19th Hole
Vincenzi: FedEx St. Jude Championship First Round Leader picks
With the PGA Tour’s regular season in the books, the top-70 players in the FedEx Cup standings will make the trip to Memphis, Tennessee to play the 2023 FedEx St. Jude Championship. This is only the second season in which TPC Southwind will host a FedEx Cup playoff event, but the course has been a mainstay on the PGA Tour since 1989.
In the past five tournaments at TPC Southwind, there have been six first-round leaders or co-leaders. Of the six, five have started their rounds in the morning wave, and one has started in the afternoon. Five of the six first-round leaders have started on the first hole, and one has started on the 10th.
With a 70-man field this week, starting times and weather will be less important to monitor.
2023 FedEx St. Jude First-Round Leader Picks
Hideki Matsuyama +4000 (DraftKings)
First-Round Tee Time: 9:38 a.m. ET
Despite his relative struggles, Hideki Matsuyama still ranks 1st in the field in Opportunities Gained in his past 24 rounds. The birdie chances have been there for Hideki, but he’s yet to capitalize. Heading back to a course where he lost in a playoff should stir up some positive vibes for the former Masters champion. The 31-year-old was in poor form prior to the event in 2021, but that didn’t stop him from gaining 8.9 strokes on approach.
Hideki also ranks 5th in the field in Bogeys Avoided, which is always important when trying to shoot the low score of the day.
Denny McCarthy +5000 (DraftKings)
First-Round Tee Time: 8:38 a.m. ET
Denny McCarthy has had back-to-back disappointing results, but I believe he faces a good bounce back spot at TPC Southwind this week. In his two starts at the course, he’s finished 18th and 20th, and now he heads to the course at the end of what was arguably the best season of his career.
I always love to back great putters for first-round-leader bets and McCarthy still ranks first in the field in his past 24 rounds in Strokes Gained: Putting.
Cameron Davis +5500 (BetMGM)
First-Round Tee Time: 9:50 a.m. ET
Cameron Davis is seemingly finding his form at the right time and comes into the week off back-to-back top-10 finishes. In those two starts, he gained 6.6 and 7.9 strokes from tee to green.
Last year, the Aussie finished 13th and shot a final-round 66, which is his best round to date at TPC Southwind. Seeing as he’s gotten progressively better at the course, I believe he could have a low one in store on Thursday.
Harris English +6600 (BetMGM)
First-Round Tee Time: 10:32 a.m. ET
Thing are setting up extremely well for Harris English as we begin the FedEx Cup playoffs. Last week at Sedgefield, English gained 5.8 strokes on approach, which is not typically how the former Georgia Bulldog gets it done. That’s an extremely encouraging sign for English, who finally seems to be in the form that made him a two-time winner on Tour in 2021.
English won at TPC Southwind back in 2013 and is the only former course winner in the field this week.
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19th Hole
Butch Harmon reveals what he worked on with Rory McIlroy during visit earlier this year
While speaking on the “Son of a Butch” Podcast, legendary swing coach Butch Harmon revealed what he worked on with Rory McIlroy when the four-time major champion went to visit him after the Players Championship this season.
Butch Harmon on what he worked on with Rory:
“The work I did with him wasn’t a tremendous amount of changing what he did, it was his attitude and the way he played certain shots. From 150 yards and in he made a full swing like he was hitting a driver and I wanted him to make…
— Matt Vincenzi (@MattVincenziPGA) May 15, 2024
“The work I did with him wasn’t a tremendous amount of changing what he did, it was his attitude and the way he played certain shots. From 150 yards and in he made a full swing like he was hitting a driver and I wanted him to make more 3 quarter swings and chop the follow through off a little. He’s a very high ball hitter, but with short irons high balls aren’t good, it’s hard to control, we wanted to bring the ball flight down.”
The work certainly seemed to help McIlroy, as he went on to win the Zurich Classic alongside Shane Lowry and the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow in back-to-back starts.
Rory will now tee it up at Valhalla for the PGA Championship, which is the site of his most recent major victory in 2014.
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Brandel Chamblee says this technological development was key to Phil Mickelson winning major championships
While speaking with GolfWRX, Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee shared that he believes the solid core golf ball helped Phil Mickelson win major championships.
“One of the consequences of the solid core golf ball coming around was it put the straightest of hitters in the rough.
“Phil started winning majors in 2004, I don’t think that’s any coincidence. I think he started winning majors after the solid core golf ball came along and put everybody in the rough.
“And so [Phil] is like ‘I got you in the rough, I’m going to kick your a**. This is my game. I’ve been in the rough my whole career. I can go over trees, through trees, around trees.’
“Because he’s got that amazing creativity and Phil is an underrated iron player, phenomenal iron player. Great, great great out of the trouble. If you put the top-40 players on a list and ranked them in terms of accuracy, he would be 40th.
“So, I think that was one of the consequences of the solid core golf balls was it allowed Phil to win major championships.”
Mickelson went on to win the Masters in 2004 as well as five additional majors from 2004-2021 including three total Masters, two PGA Championships, and an Open Championship.
Check out the full interview with Chamblee below:
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19th Hole
Former Augusta National employee pleads guilty to transporting stolen Masters memorabilia; Arnold Palmer’s green jacket among stolen items
The document was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Since then, more details have emerged about the case.
According to Darren Rovell of Cllct, one of the items that was stolen was Arnold Palmer’s green jacket.
The Chicago Tribune also reported that Globensky was able to steal the merchandise due to his role as a former warehouse coordinator at Augusta National who oversaw the Masters merchandise that was sold.
Rovell states that “A source with intimate knowledge of the case said an Augusta National member, who knew the jacket was missing, contacted a well-known collector who had gained a reputation for tracking down rare items. The member’s goal was to return the jacket to Augusta under the guise of purchasing it in a private sale.”
The plan worked, and the man agreed to sell the jacket for an agreed upon price of $3.6 million. After the sale was complete, the FBI swarmed the house of the thief.
Cllct also reported that Globensky pled guilty in a federal court in Chicago on Wednesday and now faces up to 10 years in prison.
The Chicago Tribune adds that Globensky’s plea deal includes an agreement to provide the government a cashier’s check for $1.5 million in the next few days.
More from the 19th Hole
- Phil Mickelson drops big retirement hint; Says LIV will grow the game “on a much more global basis”
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
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