Tim Herron held on in a playoff this past weekend to take home the BkofAma Colonial title and now he along with 155 other participants head to Memphis for the FedEx St. Jude Classic. The winner will take home the top prize of $936,000, a very good paycheck that could vault someone up the money list in a hurry. There are not many big name players here as David Toms is the top-ranked player in the field this week at No. 8 in the world. Chris DiMarco is the only other top 20 player in the mix.
Toms is the big favorite this week at 7-1 and rightfully so. He loves it here and has proven that over the last four years as he has finished fourth, first, first and second while posting a combined 64 under par in that span. Nine of his 16 rounds have been 67 or better, including two rounds of 63, one round of 64 and four rounds of 65. He has placed 30th and 47th in his last two events this year after missing the cut in his previous two starts. He does not have a top ten in his last six events after having four in his first six.
Stewart Cink is at 15-1 this week and he is on a solid streak right now. He has finished 27th or better in his last five starts including a 4th place finish at the Colonial last week to move up to 42nd on the money list. He does not have a lot of history at the St. Jude but he did have his best finish in his last start in 2004 when he placed fifth. In four career starts, he has never finished lower than 37th and has two top 20 finishes.
Bob Estes is 25-1 and he shares the course record at the TPC Southwind in Germantown with a 61 back in 2001 when he won the event. Estes is known as a slow starter and usually picks things up around April and May and this year is no exception. He missed the cut in three of his first six events but has been around on the weekend in his last five starts. Estes has finished in the top three at the St. Jude Classic in three of the last five years so with his track record and recent play in 2006, he will be a force.
Justin Leonard, listed at 25-1, will be on hand to defend his title but he has been struggling of late. Leonard, who went into the final round last year with an eight stroke lead, held off Toms by one stroke to win the title. He has been in the top ten in four of his last five starts in Memphis. This season, he started with two top tens in his first three starts but he has not finished higher than 26th in his last nine events. Toms, David Hill and Lee Trevino are the only three players who have successfully defended their title in the 49-year history of the event.
Fredrik Jacobson followed up two straight missed cuts with a 17th place finish last week at the Colonial which should put him in a good spot this week. He was the leader in driving distance for the week and he posted a 62 on Friday so he can go low and that is necessary to win at Southwind. He is 20-1 this week which might seem low to some but his success in Memphis warrants that number. He has only three starts at the St. Jude but all three have resulted in finishes of 6th or better.
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