PGA DFS: Top Cash Game Picks for the FedEx St. Jude Championship

For the first of three events for the FedEx Cup Playoffs, we head to TPC Southwind (par 70, 7,288 yards, Bermuda greens) in Memphis, Tennessee, for the FedEx St. Jude Championship. TPC Southwind has hosted a PGA TOUR event every year since 1958, and this will be the fifth straight year the course has hosted the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Justin Rose (-16) is the defending champion, having defeated J.J. Spaun in a playoff a year ago. There’s no cut this week, and only the top 70 players in the FedEx Cup standings have qualified for the FedEx St. Jude Championship. With Daniel Berger electing not to compete, only 69 players are teeing it up this week. After the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings will advance to the BMW Championship next week, and then the top 30 will advance to the TOUR Championship in two weeks.

The PGA DFS Breakdown offers data-driven analysis for each week’s slate, using the FantasyLabs Tools and metrics to highlight notable golfers.

I’ll be highlighting the best cash game/single-entry plays on the DraftKings main slate, but these players are often great options in any contest.

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My analysis will frequently reference Strokes Gained, a set of proprietary metrics generated by the PGA TOUR using millions of data points to calculate how many shots, on average, it takes a player to get the ball in the hole from every distance and situation.

Strokes Gained is now available in the FantasyLabs PGA Models.

There are a variety of Strokes Gained-related metrics, but the six main categories you need to know include:

• Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (SG: Off-the-Tee)
• Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: Approach)
• Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green (SG: Around-the-Green)
• Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: Putting)
• Strokes Gained: Ball-Striking (SG: Ball-Striking), which is SG: Off-the-Tee + SG: Approach
• Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (SG: Tee-to-Green), which is SG: Ball-Striking + SG: Around-the-Green

Don’t forget to check out two key metrics in our models — Perfect% and SimLeverage. You can find an explainer on those metrics here.

The Cliffs Notes version is that you can use SimLeverage to quickly find leverage plays in tournaments, while Perfect% is great for finding the best price-considered plays for cash games.

And don’t forget to utilize our various PGA DFS tools like our Lineup Optimizer, Lineup Builder, PGA Correlation Dashboard, and our Trends tool.

The following players listed are based on DraftKings scoring and pricing.

PGA DFS Cash Game Thoughts

DraftKings $10,000 Range

Tommy Fleetwood ($10,200)

Instead of stars-and-scrubs builds that feature Scottie Scheffler, I prefer more balanced lineups anchored by Tommy Fleetwood for cash games. The defending FedEx Cup champion has finished inside the top fivein 3-of-6 starts at TPC Southwind, including T3 finishes in 2025 and 2023. Fleetwood opened last year’s FedEx St. Jude Championship with a 7-under 63 in the first round, and he ranks fourth in this field in strokes gained per round at TPC Southwind. He heads back to the par 70 fresh off a T4 at the Open Championship, his sixth straight finish of T14 or better. Fleetwood gained strokes in every major category at Royal Birkdale, and he should follow this up with another top-five at TPC Southwind.

DraftKings $9,000 Range

Sam Burns ($9,500)

Sam Burns has been awesome and on the brink of winning his sixth PGA TOUR title, producing three top-five finishes in his last five starts, including a runner-up at the U.S. Open and a T3 at the Open Championship. He carded an 8-under 62 at Royal Birkdale, tying the lowest score ever at a major championship. Burns has finished inside the top-five twice in his last five starts at TPC Southwind, and he ranks ninth in this field in strokes gained per round at the course. He ranks top-five in both par 4 performance and SG: Putting this season, setting him up perfectly for his return to TPC Southwind. Four of the last five winners at this track have finished the event in the top 12 in both par-4 performance and SG: Putting.

Hideki Matsuyama ($9,000)

Hideki Matsuyama is on a heater, carding three straight top-seven finishes. The veteran gained strokes across the board at Sedgefield this past week, and he ranks eighth in SG: Total when comparing this field’s last 24 rounds. He’ll now look to keep his foot on the gas at TPC Southwind, where he has been excellent throughout his career. Matsuyama has finished inside the top 20 in all but one of his six starts at TPC Southwind, most notably with a two-stroke win in 2024 and a runner-up in 2021. He ranks first in this field in Strokes Gained per round at TPC Southwind and is good chalk to embrace this week.

Now available: our PGA DFS SimLabs Lineup Generator that creates advanced DFS lineups using the power of simulation.

DraftKings $8,000 Range

Patrick Cantlay ($8,800)

Patrick Cantlay has been in the mix for wins at TPC Southwind the last three years, finishing runner-up, T12, and T9. He ranks eighth in this field in strokes gained per round at the par 70 and is on the heels of a T8 finish at the Rocket Classic, his eighth top-15 finish of the season. The 34-year-old ranked third in SG: Approach at Detroit Golf Club, and he ranks 21st in that metric this season. Being in strong form with your irons is the most important factor at TPC Southwind – four of the last five winners have finished the event top-eight in SG: Approach – so Cantlay looks ready to flourish at this track for the fourth year in a row.

Justin Thomas ($8,100)

Justin Thomas is an excellent combination of course history and current form at only $8,100. The Alabama product ran away with a three-shot win at TPC Southwind in 2020 and has never finished worse than T30 in six starts at this course. He ranks fifth in this field in Strokes Gained per round at TPC Southwind and has finished inside the top 25 in eight of his last 10 starts, most recently with a T14 finish at the Wyndham Championship last week. Thomas shot a 4-under 66 in 3-of-4 rounds at Sedgefield, and he ranked sixth in SG: Tee-to-Green for the tournament.

DraftKings $7,000 Range

Kurt Kitayama ($7,600)

Kurt Kitayama finished T9 at TPC Southwind last season – including a 7-under 63 in the second round – and a similar performance is within reach for him this week. He has made 17-of-19 cuts and produced 10 top-25 finishes this season, mostly attributed to his awesome ball striking. Kitayama ranks 12th in total driving and SG: Approach, both of which bode very well for TPC Southwind.

Rickie Fowler ($7,500)

Fowler enters the FedEx Cup Playoffs playing outstanding golf, finishing T15, T18, and T8 in his last three starts. He gained strokes on approach and with his putter at all three events and shot under par in 10 of these 12 rounds, including a pair of 63s. With TPC Southwind up next, Fowler should maintain this terrific form. The six-time PGA TOUR winner finished a career-best T6 at this par 70 a year ago, one of his three top-15 finishes in six starts at TPC Southwind.

Alex Noren ($7,100)

Outside of a withdrawal in 2022, Alex Noren has finished T12 and T30 in his two starts at TPC Southwind, and the Swede’s game is trending up just in time for the postseason. After finishing T18 at the Open Championship, he finished T7 at the Wyndham Championship last week. The veteran shot a 5-under 65 in his second and third rounds at Sedgefield, and he now has six top-25 finishes to his name in 2026. Norén ranks fifth in SG: Putting this season, and he ranks seventh in strokes gained per round when comparing this field’s last 50 rounds at courses that feature Bermuda greens, the type of surface he’ll be competing on at TPC Southwind.

DraftKings $6,000 Range

Aaron Rai ($6,800)

Rai has finished T16 and T22 at TPC Southwind the last two years, and he has finished inside the top 30 in 4-of-6 starts at the track. Being in the fairway is a clear advantage at TPC Southwind – three of the last five winners here have finished the event top-20 in driving accuracy – and Rai has continued to be one of the most accurate drivers on the PGA TOUR this season, ranking third in fairways found. He has tallied seven top-30 finishes in his last 10 starts, with his win at the PGA Championship in May being the obvious highlight, and he travels to TPC Southwind as the No. 19-ranked player in the world, the highest he has ever ranked heading to this venue.

Sungjae Im ($6,700)

Sungjae Im has been strong at TPC Southwind in the past, and he returns to the venue in compelling form. He has finished T17 or better in three of his last four visits to TPC Southwind, most notably with a T6 in 2023. Im has shot as low as a 7-under 63 at the par 70 and has finished inside the top 15 in three of his past four starts entering this week. He has shot under par in eight consecutive rounds and is a steal at this cheap salary.

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Pictured: Tommy Fleetwood
Photo credit: Imagn