The 2025 PGA Tour Playoffs ignite this week at TPC Southwind with the FedEx St. Jude Championship, where the top 70 players in the FedExCup standings vie for a $20 million purse and a coveted top-50 spot in the BMW Championship.
Despite the absence of world No. 2 Rory McIlroy, the field is stacked with stars like Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, and defending champion Hideki Matsuyama, all chasing the $3.6m first prize check.
Over these three weeks, the 70 will be whittled down to one: a FedExCup Champion, who will be awarded professional golf immortality (not really)… and all kinds of cash (really!).
It all starts this week in Memphis, Tennessee.
The Skinny
Tournament: WGC-FedEx St. Jude Championship
Dates: Aug 7-10, 2025
Where: Memphis, Tenn.
Course: TPC Southwind
Distance: Par 70, 7,288 yards
Architect: Ron Prichard
Format: 72-holes/36 cut
Field Size: 70 players
Qualifying: Top 70 FEC (After Wyndham)
TV Network: GOLF/NBC
Purse: $20,000,000
Winning Share: $3,600,000
FedExCup Pts: 2,000
2024 Champion: Hideki Matsuyama
How to Follow the FedEx St. Jude Championship
TELEVISION: Thu-Fri: 2-6 p.m. (GOLF Channel); Sat: 1-3 p.m. (GOLF Channel), 3-6 p.m. (NBC); Sun: 12-2 p.m. (GOLF Channel), 2-6 p.m. (NBC)
STREAM: Thu-Fri: 2-6 p.m. (NBC SPORTS APP); Sat: 1-6 p.m. (NBC SPORTS APP); Sun: 12-6 p.m. (NBC SPORTS APP)
PGA TOUR LIVE: Thu-Sun: 8 a.m.-6 p.m. (ESPN+)
RADIO: Thu-Fri: 12-6 p.m.; Sat-Sun: 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio/Sirius XM)
EVENT LINKS: Website | Instagram | Facebook | X/Twitter
PGA TOUR LINKS: Website | Instagram | X/Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
History Spotlight
The history of this event combines three former tournaments – the Northern Trust/Barclays/Westchester, WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational/Bridgestone Invitational and the FedEx St Jude Classic. And while the PGA Tour is officially attaching its history to The Northern Trust event (due to its bloodlines to the Westchester/Buick Classic/Barclays and its legendary list of winners: Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Ray Floyd, Seve Ballesteros, and Ernie Els, among others), in reality it’s got a lot more of a connection to the FedEx St Jude Classic, including the title sponsor, charity, locale, and golf course. And so we’re going with Memphis.
“St. Jude” has been part of the event title since 1985, as it has a close association with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital of Memphis. The man who the hospital originally has to thank for that association is famous entertainer Danny Thomas, who lent his name to the event in 1969, with St. Jude’s being made the event’s official charity in return. Thomas had founded the hospital years earlier.
The event itself began 11 years earlier in 1958 as the Memphis Open and has stayed in Memphis for its entire history. A few local courses spent time as host venue, with the current course, TPC Southwind, having the honors continuously since 1989.
The inaugural event was won by Billy Maxwell, who got the better of Hall of Famer Cary Middlecoff by one stroke. Middlecoff would win his only Memphis title three years later.
In 1960, a three-way playoff amongst three Hall of Famers saw Tommy Bolt edge past Ben Hogan and Gene Littler to capture the Memphis Open title. Fifteen years later, in 1975, Littler would win his 27th PGA Tour title at the Danny Thomas Memphis Classic.
Other notable winners include Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Gary Player, Curtis Strange, Fred Couples, and Greg Norman.
Winners from the Westchester/ Buick/ Barclays/ Northern Trust pipeline include a who’s who of golf: Palmer, Nicklaus, Ballesteros, Littler, Ray Floyd, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, Patrick Reed, Bryson DeChambeau, and Dustin Johnson, among others.
History: Official Event Titles
2022-25: FedEx St. Jude Championship
2017-21: The Northern Trust
2007-16: The Barclays
2005-06: Barclays Classic
1990-04: Buick Classic
1979-89: Manufacturers Hanover Westchester Classic
1976-78: American Express Westchester Classic
1967-75: Westchester Classic
FedEx St Jude/Memphis
2022-25: FedEx St. Jude Championship
2019-21: WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational
1986-19: FedEx St. Jude Classic
1985-85: St. Jude Memphis Classic
1970-84: Danny Thomas Memphis Classic
1960-69: Memphis Open Invitational
1958-59: Memphis Open
History: Recent Winners
Winners at TPC Southwind
2024: Hideki Matsuyama (-17) *
2023: Lucas Glover (-15) *
2022: Will Zalatoris (-15) *
2021: Abraham Ancer (-16) **
2020: Justin Thomas (-13) **
2019: Brooks Koepka (-16) **
2018: Dustin Johnson (-19) ***
2017: Daniel Berger (-10) ***
2016: Daniel Berger (-13) ***
2015: Fabian Gomez (-13) ***
2014: Ben Crane (-10) ***
2013: Harris English (-12) ***
2012: Dustin Johnson (-9) ***
* FedEx St. Jude Championship
** WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational
*** FedEx St Jude Classic
Host Course: TPC Southwind
Part of the PGA Tour’s Tournament Players Clubs network, TPC Southwind is a private golf club located within the gated community of Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee.
Just east-southeast of central Memphis, near the world headquarters of FedEx, the 18-hole championship golf course was designed by Ron Prichard, in consultation with former PGA Tour pros Hubert Green and Fuzzy Zoeller.
Opened in 1988, TPC Southwind has been the venue for the Tour’s annual FedEx St. Jude stop since 1989. The event was previously played at Colonial Country Club in Cordova.
The course length for the first PGA Tour event was 7,006 yards in 1989 and has played at over 7,200 yards since 2005. With 75 sand bunkers and 11 water hazards, TPC Southwind regularly ranks in the top 10-15 in terms of difficulty.
Hole No. 14, at 205 yards, consistently ranks as one of the toughest par 3s on the PGA Tour.
Hole 14 at 2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship
Rank: No. 1 Hardest Hole at TPC Southwind
Scoring: 3.196
Eagles: 1
Birdies: 23
Pars: 197
Bogeys: 40
Doubles: 17
Triples+: 2
Stat of the Week
5 – The number of players in the field this week who have won at TPC Southwind.
Despite this being an elite-field event, and TPC Southwind having continuously hosted the FedEx St. Jude event since 1989, only Harris English (2013 Classic), Daniel Berger (2016, 2017 Classic), Justin Thomas (2020 Invitational), Lucas Glover (2022 ) and Hideki Matsuyama (2024) are former winners among the current field.
Three recent winners: Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Abraham Ancer now play on the LIV Golf tour.
Power Rankings
The power rankings offer no huge surprises as some of the world’s best players will all converge on Memphis this week for a big payday and the first leg of the FedExCup playoffs.
Leading the way is world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. At 3-1, the reigning PGA and British Open champ is a huge favorite in Memphis.
Xander Schauffele (14-1), Tommy Fleetwood (22-1), and Justin Thomas (22-1) round out the top-3 favorites.
Top 10: FedEx St. Jude Championship
Power Rank-Name (Odds)
1. Scottie Scheffler (3-1)
2. Xander Schauffele (14-1)
3. Justin Thomas (22-1)
3. Tommy Fleetwood (22-1)
5. Russell Henley (25-1)
5. Viktor Hovland (25-1)
7. Ludvig Aberg (28-1)
7. Matt Fitzpatrick (28-1)
9. Collin Morikawa (30-1)
9. Hideki Matsuyama (30-1)
Full Field & Odds
WGC-FedEx St. Jude Championship | TPC Southwind | Memphis, TN | Aug. 7-10, 2025
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Joel Cook contributed to this preview.
