The St. Jude Invitational
Welcome everyone to Zero Putts Given, my name is Michael Winter. Tyler and I would like to give you a little more insight on the platform of this blog. Tyler and I have been discussing PGA Tour, Korn Ferry Tour, and top amateur events for quite sometime. We decided about 3 weeks ago, as we were going through our weekly hot takes for the PGA Tour, I said “dude we have to do something with this, we have so much fun talking golf. We are good at it so let's share our statistics with as many people as we can.” In the days that followed, Zero Putts Given surfaces and our idea now became a reality. This blog will become extremely beneficial for many of you because both Tyler and I have been around the game of golf for the better part of our lives. Our expertise regarding my playing career and Tyler’s time spent studying at St. Andrews, we have a solid foundation regarding the game of golf. As mentioned throughout this blog our readers can look forward to reading posts about the PGA and Korn Ferry Tours as well as major amateurs events across the country. We will be providing player interviews when possible, hot takes each week, and stories from our travels in and around the golf world. Tyler and I are looking forward to giving our readers something to look forward to and providing a fun and lighthearted platform weekly.
Hey everyone, I hope everyone is staying safe and getting through these difficult times our world is currently facing. On a much lighter note, this week on Zero Putts Given, we will be talking about the next PGA Tour event on the schedule, the WGC-FedEx St.Jude’s Invitational at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee. This is a huge event on the schedule right now because it is the first WGC event since the Mexico Championship in February and the last WGC of the year. Due to Covid-19 there were only three WGC events, as the Dell Match Play was the fourth which was ultimately cancelled back in March. This is a huge event, not only is the purse up to $10,500,000, but this event carries 550 FedEx Cup points. This is crucial for certain guys that were either struggling before or after the restart. As of right now Justin Thomas is at the top of the FedEx cup race with 1,889 points. Closely behind him is Webb Simpson, Sunjae Im, Bryson DeChembeau, and Rory Mcllory respectively. With FedEx rankings separated by fractions winning 550 would give any player in the field a huge boost. Especially because following the St. Jude is the PGA Championship, the first major since the restart. On top of this event having a very inviting purse and offering a huge stack of points, the St. Jude Invitational will be hosting a star studded. The world’s top 50 ranked players 45 will be playing this week, and 27 of the top 30 FedEx Cup points are in the field as well. The only notable that is out for this week’s event is Tiger Woods. Aside from the majors this year, the field could be just as strong if not stronger than two weeks ago at The Memorial.
Since the restart the PGA tour has been dominated by the young guns, 4 out 7 of the winners have been under the age of 27. The youngest being Collin Morikowa at 23 years old. The most notable of those winners is Jon Rahm, the champion of the Memorial Tournament. After his incredible victory he made his way to #1 in the World. Which makes this week at St. Jude even bigger because the new #1 will be playing for the first time since becoming #1. Not only have the young guns been winning but they have crowded up most of the leaderboards. Among those young studs in the field this week are Jon Rahm, Daniel Berger, Collin Morikowa, Justin Thomas, Bryson Dechembeau, Max Homa, Matthew Wolf, and Viktor Hovland. These guys are going to bring the heat to Memphis this week.
Predictions:
Each week Tyler and I will be making predictions on the winner and winning score, what notable will miss the cut, and our sleeper.
Mike’s Picks:
This week I am going to have to go with Justin Thomas winning with 14 under par. JT has been playing some really solid golf. Besides the little bump 3 weeks ago blowing a three shot lead with three to play and losing in a playoff against Morikowa, he has been playing such solid golf through and through. Not to mention he's leading the tour in Strokes Gained tee to green which will prove to be extremely beneficial in Memphis.
My notable to miss the cut pick this week would have to be Brooks Koepka. Brooks has not only been struggling with his game, but he’s also fighting through physical injuries as well. Whether he wants to admit, he is in pain or not Brooks is my bust for the week.
My sleeper this week is my guy, Max Homa. Max is coming fresh off a T-3 at the 3M last week. According to his podcast he is “feeling good mentally, and strong physically.” Max is due for another win; he has been knocking at the door this year at the Genesis, Waste Management, and now the 3M. He is an underdog but he is definitely the guy who can pull through for a win.