We are through two rounds of golf in Memphis, and we have a very interesting leaderboard, to say the least. The birdies were out early and often, but if you happened to miss your spot just a little bit, you were making a double.
A golf course that has both birdie opportunities and chances to make big mistakes is, in my opinion, a great course. The weekend will call for low scores as well. Everyone will go out in the morning on Saturday to avoid PM thunderstorms. This will allow everyone to play in benign morning conditions, which is not great for chasers.
On Saturday, the course will be extremely soft, which will yield to a ton of birdies. Here is the leaderboard heading into the weekend, along with the FedEx St. Jude Championship Round 3 Bets.
| Hideki Matsuyama -11 | (+300) |
| Denny McCarthy -11 | (+800) |
| Sam Burns -10 | (+700) |
| Scottie Scheffler -9 | (+170) |
| Justin Rose -8 | (+2800) |
| Nick Dunlap -8 | (+4000) |
Viktor Hovland Top-5 +190 (DraftKings)
Hovland finally showed life in his second round in Memphis. His 7-under round of 63 was tied for the round of the week and got him firmly into the mix.
Early on in the week, he spoke about how close he was with his swing and how much he loved the golf course. Viktor is currently gaining strokes in every category, which is a great sign to see.
Once this man gains confidence, he is as good as anyone in the world. We saw him heat up this time last year and I would not be shocked to see more of the same. This is a great number for a Top-5 on Hovland.
Tony Finau Top-20 -190 (DraftKings)
Is this a little bit of juice? Possibly, but I'm a big believer in Tony Finau.
Finau sits at -5 after rounds of 69 and 66 and has a very interesting stat profile. Finau is gaining in three categories and the one that he is losing in is off-the-tee. If you know anything about Tony, it is that he's an elite driver of the golf ball.
Finau generally gains strokes off the tee in every start, and I'm sure this will regress towards the green. Even if Finau doesn't hit the driver well enough, he's doing enough elsewhere to hold this top-20. Don't be scared to lay the juice as I think Tony is going to make it happen on Sunday afternoon.
Russell Henley Top-5 +900 (DraftKings)
Russell Henley has gone along rather smoothly in the first two rounds.
He currently sits at just 4 under, which is four strokes away from the current top-5. He came into this event hitting the ball very well and is doing the same through two rounds.
What's holding him back is the green play. By no means is Russ an elite around-the-green player, but he is far better than 63rd in this field. His best surface is Bermuda, which is what we have here and there is no doubt in my mind that Russ will chip it better this week.
He's a golfer who isn't scared to shoot an 8-under round. Buy Henley at the big number to make a run over the weekend.
