PGA Tour: FedEx St. Jude Championship will come down to those 4 holes

The FedEx Cup Playoffs have arrived.

The highest 70 gamers within the FedEx Cup standings head to Memphis this week for the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the primary of three playoff occasions on the PGA Tour.

Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy, and Collin Morikawa spotlight a stacked area, which can compete for a $20 million purse. The highest 50 finishers from this week then qualify for subsequent week’s BMW Championship in Denver, and they’ll additionally achieve entry into all eight Signature Occasions subsequent season—little question that rather a lot is on the road.

However this course seemingly produces drama yearly. Look no additional than the final two years, which have ended with thrilling playoff finishes. Will Zalatoris defeated Sepp Straka in a three-hole playoff in 2022, after which Lucas Glover bested Patrick Cantlay on the primary further gap a yr in the past.

Water comes into play on 11 holes, however these 4 will play a big think about deciding the primary playoff occasion:

Gap 11 – Par 3, 162 Yards

Picture by Ben Jared/PGA Tour

Two years in the past, Will Zalatoris and Sepp Straka arrived on the eleventh tee all sq.. That they had simply accomplished two playoff holes, making par on the par-4 18th twice.

They hit their tee photographs, and each missed quick and proper, discovering the water.

Zalatoris then struck his third shot onto the inexperienced and made a bogey-four. Straka, in the meantime, put it within the pond once more, thus giving Zalatoris the victory.

The 2022 playoff completely describes this gap. Just like the seventeenth gap at TPC Sawgrass, water utterly surrounds this inexperienced. Three bunkers additionally reside on the island, two of which sit on the precise facet whereas the opposite is lengthy and left.

The inexperienced is somewhat attention-grabbing too. It slopes from again to entrance, however a bowl on the left-hand facet of the inexperienced and a nub on the precise facet makes it somewhat undulating.

Though it’s a quick iron for many gamers, this tough par-3 will flummox loads.

Gap 12 – Par 4, 406 Yards

Picture by Stan Badz/PGA Tour through Getty Photographs

Instantly after the island inexperienced on the eleventh, extra water presents itself on the dogleg proper par-4 twelfth.

By immediately’s requirements, the twelfth is a brief gap, however loads of hassle looms. A yr in the past, the scoring common on this gap was 4.06, the fourth hardest on the course.

The green snakes from left to proper as gamers should carry the lake to search out the quick grass off the tee.

Ought to their drives drift too far left, two deep bunkers will catch any pulled tee photographs.

For his or her strategy photographs, the sphere may have no room for error. The lake sits to the precise of the placing floor, whereas a stream will catch any shot that goes lengthy.

Two sand traps guard the left facet of the inexperienced, and no person will wish to discover these. Ought to they do, gamers will face a tough bunker shot whereas staring straight on the water—one thing any participant feels uncomfortable doing.

The inexperienced slopes off these two bunkers, operating from left to proper and sloping in direction of the lake. The again of the inexperienced runs off in direction of the creek.

Gap 14 – Par 3, 205 Yards

Picture by Ben Jared/PGA Tour

Considered one of the vital difficult par-3s on the PGA Tour, the 14th gap at TPC Southwind is a real beast. It was the second hardest gap on the 2023 FedEx St. Jude Championship.

A lake sits to the entrance and proper of the inexperienced, so any pushed tee shot will discover the water, doubtlessly ruining any person’s spherical. Any mishit will discover the penalty space too.

A bunker sits to the again left of the inexperienced, which is an absolute no-go. If gamers discover themselves there, they must face the water and land a smooth bunker shot, or else their photographs will roll, roll, and roll, ultimately settling within the backside of the lake.

Certainly, this is among the tricker greens on the course. The whole lot slopes from the bunker in direction of the water, whereas additionally sloping from left to proper.

Gap 18 – Par 4, 453 Yards

Picture by Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire through Getty Photographs

Nothing however hassle lurks all down the left facet of the par-4 18th. Simply ask Patrick Cantlay, whose pulled tee shot a yr in the past sealed his destiny.

The ending gap is a extreme dogleg left, nearly a 90-degree angle, with water extending all the size of the green.

On the nook of the dogleg, to the precise of the quick grass, three bunkers will snatch any tee shot that’s pushed. The primary entice sits 294 yards off the tee, whereas the second is roughly 315 yards from the tee field.

The third bunker lies about 340 yards off the teeing floor and sometimes doesn’t come into play except you might be Rory McIlroy.

Ought to gamers handle to search out the green, nevertheless, they nonetheless must keep away from the left facet for his or her strategy photographs. The penalty space runs the size of the outlet, all the way in which as much as the inexperienced.

Two sand traps defend the placing floor, with one sitting lengthy of the inexperienced whereas the opposite is located quick and proper.

The inexperienced itself is somewhat undulated, sloping severely from proper to left towards the lake.

Indisputably, the 18th gap at TPC Southwind is among the finest closing holes on the PGA Tour, and can probably produce fireworks but once more in 2024.

Jack Milko is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Taking part in By. Make sure you take a look at @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You’ll be able to comply with him on Twitter @jack_milko as nicely.