2020 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational

The 2020 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational was the 22nd WGC Invitational held July 30 – August 2 at the TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee. Originally planned for July 2–5, it was rescheduled and played with no spectators in attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]

2020 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational
Tournament information
DatesJuly 30 – August 2
LocationMemphis, Tennessee, U.S.
35°03′25″N 89°46′44″W / 35.057°N 89.779°W / 35.057; -89.779
Course(s)TPC Southwind
Tour(s)PGA Tour
European Tour
Statistics
Par70
Length7,244 yards (6,624 m)
Field78 players
CutNone
Prize fund$10,250,000
Winner's share$1,745,000
Champion
United States Justin Thomas
267 (−13)
Location map
TPC Southwind is located in the United States
TPC Southwind
TPC Southwind
Location in the United States
TPC Southwind is located in Tennessee
TPC Southwind
TPC Southwind
Location in Tennessee
← 2019
2021 →

FedEx Cup leader Justin Thomas won his second WGC Invitational title, and returned to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking having last held that position in June 2018. Thomas became the third-youngest player to win 13 times on the PGA Tour since 1960, behind Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus.[2]

Venue edit

Course layout edit

TPC Southwind was designed by Ron Prichard, in consultation with tour pros Hubert Green and Fuzzy Zoeller. TPC Southwind opened thirty-six years ago in 1988, and is a member of the Tournament Players Club network operated by the PGA Tour.

Hole Yards Par   Hole Yards Par
1 434 4 10 465 4
2 401 4 11 162 3
3 554 5 12 406 4
4 196 3 13 472 4
5 485 4 14 239 3
6 445 4 15 395 4
7 482 4 16 530 5
8 178 3 17 490 4
9 457 4 18 453 4
Out 3,632 35 In 3,612 35
Source: Total 7,244 70

Field edit

The field consists of players drawn primarily from the Official World Golf Ranking and the winners of the worldwide tournaments with the strongest fields.[3][4] In order to ensure a field of 78 players, changes were made to the exemption criteria with the addition of players ranked outside the top-50 in the world rankings. The adjustment was due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]

1. Playing members of the 2019 United States and International Presidents Cup teams.

An Byeong-hun (2), Abraham Ancer (2,3,4), Patrick Cantlay (2,3,4), Bryson DeChambeau (2,3,4,5), Tony Finau (2,3,4), Rickie Fowler (2,3,4), Adam Hadwin, Im Sung-jae (2,3,4,5), Dustin Johnson (2,3,4,5), Matt Kuchar (2,3,4), Marc Leishman (2,3,4,5), Li Haotong, Hideki Matsuyama (2,3,4), Joaquín Niemann (5), Louis Oosthuizen (2,3,4), Pan Cheng-tsung, Patrick Reed (2,3,4,5), Xander Schauffele (2,3,4), Webb Simpson (2,3,4,5), Cameron Smith (2,3,4,5), Justin Thomas (2,3,4,5), Gary Woodland (2,3,4)

2. The top 50 players from the Official World Golf Ranking as of March 15, 2020 (rankings frozen for 13 weeks).

Christiaan Bezuidenhout (3,4,6), Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Paul Casey (3,4,5), Matt Fitzpatrick (3,4), Tommy Fleetwood (3,4,5), Sergio García (3,4), Tyrrell Hatton (3,4,5), Billy Horschel (3,4), Jazz Janewattananond (3,4,6), Kevin Kisner (3,4), Brooks Koepka (3,4,5), Shane Lowry (3,4), Graeme McDowell (5), Rory McIlroy (3,4,5), Collin Morikawa (3,4,5), Kevin Na (3,4,5), Victor Perez (3,4,5), Jon Rahm (3,4,5), Chez Reavie (3,4), Scottie Scheffler, Brandt Snedeker, Henrik Stenson (3,4), Erik van Rooyen (3,4), Matt Wallace (3,4), Bernd Wiesberger (3,4,5), Danny Willett (3,4,5)

3. The top 50 players from the Official World Golf Ranking as of July 20, 2020.

Daniel Berger (4,5), Jason Day (4), Viktor Hovland (4), Ryan Palmer (4), Kevin Streelman (4)

4. The top 50 players from the Official World Golf Ranking as of July 27, 2020.
5. Tournament winners, whose victories are considered official, of tournaments from the Federation Tours since the prior season's WGC Invitational with an Official World Golf Ranking Strength of Field Rating of 115 points or more.[a]

Cameron Champ, Tyler Duncan, Lucas Herbert, Matt Jones, Andrew Landry, J. T. Poston, Sebastian Söderberg, Nick Taylor, Michael Thompson, Brendon Todd

6. The winner of selected tournaments from each of the following tours
7. Alternates to fill field to 78 (if necessary) from the Official World Golf Ranking as of July 20, 2020
  1. Ian Poulter (53)
  2. Matthew Wolff (55)
  3. Kang Sung-hoon (58)
  4. Bubba Watson (59)
  5. Jordan Spieth (60)
  6. Corey Conners (63)
  7. Jason Kokrak (66)
  8. Tom Lewis (67)
  9. Joel Dahmen (68)
  10. Shaun Norris (69)
  11. Phil Mickelson (70)
  12. Keegan Bradley (72)
  13. Thomas Pieters (73) – did not play
  14. Max Homa (74)
  15. Mackenzie Hughes (75)
  16. Robert MacIntyre (76)

Round summaries edit

First round edit

Thursday, July 30, 2020

With only one top-10 finish since August 2019, defending champion Brooks Koepka tied his career-best score with a 62 to take the first-round lead. Koepka has a reputation of peaking during major season, and the first major of the season is due to be held the following week.[9]

Place Player Score To par
1   Brooks Koepka 62 −8
T2   Rickie Fowler 64 −6
  Brendon Todd
4   Kang Sung-hoon 65 −5
T5   Max Homa 66 −4
  Matt Kuchar
  Chez Reavie
  Justin Thomas
T9   Abraham Ancer 67 −3
  Bryson DeChambeau
  Sergio García
  Viktor Hovland
  Im Sung-jae
  Phil Mickelson

Second round edit

Friday, July 31, 2020

Brendon Todd took a 36-hole lead attempting to gain his third victory this PGA Tour season, two strokes ahead of Rickie Fowler who was also aiming for his first World Golf Championship win.

Place Player Score To par
1   Brendon Todd 64-65=129 −11
2   Rickie Fowler 64-67=131 −9
T3   An Byeong-hun 68-65=133 −7
  Brooks Koepka 62-71=133
  Chez Reavie 66-67=133
T6   Matt Fitzpatrick 70-64=134 −6
  Kang Sung-hoon 65-69=134
T8   Jason Day 68-67=135 −5
  Im Sung-jae 67-68=135
  Louis Oosthuizen 68-67=135
  Webb Simpson 69-66=135

Third round edit

Saturday, August 1, 2020

Brendon Todd maintained his 36-hole lead. Tom Lewis tied the tournament and course record with a 9-under 61 to move 47 spots up the leaderboard.

Place Player Score To par
1   Brendon Todd 64-65-69=198 −12
2   An Byeong-hun 68-65-66=199 −11
3   Rickie Fowler 64-67-69=200 −10
4   Brooks Koepka 62-71-68=201 −9
5   Justin Thomas 66-70-66=202 −8
T6   Matt Fitzpatrick 70-64-69=203 −7
  Phil Mickelson 67-70-66=203
  Louis Oosthuizen 68-67-68=203
  Chez Reavie 66-67-70=203
T10   Christiaan Bezuidenhout 71-69-64=204 −6
  Joel Dahmen 72-67-65=204
  Jason Day 68-67-69=204
  Im Sung-jae 67-68-69=204
  Tom Lewis 73-70-61=204
  Shane Lowry 68-69-67=204
  Webb Simpson 69-66-69=204

Final round edit

Sunday, August 2, 2020

Final leaderboard edit

Champion
(c) = past champion
Place Player Score To par Money ($)
1   Justin Thomas (c) 66-70-66-65=267 −13 1,745,000
T2   Daniel Berger 71-67-67-65=270 −10 695,000
  Brooks Koepka (c) 62-71-68-69=270
  Tom Lewis 73-70-61-66=270
  Phil Mickelson 67-70-66-67=270
T6   Jason Day 68-67-69-67=271 −9 268,333
  Matt Fitzpatrick 70-64-69-68=271
  Shane Lowry (c) 68-69-67-67=271
  Louis Oosthuizen 68-67-68-68=271
  Chez Reavie 66-67-70-68=271
  Xander Schauffele 68-70-67-66=271

Notes edit

  1. ^ The "Strength of Field Rating" is a measure of the overall quality of players in the field. It is used by the Official World Golf Ranking to determine the number of ranking points available at each tournament, subject to tour minimums.

References edit

  1. ^ "PGA Tour announces schedule adjustments for remainder of 2019–20 FedExCup season, releases fall portion of 2020–21 PGA Tour Regular Season schedule". PGA Tour. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  2. ^ "Justin Thomas holds off Brooks Koepka to win FedEx-St. Jude Invitational, reclaims No. 1 ranking in golf". Boston Globe. Associated Press. August 2, 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  3. ^ Bolton, Rob. "2020 Qualifiers for majors, The Players, WGCs". PGA Tour. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  4. ^ "Inside the Field: WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational". PGA Tour. July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  5. ^ Hoggard, Rex (July 9, 2020). "WGC-FedEx St. Jude will alter exemptions in order to increase field size". Golf Channel. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  6. ^ Lavner, Ryan (July 23, 2020). "Adam Scott to return in two weeks at PGA Championship". Golf Channel. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  7. ^ Harig, Bob (July 24, 2020). "Tiger Woods opts to skip WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational". ESPN. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  8. ^ Huggan, John (July 25, 2020). "Lee Westwood not playing in PGA Championship because 'America doesn't take [the coronavirus] as seriously as the rest of the world'". Golf Digest. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  9. ^ Shedloski, Dave (July 30, 2020). "PGA Championship 2020: Brooks Koepka's biggest roadblock to a three-peat isn't a sore knee. It's history". Golf Digest. Retrieved July 31, 2020.

External links edit