St. Jude Classic - Top Ten Prop Picks

Tee-off:  6/11/2009

A lot of the golfers in the St. Jude Classic this week probably won’t be showing their best stuff on the course.  The U.S. Open is in two weeks and golfers must prepare for that huge prize in lieu of playing their best at TPC Southwinds this week.

Let’s take a look at some of the golfers that could finish in the top ten in the St. Jude Classic this week.

1. David Toms +125 - - Toms has finished in the top ten in 6 out of the 7 times he has teed off at TPC Southwinds.  That makes him the best bet at the odds in this tournament to get into the top ten.  His 5 top tens out of 13 tournaments this year is even more of a reason to bet him in this category.

2. Justin Leonard +125 - - The defending champion should do well enough to secure his fifth top ten of the year.  Leonard was pretty good in his last tournament, the Crowne Plaza Invitational, when finishing 13th.  He should be able to carry that over to a course that he knows well.

3. Phil Mickelson -125 - - Lefty has finished in the top ten in 50% of the tournaments he has started in this year.  The 55th place finish in the TPC Sawgrass was awful but now that Lefty and his wife Amy have decided on the best course of action regarding their personal lives, he should be able to traverse a tough course.  He definitely gets into the top ten in this.

4. Robert Allenby +275 - - Allenby only has one top ten finish to his credit, but he finished second in this tournament last year and should be coming up to a good tournament after not hitting the top 40 in four out his last five tournaments.  More comfortable surroundings should help Allenby.

5. Sergio Garcia +125 - - Garcia finished 4th last year in the St. Jude and figures to do well in the tournament again.  The big knock is that he hasn’t finished in the top ten yet on the PGA Tour but he’s only played in 7 tournaments and he’s made the cut 6 times.  He could be very tough in this category because he should be using the St. Jude Classic as a tune-up for the U.S. Open.  That means getting his shots right.

6. Tim Clark +150 - - Clark has 4 top tens so far in 2009.  He finished second in the Crowne Plaza Invitational and should be ready to do his best at TPC Southwinds.  He could get another top ten finish if he can carry over that Crowne Plaza form from two weeks ago.

Best Long Shot

Bob Estes +550 - - Estes has finished in the top 25 in half of his 20 starts at TPC Southwinds.  That’s not bad and it means that he could potentially sneak into the top ten should some of the other golfers in the field falter.