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00:00We'll be right back with more on the PGA tour post-season is
00:07here on the PGA tour this week begins the FedEx Cup playoffs
00:12at the Saint Jude Championship in Memphis, Tennessee and down
00:16there in the O'Neill Street. It is Keith Stewart joining us
00:19here on this Tuesday on the early line on sports. Great
00:22Keith. Thank you so much for taking the time to join us here
00:25on TEL will forecast the playoffs on the PGA tour and
00:29in Paris in the final regular season event on the PGA tour as
00:33well. Well, I'll tell you what boys. It's great to be with you
00:36on the early line. It was an awesome weekend for us on
00:40sports grid and read the line. We cashed little Lydia Co plus
00:443300 with gold and then of course Aaron Rye with what a
00:48mess at Wyndham the second round the third round and the
00:51fourth round almost got completed on Sunday, but it
00:54didn't matter Rye plus 3500. He brought home the cash. It's
00:58time to get into the playoffs top 70 fighting for those top
01:0150 spots. I'm down here in Memphis to break it all down.
01:06We love it Keith and great job on those big plus money hits.
01:09So let's talk about the format of the FedEx Cup postseason and
01:13the playoffs that begin this week in Memphis. Can you
01:16outline the events for us and what each stage means as they
01:20progress through the postseason? Well, Ben, we have
01:23three weeks coming up right now. We have the top 70 in the
01:26FedEx Cup point standings after the regular season, which
01:29ended on Monday that they're trying to get to Colorado for
01:33the BMW championship, which is the top 50 players. The guys on
01:37the bubble will Zala Torres Jake Knapp. They're sitting at
01:4049 and 50 Harris English. He's 51 outside the top 50. We have
01:45Victor Hovland last year's FedEx Cup champion. We have
01:48Jordan Spieth outside the top 50. These guys are dying to get
01:52into that top 50 spot because that gives them signature
01:55status. Those elevated cash grab events that don't have
01:58cuts. You have to be inside the top 50 in order to earn a spot
02:01for those at the start of next year and then the top 30 go
02:06from there from the BMW to East Lake for the tour
02:09championship. We've got three weeks in a row a ton of cash on
02:13the line 20 million this week 3.6 million for first. Let's
02:17have at it down here in the swamp of Memphis. By the way,
02:21Keith before we get to the championship that starts this
02:23week and it's a great format all the way through. I gotta
02:26ask you just one quick question about the Wyndham championship.
02:28We saw your Aaron Rye win Max Grayson and of course he
02:32stumbles, but you can say you know what I'm gonna go to sleep
02:34with $861,000 in my pocket. I think I'll be okay. What
02:38happened with Matt Kuchar? Why did he not finish out and what
02:41was the talk around the town with him playing all by
02:44himself? His final three shots on that last hole? Well, those
02:48guys had been out there all day. Those guys specifically
02:51played 36 holes and you know Matt is one of those guys that
02:54is definitely a pros pro. I mean he is very much a stickler
02:59to what the rules are and what the officials are doing. He
03:02gets on 18. He did not know that the group was in front of
03:04him in the 18th fairway and he ends up hitting into him and
03:07when he does that and the officials did not tell him that
03:10the group was there. He was extremely frustrated. He was
03:12also very frustrated with his day. Don't forget you know Matt
03:15Kuchar was one guy he had played in every single all 17
03:20FedEx Cup playoffs and he needed a win in order to in
03:24order to get in this year for 18 in a row. The only guy to
03:26ever do that and he didn't get it done on Sunday. So you know
03:29that his frustration level was very very high and then he hits
03:33a bad drive there. He wasn't sure that the group was there
03:36and then when he gets up there, they all gave him the option.
03:38They said, hey, you guys can stop if you want and he said,
03:41you know what I'm out. I'm done. He was very frustrated
03:44and if you know Matt, then you know that once he's got
03:46something in his head, that's what he's doing and to his
03:49credit, you know to further that point, he came out the
03:51next morning at 8 o'clock and then he asked for relief for
03:54line of sight before he even hit a golf shot. I mean this
03:57guy, I mean you gotta love it. I mean if you're all in push
04:00all the chips in he finished the hole in 6 minutes. He made
04:03par finished T12. It's really kind of irrelevant other than
04:06the fact that it helped the golf Twitter feed kind of push
04:09its way through and thank goodness Aaron Rye was crowned
04:11on Sunday and he didn't have to wait around for these
04:14shenanigans. Matt Kuchar out there on the course yesterday,
04:18the PGA Tour announced that the final round was going to
04:22conclude and then about 6 minutes later replied to their
04:25own tweet saying the final round of the Wyndham championship
04:28is now done. It would be easy to take a cheap shot at Matt
04:32Kuchar but we'll move on to the Saint Jude championship in
04:35Memphis. So Keith, you beautifully laid out what the
04:37format of the FedEx Cup playoffs is going to look like
04:40over this three-week stretch. How much are you factoring in
04:44motivation not only at the top of the leaderboard but to make
04:48the top 50 to play in the BMW championship to your handicaps
04:52this week. If I'm looking for, you know, motivation, strokes
04:56gain motivation. The guys sitting from 70 to 50 are going
04:59to play extremely aggressive on this golf course. Remember, TPC
05:02Southwind. We know this golf course. It's been the Saint
05:05Jude forever. It became a WGC in 2019, one of those world
05:09elite events and then in 2022, it became a playoff event.
05:12Wills Al Torres won the first one over Seth Strock in a
05:15playoff and then of course, Lucas Glover a year ago. The
05:19guys in the 70 to 50 range are going to be absolutely just
05:22firing at pins all day long and I'll tell you what, I've seen
05:25the golf course and it's in perfect shape and we're down
05:28here. The Bermuda grass rough is super dense and high and of
05:32course, those zoysiagrass fairways are perfect for the
05:35approach game. Now, remember, in order to play well at this
05:37golf course, par 70, it's treachery off the tee. You
05:41know, I almost kind of call this place TPC Graceland. It's
05:44like a tourist trap, right? Stay out of trouble. Stay out
05:47of, you know, the water. Stay out of the souvenir shop. Get
05:50yourself in place to hit these approach shots and then, you
05:53know, for the most part, these greens, we look at the guys
05:55that have won here. Zala Torres, Glover, JT, not the
05:58world's greatest putters. Get it on the green. Get it close.
06:01You'll make some birdies and you make a run at that top 50
06:04because it is so important for next year's signature status.
06:07Take a look here at the top of the leaderboard, at least
06:09odds-wise, at the FanBlue Sportsbook. Scotty Scheffler,
06:12once again, that favorite at a plus 330 price, followed by
06:14Shaw Flay, Rory McIlroy, Morikawa, Oberg, and also
06:18Cantlay. Who are we looking forward to this week in the
06:21field, Keith? Well, I'll tell you what, you know, those top
06:24three in the single digits, I'm not going to bet either of
06:27them. It's time for the early leans on the early line. We had
06:30Lydia Ko last week. We hit. How about a guy? I'm going to
06:33bring the Iceman down here where it's hot. Patrick Cantlay,
06:36plus 2500. He was runner up here last year, lost in a
06:39playoff. But I mean, if there's a plotters golf course guy and
06:42a playoff winner, this guy is your guy. He's been great on
06:46approach. He gained over six strokes over there at Royal
06:48Troon in difficult conditions, and his putter's been hot
06:51lately. The second guy, I'm going to bring you up a name. I
06:54wrote about him yesterday on Golf Digest, and that is JT.
06:57He's a regional guy. He's going to have tons of support here. He
07:00won here in 2020. Justin Thomas started the week at plus 5000.
07:04He's already dropped 500. He's plus 4500. Get on JT early.
07:08It's going to keep dropping because he's a horse for this
07:11course. Keith Stewart, we appreciate the time. Enjoy the
07:15week of the St. Jude Championship in Memphis. We
07:18appreciate your time.