​​FedEx St. Jude Prop Bet and Round 1 Matchup Pick: Scheffler vs. Schauffele in FedEx Cup Playoffs

The best players in the world square off in our first-round matchup bet.

Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler. / Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Network

The FedEx Cup playoffs are here, with the first round kicking off at TPC Southwind for the ​​FedEx St. Jude Championship. 

We’ve already given you our best bets and outright picks, a 70-to-1 longshot to consider, and our first-round leader bet. Now we’re focused on prop bets, including a juicy matchup bet between Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler, the two best players in the world this year. 

​​FedEx St. Jude First-Round Matchup Picks

Xander Schauffele +115 OVER Scottie Scheffler (first round) at FanDuel Sportsbook

Scheffler vs. Schauffele is the hottest debate in golf. Scheffler won the Masters, Olympic gold and six total tournaments. Schauffele won the PGA Championship and British Open. The question is who had a better year, though this week I’m going to try and answer who will have a better score in the first round. 

Scheffler is -165 to beat Schauffele in the first round, while Schauffele’s odds sit at +115. Although I’d argue Scheffler had the more complete season, I will back Schauffele at plus money in this bet. 

Neither has performed exceptionally well at TPC Southwind over their career, but Xander has a slightly better history including a T6 in 2020. Scheffler missed the cut here in 2022 and was T31 last year after a weekend slide. Schauffele placed T24 including a first-round 66.

Scheffler is the king of shots-gained statistics, so I won’t argue Schauffele is the better ball striker. But Schauffele is just behind him in those stats and much better in putting, ranking 9th on Tour in strokes-gained putting vs 90th for Scheffler. 

They’re 1-2 in first-round scoring average, so this isn’t a situation where either gets off to bad starts. This is just a matter of historical course setup favoring Schauffele, a putting advantage and the plus-money payout making me lean his way. — Brian Giuffra

Sungjae Im -140 OVER Shane Lowry (first round) at FanDuel Sportsbook

I'm going to look past the Wyndham Championship for Im, who entered that tournament as the clear betting favorite. Players competed four rounds in three days to get that tournament in, a far from normal tournament that Im closed out with a whimper with a final-round 72 (+2).

The truth is that Im is trending towards being a top 10 golfer this season. Since returning to the PGA Tour in May after winning in Korea, he has finished in the top 12 in seven of 10 appearances. He is a fantastic ball striker, ninth in strokes-gained approach over the last six months, and has gained strokes putting in the last five tournaments.

Im finished T6 at TPC Southwind last season and while I think he can contend for a win, I'm very interested in betting against him in this matchup against Shane Lowry.

Lowry finished T46 last time here in 2022. While he has been a strong ball striker as well, seventh in strokes-gained approach, he has struggled to avoid blow-up holes, ranking outside the top 60 on tour in bogey-avoidance percentage. After missing the cut at the Wyndham Championship, I'll look for it to compound or for Im to grab a win in this matchup. — Reed Wallach

​​FedEx St. Jude Prop Bet Picks 

Sungjae Im Top 10 (+300) at FanDuel Sportsbook

Another prop I like this week is Sungjae Im to finish in the top 10 at +300 odds. They were +320 when I bet this on Monday but have since fallen. 

One of the likely reasons we’ve seen that is Im finished T6 last year and T2 the year before. He’s ranks in the top 30 in strokes-gained total, tee-to-green and approach, stats that play at TPC Southwind. 

He also finished T7 at the Open, T4 at the Scottish Open, T12 at the John Deere and T3 at the Travelers. That’s a hot golfer headed to a course where he has historical success. — Brian Giuffra

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800)-GAMBLER.