The 2019 FedEx Cup Playoffs are right around the corner and just one week after the British Open served as the final major of the PGA season, the final World Golf Championships event of the season will take place at TPC Southwind in Memphis starting on Thursday morning. The 2019 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational is the first season this iconic event has been played as part of the WGC and a star-studded field is locked in. Rory McIlroy disappointed with an opening-round 79 at Royal Portrush last weekend before narrowly missing the cut, but he'll enter week as the 9-1 favorite in the latest 2019 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational odds. World No. 1 Brooks Koepka fell short of winning his fifth major last week with a fourth-place finish and now he'll be seeking his first WGC win while going off at 11-1. Meanwhile, Tommy Fleetwood is at 20-1 coming off his runner-up finish at the Open Championship. Before you make your 2019 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational picks or entering a PGA DFS tournament on FanDuel or DratKings, be sure to check out this week's PGA Tour predictions from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
SportsLine's prediction model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has nailed two of the last three majors entering the weekend. It predicted Gary Woodland's first career major championship at the U.S. Open even though he wasn't the favorite entering the weekend. The result: Woodland held off a late charge from Koepka and won by three strokes. The model also called Koepka's historic victory at the 2019 PGA Championship, predicting he'd hold his lead in the home stretch. In all, their advanced computer model has nailed a whopping six majors entering the weekend, and anyone who has followed it is way up.
Now that the 2019 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational field is locked, SportsLine simulated the event 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. One huge shocker the model is calling for: Rory McIlroy, the 2014 champion and the top Vegas favorite, barely cracks the top five.
McIlroy is coming off a disappointing performance at the Open Championship where he missed the cut after a first-round 79 derailed his dreams of lifting the Claret Jug in front of friends and family. Despite his poor performance at Royal Portrush, the 16-time PGA Tour winner has had massive success this season and will enter this week having earned 11 top 10 finishes in 2019.
However, the 30-year-old has missed the cut in two of his last four starts on the PGA Tour. His recent troubles can be directly attributed to his inability to find the fairway off the tee. He enters this week's event ranked 133rd in driving accuracy percentage (60.25), which could cause trouble at TPC Southwind. He's not a strong pick to win it all and there are far better values in this loaded 2019 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational field.
Another surprise: Xander Schauffele, a 22-1 long shot, makes a strong run at the title. He has a much better chance to win it all than his odds imply, so he's a target for anyone looking for a huge payday.
After racking up four top-six major finishes since the beginning of 2018, Schauffele appeared to be on track for another strong finish last week at the 2019 Open Championship before a final-round 78 led to a 41st-place finish. However, he's got one WGC win under his belt at the 2018 HSBC Championship and he's ranked 11th in the world after four wins since the start of 2017.
Schauffele sits fourth in the FedEx Cup standings and his game is in strong form. He ranks seventh in total strokes gained on the PGA Tour this season (1.600) and despite playing two big events in back-to-back weeks, he should be decently rested as compared to most in the field after sitting a month between the U.S. Open and the British Open. He has a great chance to climb the 2019 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational leaderboard this week.
Also, the model says three other golfers with odds of 16-1 or longer will make a strong run at the title. Anyone who backs these underdogs could hit it big.
So who wins the 2019 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational? And which long shots stun the golfing world? Check out the odds below and visit SportsLine now to see the full WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational projected leaderboard from the model that's nailed six golf majors heading into the weekend, and find out.
Rory McIlroy 9-1
Dustin Johnson 10-1
Brooks Koepka 11-1
Jon Rahm 11-1
Justin Rose 14-1
Justin Thomas 14-1
Patrick Cantlay 16-1
Tommy Fleetwood 20-1
Hideki Matsuyama 20-1
Xander Schauffele 22-1
Paul Casey 25-1
Webb Simpson 25-1
Jason Day 28-1
Byson DeChambeau 28-1
Henrik Stenson 28-1
Tony Finau 33-1
Adam Scott 33-1
Jordan Spieth 33-1
Tyrrell Hatton 40-1
Gary Woodland 40-1
Rafa Cabrera-Bello 50-1
Matthew Fitzpatrick 50-1
Louis Oosthuizen 50-1
Chez Reavie 50-1
Patrick Reed 50-1
