2025 FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind – Preview

The top 70 golfers in the FedExCup standings will travel to Tennessee for the FedEx St. Jude Championship for the opening playoff event of the PGA Tour’s season-long points competition. Nestled in the rolling countryside just southeast of Memphis sits TPC Southwind, which is hosting a playoff event for the fourth consecutive year.

It is a course that is infamous for its “water balls” and one that historically rewards the best ball-strikers in the world. In the most recent events played at this course, winners have included some of the most elite ball-strikers, including Hideki Matsuyama, Will Zalatoris, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Abraham Ancer, and Daniel Berger (twice). TPC Southwind favors players who are both experienced and proficient on Bermuda grass, as its firm greens and penal rough thrive in the heat and humidity of the American South.

Ironically, the only eligible player not in attendance this week, Rory McIlroy, gave an excellent summation of what it takes to have success at TPC Southwind. “If you do hit it in the rough, it’s going to be hard to control your ball from there. So first thing, you put it in the fairway and put it in play, but I think the biggest thing around here is your approach play. I think there seems to be a lot of approach shots between 140 to 170 yards, so that’s a key distance this week. If you can get your pitching wedge through 7-iron dialed in and get those working really well, I think you’ll always have a good chance around this course.”

The Field

This week’s no-cut FedEx St. Jude Championship is the first of three FedEx Cup playoff events. After this week in Memphis, the top 50 move on to the BMW Championship, and ultimately, the top 30 advance to the Tour Championship in Atlanta.

With $20 million in prize money on the line, there’s plenty of incentive for the game’s best to treat this week as more than just a tune-up for the next two playoff events. For players outside the top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings, a strong showing is critical, as points are quadrupled in the first two playoff tournaments—offering 2,000 points to the winner, while 70th place earns just 12.

The field comprises nearly all of golf’s elite. Rory McIlroy, ranked No. 2 in the FedEx Cup, elected not to play, reducing the field to 69 players. Headliners include: Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, Ludvig Aberg, Tommy Fleetwood, Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland, Harris English, and Hideki Matsuyama (defending champion). The biggest names staying home who finished outside the top 70 include Davis Thompson, Gary Woodland, Nicolai Hojgaard, Keith Mitchell, and Adam Scott.

TPC Southwind – Course History

Designed with tournament golf in mind, TPC Southwind was built in 1988 and was designed by Ron Prichard, in consultation with Tour professionals Fuzzy Zoeller and Hubert Green. Prichard is well-known in golf architecture circles as the “father of restoration”, most notably with certain Donald Ross-designed courses. Though not a restoration, it is one of the more difficult “TPC” courses played on Tour.

In 1989, the course began hosting the Federal Express St. Jude Classic just one year after it was built and would continue to do so through 2018. From 2019-2021, the course hosted the World Golf Championship (WGC) FedEx St. Jude Invitational. 2022 marked the first year TPC Southwind hosted the first round of the FedExCup Playoffs.

TPC Southwind was first renovated in 2004 to modernize the course and make it more challenging. 11 new tee boxes were added along with 125 trees and 15 new bunkers. Three of the water hazards were also enlarged. Even more changes occurred back in 2020. This time, most of the upgrades were related to adding, resizing, and re-edging numerous bunkers. There were also a few holes, such as the 3rd and the 7th, that were extended fifteen-plus yards.

The course just underwent a major renovation that started in November of 2024 and which was recently completed. It was the most extensive update in two decades, with a complete rebuild of the green complexes on 18 holes, tee boxes being resurfaced, and practice and putting greens getting a complete overhaul.

“You’ve got to crack some eggs to make an omelet, and we cracked some eggs out here,” said Nick Bisanz, Director of Agronomy for TPC Southwind. “I mean it was gross, we banged it up pretty good. We weren’t trying to fix a bad golf course, we were trying to make a good golf course better,” said Bisanz. “We just updated the surfaces, so I think you’ll see a big improvement in the quality of surfaces.”

“The greens will certainly play firmer, they’re brand new right?”, explained Joe Tomek, the Executive Director of the tournament. “But these guys are the best in the world, and they’ve made it here for a reason. So hopefully they can respond to that.”

Finish Position and Strokes Gained History at TPC Southwind (2016-2024)

This includes the average finish position and Strokes Gained per round since 2016 for each of the categories. Players are sorted by SG: Total. TPC Southwind is the 18th least predictive annual course on Tour.

Course Features

Built on the remnants of a dairy farm, TPC Southwind is a par-70, 7,288-yard tree-lined course that contains undulating narrow zoysia fairways, gnarly 3-inch Bermuda rough, and Bermuda greens. Many players who grew up in the South or who have become used to chipping and putting on Bermuda will be very comfortable here in the humid climate. Players with past success like Daniel Berger repeatedly talk about how comfortable they are in this environment. Much like at East Lake in Georgia, the zoysia grass used on fairways is very beneficial for the course due to the Memphis climate which has both sweltering heat in the summer and cold bursts in the winter.

Over the past five events, the course played an average of -0.93 strokes per round, which puts it right near the middle for Tour difficulty. Since 2004, only one winning score has been outside the -9 to -19 range. While it is a par-70, TPC Southwind is not a short course like Harbour Town or Pebble Beach. There are eight lengthy par-4s, and the numerous doglegs stretch the course even further. The recent course renovation also added 50 yards of length.

TPC Southwind also features numerous lakes, streams, and ponds which add up to 11 holes with water directly in play. In fact, TPC Southwind has the most “water balls” on Tour by far. Since 2003, TPC Southwind’s 6,298 balls in the water are the most at any PGA TOUR course during that stretch. Because of all the water danger, three different holes average higher than a 5% double bogey or worse rate.

Said Webb Simpson on the propensity for all the water balls, “You drive it in the fairway. You’re going to have a lot less chances to hit balls in the water. I think these water balls often come from guys who drive it in the rough on holes like 9 or 15, even 18, even 12. There are a lot of holes where in the rough you have a decision to make: Are you going to bring on the water and go for the green or are you going to lay up? It’s really hard to lay up from 150 yards.”

With just two par 5s, scoring chances will be limited. Par 4 scoring will be key as the threat of bogeys will be brought much more into play than has been seen over the past couple of weeks. Overall, there are more holes with a 17% bogey rate (ten) than a 17% birdie rate (six). While the rough at TPC Southwind isn’t overly penal, the unpredictable nature of the Bermuda grass still leads to plenty of bogeys. It becomes a tough test if players are missing fairways and greens—or worse, finding the water. The greens add another layer of difficulty as the third smallest on Tour, often heavily protected by water hazards or clusters of deep greenside bunkers.

TPC Southwind may not feature many standout holes, but its consistent challenge lies in narrow, tree-lined fairways and well-placed hazards—be it bunkers or water—near key landing zones. With birdies at a premium, players must capitalize on the two reachable par 5s, which together yield a birdie or better rate of just 43%. While patience is essential to navigate the course’s many obstacles, success hinges on knowing when to be aggressive—grinding out pars alone won’t be enough to contend.

Strokes Gained Analysis

Off the Tee

With the approach game getting most of the “ball-striking” love at TPC Southwind, “Off the Tee” performance is very underrated for this week as the course presents players with multiple challenges. Not only are there 12 doglegs and the sixth-narrowest fairways (averaging 27 yards wide in the landing zones), but there are multiple water hazards, fairway bunkers, and penal Bermuda rough waiting to swallow any errant shots.

Players who can consistently find the fairway and position themselves well off the tee will have checked the first box in having success this week. As Brendon Todd said, “It’s not overly long and it rewards accuracy. Even though I only drive it 280, I can hit the ball in the fairway and still attack the pins. So I feel like it’s a really fair course for all the different lengths we have out here and it just comes down to who’s playing well, hitting good shots and making putts.”

Similar to Sedgefield, the Bermuda rough is very unpredictable to play from due to the grass stems wrapping around the ball. This produces either fliers over the green or low-tumbling approaches that finish well short of the hole. Either way, spin control is almost non-existent from the rough, and players are typically left scrambling to save par. TPC Southwind is among the 10 toughest courses in both “Rough Penalty” and “Missed Fairway Penalty”. Said Jon Rahm about the need to stay out of the rough, “It’s Bermuda rough. You can get flyers. You can just lose control of the ball and end up in a pretty bad spot.” 

As important as it is to consistently find fairways, players also benefit from distance OTT on the longer par-4 holes. As the power game in golf continues to increase we are seeing Driving Distance numbers continue to rise here at TPC Southwind as many players are cutting corners over the edges of doglegs. Over the last two years, distance off the tee has averaged over 296 yards which is the highest two-year span in the existence of this course as a PGA Tour event.

Good Drive % on other courses with difficult rough is another key stat this week as it provides a glimpse into which players can find the green on approach even if they missed the fairway. Over the past three years, 43 of the top 48 players on the leaderboard gained in Good Drive % as compared to the field.

Approach

Almost 45% of strokes gained at TPC Southwind have been from Approach compared to the Tour average of 35%. TPC Southwind’s tiny greens, perilous hazards, and penal rough have always demanded elite iron play. If wayward drives find the rough, GIR% drops from 76% from the fairway to an astounding 41% from a missed fairway. The new green complexes will definitely be more firm this year, placing even more of a premium on accuracy.

The rough leaves golfers with a choice to go for the green or to play more conservatively and try to avoid a big number, especially if water is in play on that hole. When in the fairway, short to middle iron play will be vital. On average, 65% of approaches this week will come from the 125-200 yard range which is well above the Tour average of 56%.

Around the Green and Putting

 

With both a below-average Driving Accuracy and GIR rate, this is a week where players will have to rely on their short game around the greens. Brandt Snedeker discussed this fact by saying, “You’re going to miss the greens here. The greens are very small and are tough to hit. So you have to understand you’re going to miss four, five greens a day here. That’s just the way it is. Got to be able to get it up and down.” While scrambling from the rough can be a challenge, hitting from the short grass and bunkers are among the easiest on Tour.

On the flip side, nearly every putting metric on these Bermuda greens ranks easier than the Tour average. From 3-putt avoidance to make rates across all distances, the data shows these are among the most forgiving greens players will see all year. With minimal undulation and generally benign pin positions, putting becomes less of a separator—shifting the emphasis this week toward tee-to-green performance.

Most Important Stats For Success at TPC Southwind

*In order of importance

• SG: Approach
• Total Driving – DFEF
• SG: ARG/Scrambling (Bermuda)
• Proximity: 125-200
• SG: Par 4
• Birdie or Better %
• Good Drive % (Bermuda rough)
• Bogey Avoidance
• SG: Total (Bermuda rough/greens)
• SG: Putting (Bermuda)

Weather Forecast – Memphis, TN