Featured Groups: FedEx St. Jude Classic

The PGA TOUR visits the birthplace of Rock ‘n Roll this week for the FedEx St. Jude Classic. Memphis is known for blues, barbecue and one of the toughest tracks on TOUR. TPC Southwind always provides a stern test for the game’s best. Daniel Berger is going for the three-peat this week in Memphis. The two-time defending champion will star in PGA TOUR LIVE’s Featured Groups coverage along with names like Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka. The Thursday and Friday broadcasts will begin at 8 a.m. Eastern. Featured Holes coverage of the par-3 14th and par-5 16th will run from 4 p.m. until the broadcast’s conclusion at 7 p.m. Eastern. PGA TOUR LIVE also can be viewed on Twitter from 8 a.m. to approximately 9:15 a.m. on Thursday and Friday. Here’s a closer look at this week’s Featured Groups. (Note: FedExCup ranking in parentheses.) THURSDAY Henrik Stenson (44), Brooks Koepka (47), William McGirt (109): Stenson, a former FedExCup champion, is playing alongside the defending U.S. Open champ. Koepka has impressed in his return from a wrist injury, tying the course record at TPC Sawgrass (63) en route to a T11 at THE PLAYERS before shooting a final-round 63 to finish second at the Fort Worth Invitational. McGirt, a former winner of the Memorial, rounds out the group. Tee times: 8:40 a.m. Eastern off No. 10 on Thursday; 1:40 p.m. Eastern off No. 1 on Friday. Phil Mickelson (5), Tony Finau (12), Luke List (17): This group features three of the top 20 players in the FedExCup standings. Mickelson has a great track record at TPC Southwind – five consecutive finishes of 11th or better – as he continues his pursuit of his first FedExCup. Finau is making his debut in this event, while List finished T18 last year. List played his college golf in Tennessee, at Vanderbilt. He was an All-American and runner-up to Ryan Moore in the 2004 U.S. Amateur. Tee times: 8:50 a.m. Eastern off No. 10 on Thursday; 1:50 p.m. Eastern off No. 1 on Friday. FRIDAY Scott Piercy (33), Charles Howell III (36), Billy Horschel (38): Piercy and Horschel teamed to win this year’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans. They’ll play alongside Charles Howell III in a group that features three players on the cusp of cracking the top 30 in the FedExCup standings. Horschel is looking to get to East Lake for the first time since winning the FedExCup in 2014. Piercy played the TOUR Championship in 2012 and 2015. Howell is among the select group who has qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs in every season since their inception, but he hasn’t qualified for the TOUR Championship since 2011. Tee times: 1:40 p.m. Eastern off No. 1 on Thursday; 8:40 a.m. Eastern off No. 10 on Friday. Dustin Johnson (8), Austin Cook (29), Daniel Berger (86): Two former FedEx St. Jude champions are playing with a local who got his career started at TPC Southwind and is now a TOUR winner. Johnson won here in 2012. Berger has won the past two FedEx St. Jude Classics. He’s trying to become the first person since Leonard Gallett (1929, 1931, 1933 Wisconsin PGA) to win his first three titles at the same event. Cook is from Jonesboro, Arkansas, about an hour from Memphis. Cook made his PGA TOUR debut here in 2014 after Monday qualifying. He finished T14. Austin’s grandfather, John, played with Jack Nicklaus in the final round of the 1965 Memphis Open. Nicklaus shot 65 to win. Tee times: 1:50 p.m. Eastern off No. 1 on Thursday; 8:50 a.m. Eastern off No. 10 on Friday.

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