It’s time for the FedEx St. Jude Classic, which really means it’s one week out from the US Open. Yes not much going on this week, with few of the top players opting to play this week. But who knows, maybe some unknown can use this as a springboard to great things. The PGA Tour is always worth watching if you’re planning on watching something on tv.

This is a good song, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

 The US Open

I know, I know. I kind of feel bad for slighting the FedEx St. Jude Classic by, in its preview, talking about a different tournament. And also having it be the first section. But with the sectional qualifying just finishing up, that’s pretty much what we all have on our mind.

There is something to watch for this tournament, . Anyone who moves into the top 60 in the world will gain a spot at in the Open, meaning that, based on current rankings, Fabs Gomez and Ryan Palmer are hoping to snag spots.

Bermuda Greens

Though not really something to watch for, it’s interesting that in 2004, a renovation replaced bentgrass greens with bermuda. If you’ve every played a course in the south during the summer, you know what bermuda greens are like. Grain is much more prevalent on bermuda, and you’ll see most courses shift away from bermuda to bentgrass, and just spend the extra time and effort and cash keeping them healthy.

This isn’t that big of news (at all, and let’s face it, this is a semi-boring event) but usually you see courses go from bermuda to bent grass, not the other way around.

I took that pic from TPC Southwind’s Instagram account, not sure if I recommend following them because holy crap they love the filters. Probably a little too much.

Who to Watch For

In case you’re wondering how I picked these players, I saw a preview for the FedEx St. Jude Classic on the Golf Channel and these were the guys the GC picked to feature. So I figure I should as well.

Phil — For those living under a golf rock, Phil is notorious for playing every week before a major. Some guys like to take the week off to relax, practice weak parts of their game, and get to the major course early and check it out. Others, Phil being the poster child, like to tee it up the week before, get in a playing rhythm, and then roll into the major primed to play. Phil is also a special case for this because he doesn’t exactly play the tournament course like it should be played. Instead, he’ll hit shots that he’s expecting to see on the major course, and ignore whether or not that’s proper course management. So this week, even though he’s in Memphis, Phil is thinking about being at Oakmont already.

DJ — A semi outdated list from last year shows how dominant DJ is at winning. Surprising because you don’t think of him winning that much, but you need to realize how difficult winning on Tour is. Tiger is the outlier for winning all the time. Players like DJ are the top of the normal players. DJ won the 2012 FESJC, so clearly he’s alright with the course.

Brooks Koepka — Jumping from Phil ( wins) to DJ (9 wins) to Koepka (1 lonely win) does seem like kind of a jump down. But he’s been playing well, finishing second a couple weeks ago at the Byron Nelson after a semi-collapse. My guess though is he’s featured because he’s one of the few Nike guys on Tour. The swoosh means something.

Literally nobody else — I’m hoping that one of those guys are in contention this weekend, or possibly the guys who are looking to jump into the US Open with a win or a high finish, because there isn’t much special about this tournament. I’ve said it before, unless it’s a major, fans tune in to a tournament to watch players. It has nothing to the quality of the golf.

Enjoy the week! Big preview time next week, major golf is the best golf.