Fantasy Golf Insider: 9 players to target at the FedEx St. Jude Classic

In the final tuneup before next week's U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club, the PGA Tour heads to Memphis, Tennessee for the FedEx St. Jude Classic. A moderately long course, TPC Southwind is one of the tighter courses on tour, with the field average in driving accuracy significantly lower than usual.

Not helping this week is a barrage of pre-tournament withdrawals. With players earning entry into the U.S. Open via qualifiers and other means, many are opting for an extra week of rest and preparation over a final tournament tune-up. Be sure to confirm you're rostering six active golfers ahead of Thursday's first tee times.

All players listed were entered as of Wednesday morning.

Here's a look at the past three leaderboards:

Per FantasyInsiders, the key stats for TPC Southwind are Par 4 Scoring Average (P4S), Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (SGT2G), Birdie or Better Percentage (BoB). These stats have been strengths of previous winners and need to be used in combination with recent form and course history when building lineups.

Top Tier, Top Dollar, Top Results

Dustin Johnson

Johnson is coming off his second third-place finish of the season at last week's Memorial Tournament. He's having one of the best seasons of anyone on tour, making each of his 12 cuts and posting seven top-10 finishes. He withdrew from last year's event after just nine holes, but he won here in 2012. He also has fourth- and 10th-place finishes and has never missed the cut.

Johnson's also a statistical favorite this week, ranking second in P4S, fifth in SGT2G and leading the tour in BoB. Even his well-criticized putting ranks fourth on tour with 1.714 putts per hole. He'll be a slight contrarian due to a staggering salary in this field, and he left many owners with a sour taste in their mouths after packing it in just halfway through his first round.

Phil Mickelson

Considering Johnson's salary, Mickelson comes at a considerable bargain given his pedigree. Lefty rebounded from his missed cut at The Players Championship to finish 20th at the Memorial Tournament. He came third here last year, and has finished no worse than 11th in his past four tries.

He has struggled on Par 4s, posting an average score of 4.04, but ranks 12th in SGT2G and seventh in BoB. He may be the next-most obvious selection if owners fear Johnson's hefty price, but he's capable of capturing the elusive win in a much thinner field than those which he has dominated in the past.

Wesley Bryan

Bryan leads the Web.com money list, and is tied for the tour lead with four top-10 finishes in 2016. He has two wins this year, prevailing at the El Bosque Mexico Championship in April and the Chitimacha Louisiana Open in March. Despite that success, Bryan has never played in a PGA Tour event.

Bryan is shockingly priced in the top tier heading into his debut. He's the last player eligible for this tier, and lacks any history or statistical qualifications. The high salary is sure to scare away other owners, making Bryan an excellent GPP target, but he should be avoided in all types of cash games.

Best Value With a Chance

David Hearn

Hearn performs quite well on Par 4s, ranking 32nd on tour in P4S. He ranks 61st in SGT2G and 93rd in BoB. He has made three consecutive cuts, finishing in the top 30 on each occasion. His best finish was a T9 at the RSM Classic in November, which featured a field comparable to the one he'll see this week. His best finish in five tries at this event was an 18th in 2013.

Graeme McDowell

McDowell has played this event four times, missing the cut twice, including his 2015 appearance. His best finish came in his debut during the 2009 PGA season. He has made just seven of 12 cuts, but he has four top-10 finishes, including a victory at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba in November. McDowell is just one of five players entered to win on tour this season.

He has one of the best track records of anyone in the tournament, giving him the upside to dominate a thin field. His poor form in North America came to an end with a ninth-place finish at The Players Championship. He has made the cut in two European Tour events since.

Richard Sterne

Sterne missed the cut in all but one of 18 PGA events last season, including this tournament. He opened with a 65, but followed it up with a Friday round of 79, leaving him out of the weekend. He made six of seven cuts in 2014, including a fourth-place result at the WGC-Cadillac Championship.

He has played entirely on the European Tour this season, making six of eight cuts. He most recently missed the cut at the BMW PGA Championship, but he had two top-10 finishes in his previous three tournaments, including a fourth at the Tshwane Open.

If Everything Goes Right

Si Woo Kim

Kim has played in 22 events in his first year on the PGA Tour since 2013, making 15 cuts. He has two top-10 finishes, with those coming back-to-back at the Sony Open and the CareerBuilder Challenge in January. He has missed three of his past six cuts, and he struggled to a finish of 74th, after making the cut at the Memorial Tournament.

He may be showing signs of fatigue, but this field is much more reminiscent of the weaker early-season fields in which he had his most success.

Justin Leonard

Leonard is one of seven former champions of this tournament in the field and, along with David Toms, is one of just two with multiple victories here. He has made four consecutive cuts, including two finishes inside the top 20, and he'll be returning to tournament play for the first time since late April.

He's purely a GPP option, but with a low salary and previous course success, owners stand to benefit.

Tyrone van Aswegan

Van Aswegan has made 16 of 22 cuts this season, but he has just one top-10 result; which came in his first event of the season. He's a consistent cut maker and this week's field provides the opportunity for him to move up the leaderboard. His key stats are ackluster, but owners need only a weekend appearance at his salary.

Top Fades

Colt Knost

The weak field has propelled Knost into the top tier of the pricing list. Owners are much better off with the proven pedigree of Johnson and Mickelson or the contrarian selection of the little-known Bryan. Knost's best rank in any of the three key stats is a 63rd in P4S. He'll need to duplicate last year's 12th-place finish at the very least in order to return value.

Jamie Donaldson

Donaldson hasn't played enough in North America this year in order to qualify for any of the PGATour.com stats. He has made seven of eight PGA cuts, while making just one of three cuts on the European Tour. He came 21st at the Masters, but followed that up with a 48th and a missed cut in two events since. He missed the cut in his debut at this event last season.

Retief Goosen

While Goosen has made 10 of 11 cuts this year, he needs to do better than that with an inflated salary. He ranks 87th in SGT2G, his best of the three key stats. He missed the cut last season, even in a similarly weak field.