FedEx St. Jude Championship Round 2 Tips: Fleetwood & Straka Stand Out As Value

A look at the second round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, including analysis of the golf betting markets.

Michael Thorbjornsen, Kurt Kitayama, Jordan Spieth, Jake Knapp, and Michael Kim share the lead on five under par after the first round. Scottie Scheffler, who sits at two under par, remains the favourite to win the event, despite hitting only three fairways on Thursday.

Hideki Matsuyama, one of our pre-tournament picks, is in a seven-man group sitting one shot off the lead. Tommy Fleetwood is one of the players in that septet after a red-hot start tailed off on the back nine. Twenty-five players are two under or better heading into Round 2.

Early Strugglers

Robert MacIntyre had a nightmare day, shooting 12 over par. Rory McIlroy inevitably got the majority of the headlines for his four-over performance, featuring some dodgy putting and inconsistent (and that’s perhaps being generous) iron play.

The Masters champion, who had the second-shortest odds before teeing off on Thursday, has faded to 150/1 to win this event.

Justin Rose (+3) also had a difficult day, while Akshay Bhatia will have been disappointed to find himself seven shots off the lead. Some pre-tournament hype around Aaron Rai quickly faded with the PGA Championship winner sitting tied for 54th.

Best Bets Heading Into Round 2

The greens at TPC Southwind aren’t the most challenging on the PGA Tour. The key is hitting greens in regulation, so the players with the best approach play tend to be the most likely to be set up for success.

Fleetwood, who was -0.81 strokes gained on the greens, was excellent from tee to green. His play around the greens was once again exceptional – the 6/4 on a top five finish represents value given what he showed us on Thursday.

Sitting three shots off the lead, Sepp Straka also struggled with his putter in hand. That’s been a common issue in recent months for the Austrian, but it was encouraging to see the rest of his game looking so good. A high level of approach play makes 11/4 on a top 20 finish look very appealing.

*Odds subject to change – prices accurate at the time of writing*