Brooks Koepka among best bets at WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational

After taking a week off for the Olympic golf tournament in Japan, the PGA Tour returns to action at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational on Thursday in Memphis, Tennessee.

Brooks Koepka won the first WGC event in Memphis in 2019 and is the 13-1 favorite at Circa Sports to top a loaded 66-player field that features 48 of the world’s top 50 golfers.

Koepka is one of the best bets from handicapper Wes Reynolds, co-host of VSiN’s “Long Shots” golf betting show.

“Koepka won this event two years ago and has four top-three finishes in his six starts in Memphis,” said Reynolds (@WesReynolds1). “He has four top fives in his last five starts, along with a second, fourth and sixth in the last three majors.

“Other than Collin Morikawa, who seemingly always leads in ball striking, no one is putting up better numbers than Koepka in that category.”

Las Vegas resident Morikawa is the 14-1 second choice, and Xander Schauffele, who won the Olympic gold medal, is the 16-1 third pick. Jordan Spieth is 17-1 to win his first start since finishing runner-up to Morikawa at the British Open on July 18.

Here are Reynolds’ other best bets, with comments on each:

Scottie Scheffler, 30-1

“Scheffler posted top 10s in three majors this summer and has three top 10s in his last five events. He also rates first in birdie or better on par 4s over the last 24 rounds.”

Paul Casey, 30-1

“Although he fell just short of an Olympic medal, Casey seemed to relish the opportunity to represent Team GB in international competition with more to come later this fall at the Ryder Cup.

“(International) travel seems to affect players differently. However, Casey already experienced this earlier this year when he played in Southern California the week before making the trek to the Dubai Desert Classic, where he emerged victorious.”

Cameron Smith, 48-1

“Smith ranked fifth with his irons in Japan, gaining more than five shots on the field. He had a birdie that did not drop on 18 to get himself into the playoff for the bronze.

“The strongest club in his bag, the putter, let him down. However, over the last 24 rounds, the Aussie is No. 1 in this field for putting.”

Jason Kokrak, 65-1

“Kokrak is having his career year with two victories thus far this season at the CJ Cup and Charles Schwab Challenge.

“He rates top 10 in this elite field for approach, ball striking and putting.”

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.