The Loop

Fantasy Fix: Who we think will be walking (and winning) in Memphis

June 04, 2014

After a wild week at the Memorial, the PGA Tour heads to the FedEx St. Jude Classic, which gives us our annual opportunity to play Marc Cohn's classic song, "Walking in Memphis." Go ahead and crank it up. We'll wait. OK, moving on . . . there will be a pretty good field at TPC Southwind ahead of next week's U.S. Open at Pinehurst. Who do we like to take home the seersucker jacket on Sunday evening? Our weekly picks:

Starters -- (A-List): Lee Westwood. Surprisingly, Westwood has only won twice on the PGA Tour during his great career. One of those wins came at this event in 2010, though, and he backed that up with a T-11 in his only other trip to Memphis. His last PGA Tour start came at the Players, where he finished T-6.

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(B-List): Dustin Johnson. The 2012 champ finished T-10 here last year. This will be his fifth straight week playing, but we're not too concerned. In case you didn't know, DJ is a GREAT athlete.

(B-List): Robert Garrigus. Famous for his, um, messy finish here in 2010, Garrigus will be focused on scripting a redemption story this week after failing to qualify for next week's U.S. Open.

(C-List): Ryan Palmer. A solo fourth last year. A T-3 the year before. It's safe to assume Palmer is excited to return to TPC Southwind this week.

Bench/Backups: Patrick Reed, Webb Simpson, Robert Garrigus, and Paul Casey.

Knockout/One-and-done pick: Ryan Palmer. Aside from his recent success in Memphis, Palmer has two runner-ups this year and is coming off a T-5 at the Memorial. What should he do to get over the hump and win this event? Get off to a better start. He's averaged shooting three over on Day 1 the past two years before going 11 under the next three days. So it's an easy fix. Just play better on Thursday. You're welcome, Ryan.

Previously used: Keegan Bradley (Doral), Tim Clark (Sony), Graham DeLaet (Phoenix), Luke Donald (Valspar), Rickie Fowler (Honda Classic), Jim Furyk (Heritage), Bill Haas (Farmers), Billy Horschel (Zurich), Charles Howell III (Humana), Freddie Jacobson (Valero), Dustin Johnson (Northern Trust), Zach Johnson (Colonial), Martin Laird (Kapalua), Graeme McDowell (Bay Hill), Justin Rose (Memorial), Adam Scott (Masters), Jordan Spieth (Houston), Henrik Stenson (Players), Jimmy Walker (Pebble -- winner!), Gary Woodland (Nelson).