Golf Best Bets: FedEx Cup Playoffs - St Jude Championship
Transcript
00:00Our number two now officially underway on the early line, Sirius XM Channel 159 right
00:07here on the Sports Grid Network.
00:09It's Dov Anderson.
00:10It's Donnie Wrightside.
00:11And now look, this is the reason why we have this man on this network right now, because
00:14we always need some help on the PGA Tour and with golf.
00:18And this is the guy that we want to talk to here.
00:20So Dov, before we get into the FedEx Championship here, before we get into who can actually
00:24win this, the St. Jude numbers, how are we feeling about the actual tournament itself
00:29heading into this?
00:30Because Rory Mackerel was asked the question yesterday, how do you feel about this whole
00:34new odds and the point structure?
00:35He goes, I love it.
00:36Otherwise, nobody's catching Scotty Scheffler.
00:39Yeah, and it makes it a lot easier to sort of make inroads up there for the leader.
00:44We've got 2000 FedEx Cup points on the line, traditionally week in, week out for the regular
00:48season.
00:49This is 700 points.
00:50So why does it look a little differently this week?
00:52Well, it is the playoffs.
00:54We've got three playoff events.
00:56It's the FedEx St. Jude, 70 players, no cut.
00:59We go to 50 players next week for the BMW, and then we finish with the season finale,
01:0330 players flying off at the Tour Championship.
01:06So I'm excited.
01:07Playoff golf, it looks a little differently, Donny.
01:09Obviously, we're not a full field.
01:12We've got a shorter selection there on the wagering side of things, but it looks to be
01:16a very competitive edition for this one.
01:19You know, Scotty Scheffler, what a year he's put together.
01:22Roy McIlroy, you've highlighted.
01:23He's had a couple of close calls.
01:25It was another bad beat in the US Open.
01:27And don't sleep on Xander Schauffele, who's had two majors.
01:31He's had two majors this year.
01:33Talk about a breakout year for the X-Men.
01:35So there's a lot of money on the line, but they're also playing for that prestige of
01:39player of the year, and it certainly looks to be between your world number one in Scotty
01:43Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, who's now playing with confidence.
01:47He's playing with house money.
01:48The knock against Xander was always that he couldn't get it done late on Sunday in
01:52the big ones.
01:53Well, you've got two majors that silenced the critics pretty quick.
01:57If we're looking at the tournament itself, and again, as you said, it's a series of tournaments
02:01here.
02:02Number one, Doug, how many tournaments are they playing, and how do you actually advance
02:06into the next round of these tournaments?
02:09You got to finish inside the top 50, so it's only the top 70 players from the regular season
02:13playing this week for the FedEx St. Jude.
02:16We'll go down to 50 players, 50 top players in the standings going into the BMW next week,
02:21and then we cut it down to 30 for that third and final event at the Tour Championship.
02:26But there's no cuts because we've got smaller fields.
02:28So for the golfers who maybe got off to a sluggish start there yesterday, day one at
02:32a TPC Southwind, they're going to have every chance to try and make in inroads, but this
02:37is a very tough golf course.
02:38I know we saw some low scores out there yesterday, but I do think the golf course will show a
02:42bit of bite back as we go into the weekend there.
02:45So for a lot of these players on the betting side of things, you're trying to look for
02:48players that are probably playing with a little less pressure.
02:51The guys hovering right around that 50 spot, they're going to play a lot more aggressive
02:55and go after it just so they can try and secure that advancement to next week for the BMW.
03:01But with that risk-reward, it also brings in a bit of danger.
03:04So you'll see this leaderboard and this odds board tell us the tale of the tape here.
03:09I do think we see a, I guess you could see a chase pack and then we could see a big disparity
03:15before we get to some of the also runs coming in for this one.
03:18As you can see, Scotty Schaeffler up top there at plus 250, followed by Xander Shoffley plus
03:23550 and Hideki Matsuyama, who just went through a recent robbery and he's travels back out
03:29here to the States.
03:30He sits there as the third choice at plus 750.
03:33So it really is the best of the best from the PTA to a vine off there, as we saw on
03:38day one.
03:39Dubs you out there on the West Coast.
03:40It's in the six o'clock hour here on the East Coast.
03:42It's the nine o'clock hour.
03:43They're already out there on the golf course and some guys doing some damage.
03:46Danny McCarthy opens up his first hole and birdies that going to a minus five under.
03:50But if you looked at yesterday's round, it was Chris Kirk, a six under 64 yesterday.
03:56Was that a surprise that Kirk was the leader after round number one and also dubs for the
04:00people that don't know Chris Kirk, tell us a little bit about him.
04:03Yeah, absolute journeyman of the PTA tour.
04:06He's just a proper ball striker.
04:07He really doesn't hit it a long way.
04:09And if you look at the past winners at this tournament, this golf course, it really has
04:13been a mixed bag.
04:14You know, we turn it back to Lucas Glover last year, but then it was the big hitting
04:18Willie Zala Taurus the year before that.
04:20So you can do it two ways here to pass 70, 70, 200 yards and some change.
04:24But for Chris Kirk, he's had success on the PTA tour.
04:27I would say it's been a very consistent year for Kirk, but hey, he had a hole in one out
04:32there yesterday afternoon.
04:33I believe it was on the 14th.
04:35This is one of the longest par threes we could get to, Donny.
04:37We'd probably need the big stick, maybe even the three diesel for us just to get it onto
04:41the dance floor.
04:42But Chris Kirk posting around one six under par, he still sits there at 22 to one plus
04:472200.
04:48He's never going to go up in flames.
04:50He's just a plotter of the golf ball.
04:52So Chris Kirk will absolutely be in the mix on Sunday afternoon.
04:56Does he have that top gear to fend off the likes of a Scotty Schaeffler of a Xander Schofley?
05:01I would say no.
05:02I think the pedigree in the class will prevail as we move through the four rounds of golf.
05:06You highlighted players to watch already early here for round two, Denny McCarthy opening
05:11up with that birdie.
05:12He moves it to five under par, so he's just one shot backing and still find him at plus
05:162800.
05:17And then a couple of big names to follow, Matsuyama.
05:20He counted a five under par there through day one.
05:23You've got the likes of Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood, Scotty Schaeffler and the X-Men.
05:27They're both sitting just two shots back at four under par.
05:31And for a lot of these other names, Donnie, you know, they're going to take themselves
05:35out of the tournament once they look around this leaderboard and see how much money is
05:39on the line.
05:40All these FedExCups points and you've got the best golfers in the world trying to mow
05:43you down through Saturday afternoon, Sunday afternoon.
05:46The swing gets a little quicker, the nerves start to escalate a little.
05:50That's why the best of the best are number one, number two in the world of golf.
05:55Scotty Schaeffler, Xander Schofley, they know how to simplify their surroundings and I have
05:59no doubt that we see another big name prevailing late on Sunday here for the FedEx St. Joe.
06:06Talking about getting hot out here in round number two, Victor Hovland through three holes.
06:09He's already two under, moving himself close to that top 20 tie.
06:13But the two guys we always want to talk about here, the two sharks here, Dubsy, on that
06:17leaderboard where if you ask people, you get multiple answers.
06:20Who is the golfer of the year?
06:22Who had the better season?
06:24Two guys yesterday shot 66, that's Schaeffler and that's Schofley.
06:28If we're putting them head to head in this tournament, what did you see yesterday that
06:31you liked?
06:32And also heading down the stretch, who would get the nod for you and does it come down
06:36to who finishes ahead here in the FedEx Cup?
06:39Yeah, I think it will.
06:41Xander Schofley with the two majors, that's probably going to outrank Scotty Schaeffler's
06:45six wins.
06:46But Donnie, if you said, Dubsy, you've got a single unit, you've got to get one golfer
06:51home late on Sunday, I'd have to go with Scotty Schaeffler because he just continues to do
06:55it week in, week out.
06:58Six wins for the tour this season.
07:00I mean, I believe I was on with you, Donnie, the day that Scotty came out of lockup in
07:05the orange jumpsuit.
07:06And I said the very best bet of the season was fading Scotty Schaeffler.
07:10If you're getting him in a round two matchup against Toronto, he made me look silly.
07:15He's made me look stupid week in, week out.
07:17On the betting side of things, there's not a lot of value behind Scotty Schaeffler.
07:21But right now, he is the very best in the world of golf.
07:24He's intimidating by doing it so understated in a quiet fashion.
07:28And for Xander Schauffele, the game is absolutely there.
07:31But at what point is he going to start to get tired?
07:34What time is Stammer going to be playing an ultimate test there?
07:37So if you had to split the two, Scotty Schaeffler.
07:40The only knock that we get from Scotty is to see if he's going to figure out a golf
07:44course that he really hasn't had great course history on here at TPC South.
07:48When?
07:49Four under yesterday, two back off your leader, Chris Kirk, and you can still get him right
07:52around plus 300.
07:54That tells me everything I need to say.
07:56If we take a look at the FanDuel Sportsbook right now and take a look at the top four
08:00golfers.
08:01Odds wise, it's Scotty Schaeffler to live to 60 price.
08:03It's Xander Schauffele to plus 550, Matsuyama here at a 8 to 1 price and McElroy to 12 to
08:081.
08:09If we leave those four out of the equation, are there some longer shots that you're looking
08:13forward to this weekend and say, you know what?
08:15If they put it together, they can take down a nice price here.
08:17Absolutely.
08:18Keep it on.
08:19Sam Burns there.
08:20Sam Burns hits it.
08:21A country mile.
08:22Three under par.
08:23You can still get him there on the board at 35 to 1 plus 3,500 for Sam Burns.
08:28Very good friends with Scotty Schaeffler.
08:30Not that that helps us on the betting side of things, but the next step for the likes
08:34of Sammy Burns is to have success at the majors, to have success here in the FedEx Cup playoffs.
08:40And you look at his golf game, he hits it a mile off the tee there, but he's scrambling
08:44and getting it up and down out of the ball wash.
08:46I think that will pay dividends and he wants that smoke.
08:49Not every golfer is going to welcome the situation of trying to buy off of the FedEx
08:53Saint Jude late on Sunday afternoon.
08:55Sam Burns is built for the big stage.
08:58Like his golf game on a big ballpark like this one, he's just three shots back and we're
09:02getting him at a monster, monster price.
09:05That is not a guy you want hovering over your shoulder come Sunday afternoon.
09:0955 to 1 price right now at the FanDuel Sportsbook.
09:13That's Victor Hovland just got another birdie.
09:15He's tied for 12.
09:16The action is hot in Memphis.