World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler begins the 2023 FedEx Cup Playoffs attempting to win the title that barely eluded him last season when he tees off in the 2023 FedEx St. Jude Championship on Thursday at TPC Southwind in Memphis. The first tee times come at 8:50 a.m. ET. Last season Scheffler was on the verge of winning his first FedEx Cup title but shot a final-round 73 in the Tour Championship to lose to Rory McIlroy by one stroke. This year, Scheffler enters the first leg of the playoffs ranked No. 2 in the FedEx Cup standings, behind only Jon Rahm. Scheffler is the +600 favorite in the 2023 FedEx St. Jude Championship odds.
Rahm (+850), McIlroy (+850), Xander Schauffele (+1500) and Patrick Cantlay (+1600) round out the top five on the PGA odds board in the 70-player FedEx St. Jude field. The top 50 players in the FedEx Cup standings after this week will qualify for the second leg of the playoffs, the BMW Championship next week outside Chicago. Before locking in any 2023 FedEx St. Jude Championship picks, make sure you see the PGA Tour predictions and best bets from golf betting and fantasy expert Sia Nejad.
Nejad specializes in betting and DFS in golf, among other sports. He's had incredible success in the outright and first-round leader markets and in betting head-to-head matchups. The expert has been on fire on head-to-head matchups since the Charles Schwab Challenge, going 22-10-1 and returning 9.85 units over that span. That's a $985 profit for $100 bettors in the past 11 weeks.
Nejad also nailed 75-1 longshot Wyndham Clark as the outright winner at the Wells Fargo Championship. In 2023, SportsLine debuted "The Early Wedge," and in the first three months of the show, he hit two first-round leaders and three outright winners. Nejad also had a winning head-to-head record in seven of nine weeks. He was up more than 70 units over that three-month span.
Now, Nejad has focused his attention on the 2023 FedEx St. Jude Championship field and has locked in his best bets, top sleepers and favorites to avoid. See who they are at SportsLine.
Top 2023 FedEx St. Jude Championship expert picks
Nejad, who did a deep dive on the FedEx St. Jude Championship field, is staying away from Schauffele. Best known for winning the gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, he has not finished better than 10th in any of his last six starts.
In addition, TPC Southwind hasn't been kind to Schauffele. He has played in five events at the course and has finished better than 27th only once. Last year he had his worst finish (57th). "Other than his sixth-place finish in 2020, his results in Memphis have been underwhelming," Nejad told SportsLine. See all his picks at SportsLine.
Instead, Nejad is backing Tyrrell Hatton, who is +2200 in the FedEx St. Jude odds. Hatton has only one win on the PGA Tour, the 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational, but has won six times internationally. He is coming off a 20th-place finish in the final major of the year, the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.
Hatton has played arguably the best golf of his career this season. His 2.087 Strokes Gained: Total is the best of his career and ranks fourth on the Tour. He also has finished sixth or better in four of his last eight starts. "He's been in great form with the ball-striking and putting, and I think he's primed for a breakout win," Nejad told SportsLine. See who else to back at SportsLine.
How to make 2023 FedEx St. Jude Championship picks
Nejad has locked in his best bets for the 2023 FedEx St. Jude Championship and is backing several longshots, including one who is priced higher than 80-1. This player "has contended with the big boys before" and is a longshot who could surprise. You can only see his PGA picks at SportsLine.
So which players should you target or avoid for the 2023 FedEx St. Jude Championship, and which player in the FedEx St. Jude Championship 2023 field could bring a huge payday at more than 80-1? Check out the odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Sia Nejad's top picks for FedEx St. Jude Championship 2023, all from the expert who was up more than 70 units on his recent golf picks.
2023 FedEx St. Jude Championship odds, field, contenders
See Nejad's picks, best bets and predictions here.
Scottie Scheffler +600
Jon Rahm +850
Rory McIlroy +850
Patrick Cantlay +1400
Xander Schauffele +1800
Viktor Hovland +2000
Tyrrell Hatton +2200
Collin Morikawa +2200
Tommy Fleetwood +2800
Rickie Fowler +3000
Max Homa +3500
Jason Day +3500
Wyndham Clark +3500
Sam Burns +3500
Cameron Young +3500
Tony Finau +4000
Jordan Spieth +4000
Matt Fitzpatrick +4000
Tom Kim +4000
Brian Harman +4500
Sepp Straka +4500
Hideki Matsuyama +5000
Russell Henley +5000
Sungjae Im +5500
Corey Conners +5500
Byeong Hun An +5500
J.T. Poston +7500
Denny McCarthy +8000
Si Woo Kim +8000
Emiliano Grillo +8000
Keegan Bradley +8000
Cam Davis +8000
Stephan Jaeger +9000
Harris English +9000
Justin Rose +9000
Lucas Glover +9000
Sahith Theegala +10000
Lee Hodges +10000
Alex Smalley +10000
Aaron Rai +12500
Brendon Todd +12500
Keith Mitchell +12500
Chris Kirk +15000
Thomas Detry +15000
J.J. Spaun +15000
Adam Svensson +15000
Eric Cole +15000
Andrew Putnam +15000
Seamus Power +17500
Beau Hossler +17500
Taylor Moore +17500
Nick Taylor +20000
Adam Hadwin +20000
Adam Schenk +20000
Patrick Rodgers +20000
Kurt Kitayama +20000
Davis Riley +20000
Vincent Norrman +22500
Tom Hoge +25000
Nick Hardy +27500
Matt Kuchar +30000
Sam Ryder +30000
Ben Griffin +30000
Matt NeSmith +30000
Mark Hubbard +30000
Brandon Wu +35000
Sam Stevens +35000
Hayden Buckley +35000
Mackenzie Hughes +40000
Taylor Montgomery +40000