A new venue for the penultimate stage of the FedExCup Playoffs and a first PGA Tour venture into the mid-Atlantic state of Delaware. There’s a pub quiz question in there somewhere (albeit a niche one) but it’s probably best I’m not involved. I was utterly confident at a recent edition of my local boozer’s quiz night that there was once a President called Delaware, an error I attribute to a childhood obsession with the Groucho Marx song ‘Lydia the Tattooed Lady’ which featured a line I believed was “Washington crossing with Delaware”. It turns out that the penultimate word was actually “the” which would have clear up the confusion in no time.
Incredibly, I can round this circle of preposterous blarney by returning to the business of golf because the captain of our team once played the Old Course at the same time as Tiger Woods (ahead of the 1995 Open) and a young Ashley Chesters (currently plying his trade on the DP World Tour) used to work in his pro shop. None of which, alas, is much help in identifying this week’s winner so let’s crack on.
That said, convoluted journeys are something of a theme of this week because, in order to accommodate the sprawling infrastructure of a significant championship, Wilmington Country Club’s South Course is being played in a manner that might leave elderly members in a dizzy panic about the state of their sanity. The front nine’s routing is: 10-13-14-15-5-6-7-8-9, while the back nine: 1-2-3-4-16-17-11-12-18. And you thought I made a meal of getting from A to B …
Each Way – Justin Thomas at 14/1
This might be a first visit to the course for the PGA Tour, but Justin Thomas has memories of it and they are good ones too. Back in 2013 he represented Team USA in the Palmer Cup and, while that event is hit-and-giggle, he did emerge with three and a half points from his four matches
Nor is it the only good vibe for the Kentucky man because this week’s layout was designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. who was also responsible for Firestone Country Club’s South Course, previously venue for the WGC Bridgestone Invitational, and Thomas claimed a four-shot triumph there in 2018.
.@JustinThomas34 hoopin' itpic.twitter.com/7ARnZJJo52
— FedEx St. Jude Championship (@FedExChamp) August 11, 2022
Last week he started using the new Titleist TSR3 driver and in recent weeks adding that bit of kit to the armoury has proved mightily beneficial. Cameron Smith put it in his bag ahead of winning the Open and Will Zalatoris did the same shortly before winning last week in Memphis. Can Thomas complete the hat trick? After some struggles on the linksland he loves but is yet to conquer, he finished 13th last week and looked on his way back to his best.
Hopefully this is a case of: (JT + RTJ) x TSR3 = 1.
Each Way – Shane Lowry at 45/1
Let’s stick with the RTJ route for pick number two and return to the honours board at Firestone for inspiration. There, above the name of Thomas, is that of Shane Lowry, the Irishman who won there in 2015.
The good news is that Lowry’s fondness for an RTJ Sr. test extends beyond that one venue. He finished tied eighth at Bellerive in the 2019 PGA Championship (despite giving the field a head start with a 75 that left him 112th after 18 holes). He’s also got a fine log book at Valderrama, Trent Jones’ famous Spanish creation, never finishing outside the top 20 in four visits, including fourth in 2011 and second in 2018. He was also one of only two players in the field to go sub-70 in both laps when third at Adare Manor in July’s JP McManus Pro-Am.
There’s no arguing that his form has tailed off a little in recent weeks. But the flipside is that his price has inflated and with all the good Trent Jones form I’m willing to give him another go.
Each Way – Adam Scott at 60/1
Ahead of last week the Aussie Adam Scott admitted that his veteran status was becoming something of a potential problem, prompting difficulties with visits to the same venues again and again. “That’s sometimes the hardest thing at this point in my career,” he said. “Switching your mind on all the time. It’s easy to float around on autopilot sometimes. It doesn’t get you very far, so I had to focus a little bit more.”
He’d entered the week ranked 77th in the FedExCup rankings and fifth place bounced him up to 45th, guaranteeing his start this week. Can he ride the wave? On the one hand, the new venue can get his brain working and knock him out of that veteran complacency. He will also need another good week to confirm his spot in next week’s TOUR Championship (only the top 30 qualify).
And guess what? Yes, he’s another Firestone winner, too (in 2011). He’s also been fifth at RTJ Sr.’s Oak Hill and third at Bellerive. While, in his only two ventures to Valderrama, he finished seventh and 10th.
