McDowell to get it right ahead of US Open with St Jude win
Published:Graeme McDowell is not currently enjoying the most productive of seasons in terms of results, but he can provide the perfect confidence boost ahead of the US Open with victory in the FedEx St Jude Classic.
The PGA Tour event is not a regular stop-off for McDowell on his annual calendar as he has only participated once before, but he feels his game is in need of some last-minute sharpening.
McDowell missed the cut on his most recent start at the Players Championship and has failed to participate in the final two rounds in two of his last round three tournaments.
However, the 2010 US Open winner will take some optimism that he can perform well given that he finished in a share of seventh in 2009 on his only prior St Jude appearance.
Furthermore, he leads the PGA Tour statistics in terms of finding the fairway off the tee and this may be especially pivotal at TPC Southwind, which is a course that tends to rank among the most difficult courses for driving accuracy.
Meanwhile, this time of the year is when McDowell is arguably most likely to be at his best, with five of his seven successes on either the PGA or European Tour coming between May and July.
Zach Johnson is the 9/1 favourite to win the St Jude Classic and it is hard to argue with his current credentials.
Johnson triumphed at Colonial on his latest start and finished runner-up in two of this three tournaments prior to this.
He also ranks well on the PGA Tour for bogey avoidance and in all of the last eight seasons, the average round at the St Jude has been over-par.
At bigger prices, Brian Gay is perhaps one to watch at 33/1 given that he has regularly finished inside the top 20 in the event and is a former winner.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
