Horses for courses: Five favorites take to the TPC Southwind track for WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational

MEMPHIS – Horses for courses.

It’s an often-uttered idiom in golf, a salute to players who take to a golf course with abundant success no matter the year, the conditions, their form at the time.

Think Tiger Woods at Bay Hill, Torrey Pines, Firestone, Augusta National, Doral, Muirfield Village. Sam Snead in the Greater Greensboro Open. Jack Nicklaus at Augusta National, Phil Mickelson at Pebble Beach.

Well, at TPC Southwind, a stampede of thoroughbreds are about to hit a track they adore. If there were a tote board at the course, the following five of the 66 players in the field would get plenty of action: Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Daniel Berger and Phil Mickelson.

For a variety of reasons – the course fits the eye, the vibe of the Memphis streets, the food is outrageously fine, the hot weather is to the liking – these five have excelled at TPC Southwind.

WGC-FedEx St. Jude: Thursday tee times | Fantasy rankings

“It’s a great track,” said Thomas, the defending champion who tied for 12th in his only other start at TPC Southwind. “It’s all right in front of you. I think it’s one of those places that kind of stands over time, it’s not a place that’s going to change much each year. You really could play nine holes as a practice round but kind of check it out and see what the firmness or softness is like and if there’s much rough, then from there it’s just about going out and hitting the shots and take advantage of some opportunities when you get them.

“It’s a great place.”

Johnson, the world No. 2, won the FedEx St. Jude Classic in 2012 and 2018 and tied for 10th in 2013 and fifth in 2016. Last year he tied for 12th.

“It’s a golf course that I really enjoy playing,” Johnson said. “It’s a place where I’ve got a lot of good memories. I feel like the course sets up well for me, it’s a good track, you’ve got to hit a lot of good golf shots if you want to play well.

“It’s a golf course where you’ve got to hit pretty much every club in the bag. You’ve got to drive it well, that’s first and foremost. If you’re not playing out of the fairway, it’s going to be a long day. Even the rough, the rough’s not that deep, but it’s Bermuda rough, ball always sits down, it’s tough to judge how it comes out.

“I don’t know, I’ve just always liked the golf course ever since the first time I played it.”

Six-time major champion and reigning PGA winner Phil Mickelson has enjoyed his trips around TPC Southwind, which plays to a par of 70, features smallish greens and Bermuda rough where the ball sinks to the ground, and can be stretched out to 7,233 yards. Despite not winning, Mickelson’s had five top-10s in nine starts – including a tie for second last year – and has ties for 11th and 12th.

Koepka, the four-time major winner who has four top-6 finishes in his last five starts on the PGA Tour, is a major threat this week, too. He won here in 2019, finished in a tie for second last year as well as in 2016 and tied for third in 2015.

And in Berger’s four starts at TPC Southwind, he’s won two of his four PGA Tour titles and tied for second last year. After winning in the FedEx St. Jude Classic in 2016 and 2017, he offered up his recipe for success at TPC Southwind.

He loves soaking in the energy of the Memphis streets. Feels the confidence build inside as soon as he drives onto the property. Can’t get enough barbecue. Hits up his favorite Mexican restaurant that serves “killer Mexican food” at least four times during the week.

And the course is all too familiar to him.

“It reminds me of the place I grew up at, the Dye Preserve in South Florida,” Berger said. “I’m familiar with that type of grass, the Bermuda grass, the temperatures get hot there, too. I just have a sense of calm when I get out there.”

Four others do, too.