FedEx St. Jude Championship 2024 FRL Tips: Kim and JT to fire out of the blocks

The first round of the FedEx St Jude Championship at TPC Southwind begins tomorrow, signalling the start of the 2024 FedExCup playoffs. Many players will be eager to get off to a fast start, thus giving them the best chance of advancing into next week’s BMW Championship and our golf tipster Jamie Worlsey has taken a look at which players can do just that.

Here are his FedEx St Jude Championship FRL Tips...

The first round of the FedEx St Jude Championship at TPC Southwind begins tomorrow, signalling the start of the 2024 FedExCup playoffs. Many players will be eager to get off to a fast start, thus giving them the best chance of advancing into next week’s BMW Championship and I’ve taken a look at which players can do just that.

The forecast for tomorrow is clear and it looks set to get hot in the afternoon, with temperatures of 36c. Wind doesn’t appear to be much of a factor, with gusts reaching highs of around 13mph in the afternoon.

For all I wouldn’t want to be on too many teeing off in the hotter, slightly breezier afternoon conditions, it feels like we can pick fairly freely across Thursday’s tee-times to find our day one leader.

You can check out all of our FedEx St Jude Championship Odds over on betfred.com.

1.25 pts Tom Kim ew (1/4 5 places) @ 35/1

Start time: 07:50

I’m going to start with Tom Kim, whose strong recent results have been aided by some fast starts. Going well in round one on both of his previous visits to TPC Southwind, he looks a strong contender to be leading after 18 holes.

Kim had been reasonably consistent this year before his results took a major upturn following his 4^th-place finish in the Canadian Open. He’s since finished 2^nd in the Travelers Championship – losing out in a playoff to Scottie Scheffler – and when we last saw him, he was 8^th in the Olympics.

Both of those most recent top-10s have seen him start well, as he fired an 8-under 62 to take the first-round lead in the Travelers and a 5-under 66 saw him into 3^rd spot after the first round in France.

Kim has played here twice, finishing 13^th on debut in 2022 and returning to finish 24^th last year. He’s started well in both of those visits, shooting 4-under-par in the first round in 2022, whilst a 6-under 64 put him 2^nd on the leaderboard on Thursday last year. With his current fast-starting form, he looks a great shout to go one better this year.

1.25 pts Justin Thomas ew (1/4 5 places) @ 35/1

Start time: 09:05

Justin Thomas has opened with an under-par round in 13 of his 16 starts in 2024 and with some positive form in this event, he can add another to his tally this week.

Thomas comes into this week having hit the top-10 three times over his last eight starts, the latest of which came when 5^th in the Travelers Championship three starts ago. He’s followed that with less impressive efforts of 62^nd in the Scottish Open and 31^st in The Open Championship, though he has started well in each of those events.

He opened with a superb 62 two starts ago at The Renaissance Club, to sit on top of the leaderboard after round one of the Scottish Open and followed that by shooting a 68 in the opening round of The Open at Royal Troon, to assume 3^rd place after 18 holes. Despite his mixed bag of results this year, these fast starts have been a common theme and sees him rank 17^th on tour in round one scoring.

Thomas has played at TPC Southwind four times, finishing no worse than 26^th and won at the course in 2020. He’s shot 12/16 rounds in the 60s across those starts, which includes five rounds of 66 or lower, one which he shot in 2020 in round one to sit 5^th after 18 holes. He barely puts a foot wrong at the course and can add another low round tomorrow to take the first-round lead.

0.5 pts Brendon Todd ew (1/4 5 places) @ 80/1

Start time: 10:05

Brendon Todd will be desperate to get off to a quick start on Thursday to give himself the best chance of making it inside the FedExCup top-50. He has been doing so over recent appearances and with some positive scoring on show in his past visits to TPC Southwind, he looks a lively contender for the first-round lead.

Todd needed a performance last week to secure his place in the Playoffs and he did just that, finishing 12^th in the Wyndham Championship. This was the latest in a solid sequence of results, following finishes of 12^th in the John Deere Classic, 46^th in the Scottish Open and 31^st in The Open Championship.

He started fast at Sedgefield CC, firing a 6-under 64 in round one to sit 4^th. This came two starts after he shot a 5-under 65 in the Scottish Open to position himself in 8^th after the first round, which itself followed him opening with a 5-under 66 in the John Deere Classic the previous week.

Todd finished 12^th on his debut here in 2009 and has gone on to record further top-20s in 2013 and 2020. He’s shot several rounds of 66 or better at the course and has opened with a round in the 60s in each of his last three visits. His best start came in 2020, as he began with a 6-under 64 to occupy 2^nd place thru 18 holes and in need of a strong start this week, I’m taking him to perform similarly well tomorrow.

0.5 pts Emiliano Grillo ew (1/4 5 places) @ 80/1

Start time: 13:15

Emiliano Grillo is in a similar spot to Todd, needing a good week to advance into next week’s BMW Championship. Despite recent results appearing underwhelming, he’s largely started well across the last couple of months and with some promising efforts in his previous two TPC Southwind starts, he’s worth chancing in this market.

Grillo comes into this week after recording just one top-25 since March, which came in the 3M Open three starts ago, where he finished 24^th. That being said, his first-round positions make for much better reading, sitting inside the top-25 in five of his last eight starts after 18 holes.

He made a particularly striking start in the Olympics two weeks ago, shooting 5-under-par to finish day one in 3^rd place.

Grillo made his debut here in 2022, finishing 31^st and improved on that last year, finishing 20^th. He’s shot 1x 65, 1x 66 and 2x 67s over those two events, with the 65 coming in the opening round in 2023, which was enough for him to climb up to 3^rd place. Something his recent starts suggest he could repeat or hopefully better this time around.

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