2200) can return to stalking flagsticks and posting low scores. This week, he can focus on winning for the third time this season (THE PLAYERS Championship, Cadillac Championship). There have been recent flashes that he will be lifting another trophy soon. He closed with 63 at the Travelers Championship and followed with 64 in the final round at Royal Birkdale. He was the 36-hole leader at the Rocket Classic after a second-round 61 lit up the leaderboard. He posted his two best rounds at TPC Southwind in 2025, with a second-round 65 and a 64, the lowest round of the day on Sunday, to cash in solo fifth place.

Sam Burns (+2200), a five-time winner on TOUR, is on a run of five consecutive T20 or better paydays, including podium finishes at the U.S. Open (second) and The Open Championship (third). Posting an Open Championship record with middle-round scores of 62-65, the 54-hole leader at Royal Birkdale drifted to solo third with a final-round 72. In search of his first win since 2022, the Louisiana native should be excited for a return to Bermudagrass and to a track where he earned T5 in 2024.

Matt Fitzpatrick (+2200) is one of two three-time winners, along with Chris Gotterup (+3300), in the field. Only Scheffler has more FedExCup regular season points and more top-five paydays (11) than the Englishman (eight) this season. A disappointing missed cut at The Open should be the motivation to get back on track in his first start back. The smallish greens should remind him of one of his favorite places, Harbour Town, a track where he has won twice in four years, including earlier this season in April.

The next victory for Ludvig Åberg (+2700) would be his first of the season and first since taming Torrey Pines South Course in February of 2025 at The Genesis Invitational. The more demanding the course tee to green, the more his game shines. With three inches of Bermudagrass rough and water lurking on 11 holes, leaning into the Swede from tee to green makes sense. Making his third consecutive start at TPC Southwind, he turned T40 on debut in 2024 to T9 in 2025. His last seven rounds are par or better.

Here's a look at the odds for other notable players, with odds via FanDuel:

• +3300: Si Woo Kim, Patrick Cantlay
• +3500: Russell Henley, Viktor Hovland
• +4000: Jackson Koivun, Robert MacIntyre, Justin Thomas, Wyndham Clark
• +5000: Min Woo Lee
• +5500: Ben Griffin
• +6000: Kurt Kitayama, Maverick McNealy, Akshay Bhatia
• +6500: Ryan Gerard, Nicolai Højgaard, Kristoffer Reitan
• +7000: Shane Lowry, Jake Knapp, Jacob Bridgeman, Rickie Fowler
• +8000: Aaron Rai, Alex Smalley, Alex Noren, Keith Mitchell, Adam Scott

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