2021 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational Preview

Dustin Johnson is our top pick this week to win the 2021 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational
(Photo: Wilfredo Lee / AP)

 

 

 

This week, some of golf's most talented players return to the Volunteer State for the 2021 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, hosted by TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee. This is the 23rd edition of the event and third World Golf Championship event of the year.

 

Being a WGC event, the FedEx St. Jude Invitational is a unique tournament by default. Sanctioned by both the PGA and European Tours, it boasts one of the most elite fields in golf. This is primarily due to its qualifying criteria. As of 2021, there are four ways to receive an invitation to the tournament. For example, members of the previous Ryder Cup/Presidents Cup teams and players in the top 50 of the World Golf Rankings are invited, as well as winners of certain tournaments on the PGA Tour of Australasia, Sunshine, Asian and Japan tours. 

 

 

The fourth criterion is the one I found most interesting: winners of tournaments within the last year that had a "Strength of Field" rating of 115 points or higher. For those that are unfamiliar with this concept, the OWGR assigns a rating to each tournament on its eligible tours, based on the quality of players in the field, with the metric being each player's World Golf Ranking. If a tournament fields many high-ranked players, it has a higher number. Naturally, this is a good way to measure quality of field. For example, the 149th Open Championship had a rating of 863 and the last edition of this tournament 782. Most standard PGA Tour events have a ranking of 100-400, so that shows you what kind of players we'll be seeing this week. 

 

This year marks the third year that TPC Southwind is hosting the event. The course was designed by Ron Prichard and opened in 1988, with renovations in 2005 and 2011. It is quite a long course, stretching to 7,244 yards and playing as a par 70 for this year's tournament. What's more difficult to conquer perhaps are the hazards; the course features a total of 94 bunkers and 10 water hazards, making it one of the toughest courses on the PGA and European Tour rotations. The course record is a 61, set by several players including Tom Lewis during last year's event.

So, the field is packed with stars and the course is tough enough to test them all. Who do we think will win it this year? Check out our picks below:

 

 

1) Dustin Johnson

2) Corey Conners

3) Louis Oosthuizen

 

 

I feel like Dustin has been flying under the radar over the last little while. He had decent finishes at the US Open and Open Championship, but missed the cut recently at the 3M Open. Hopefully this is a good week for him. Corey, on the other hand, has been in the spotlight a lot recently. Our fellow Canadian had a great showing at the Open Championship and recently competed in the Olympics last week. I do enjoy watching his game and what he brings to it. Last but not least is new TGR favourite Louis. We have to pick Louis because he finished T6 last year and T2 or T3 in countless tournaments since. He has to win at some point, right?

What do you think of our picks? Let us know in the comments below and tell us who you think will win it?

-Nick

Toronto Golf Reviews