2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship golf odds, trends: Will Zalatoris taking heaviest betting action to win, Hideki Matsuyama withdraws

The PGA Tour's top players are set to tee it up on Thursday at TPC Southwind in Memphis at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first leg of the three-event FedExCup playoffs. Rory McIlroy is the +1000 favorite, but the player taking the most action at Caesars Sportsbook is Will Zalatoris, now priced +2500. One potential contender, Hideki Matsuyama, has withdrawn.

The 25-year-old Zalatoris somehow hasn't won yet on the PGA Tour despite repeatedly coming close. He has lost in playoffs this year to Luke List at the Farmers Insurance Open and Justin Thomas at the PGA Championship, while also finishing runner-up at the U.S. Open. He has eight top-10 finishes in 22 events this season. Zalatoris leads all players in both money wagered (8.3 percent) and tickets sold (6.5 percent) at Caesars to win this week despite firing his caddie mid-tournament last week at the Wyndham Championship (he finished T21).

"The public loves Zalatoris, they're just itching to see him hoist a trophy on the PGA Tour," said Anthony Salleroli, Lead Golf Trader at Caesars. "People are just waiting for that first win from him. It'll be interesting to see the chemistry with his new caddie since he recently let his good friend go from caddie services. He's got a new guy on the bag this week, curious to see how that works out."

The biggest mover on the odds has been reigning U.S. Open champion Matthew Fitzpatrick, who has dropped from +2500 to +1800. A Nevada bettor wagered $3,000 on Fitzpatrick at +2200 for a potential win of $66,000. That is tied for the largest tournament winner futures wager thus far at Caesars, along with an Arizona bettor putting down $3,000 on McIlroy at +1100 for a potential win of $33,000. McIlroy is second in money wagered overall at 6.9 percent.

"No surprises there that we're getting action on Fitzpatrick," said Salleroli. "He's in outstanding form and people know he won a major this year. It's a sexy field, and when we first put Fitzpatrick up at 25/1, he was quickly bet down. Now he's at 18/1, we'll see if he still gets bigger bets at that number."

The top 70 in points after Sunday advance to the second playoff event, the BMW Championship in Delaware, and then the top 30 to the season-ending Tour Championship. Cameron Davis currently sits 70th with John Huh 71st.

Matsuyama, who was +3300 to win this week, withdrew today with a neck injury. Matsuyama, who has two wins this season at the Sony Open and ZOZO Championship, sits 11th in points so he's a lock to make both the BMW Championship and Tour Championship regardless.

Three players from the LIV Series, Talor Gooch, Matt Jones and Hudson Swafford, sought a temporary injunction (which was denied) in federal court this week to compete. Gooch is 20th in the standings, Jones is 65th and Swafford is 67th.

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