WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational: free threeball tips for day one at TPC Southwind

TV: Sky Sports Golf, 7pm Thursday

Rory McIlroy bids to shake off his Royal Portrush hangover in the opening round of the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational at TPC Southwind and the Northern Irishman is in the penultimate group out on the first tee.

McIlroy, who pulled his ball out of bounds at the first hole of the Open Championship and went on to make a quadruple-bogey eight, will be hoping to make a brighter start in Memphis when he joins Brooks Koepka and Jason Day in an all-star threeball at 6.59pm UK and Ireland time.

The 12.59pm local time berth means McIlroy will have much of the day to reflect on the events of the Open. He has a good record of bouncing back after missed cuts, with two wins and a second in his last four tournaments after a flop, but Portrush was not just any old missed cut.

• Read Steve Palmer's WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational tournament preview

It remains to be seen how he reacts, with some serious scar tissue picked up at home last week, and the mercurial 30-year-old will be the media focus of round one.

Three alternative threeball wagers are recommended, the safest of which may be Billy Horschel to defeat Justin Harding and Shugo Imahira in the 6.15pm contest.

Horschel has never got to grips with links golf and his missed cut in the Open last week is easy to ignore.

The Floridian will be much more comfortable on the Bermuda greens of TPC Southwind, a course where he has posted four top-ten finishes in the St Jude Classic, and his form prior to the Open was rock-solid.

Horschel, who closed with a 64 in the Rocket Mortgage Classic before the Open, can hit the ground running at a track which suits him greatly.

Harding, whose form has dipped sharply form the US PGA onwards, is making his Southwind debut.

Imahira, who missed the cut in every Major this year and has never performed well outside Japan, is also a first-timer.

Sergio Garcia, if he applies himself properly, should win the other 6.15pm match from the tenth tee.

The Spaniard has the tee-to-green class to handle Southwind, where he finished fourth in 2008. He has not competed there since 2011, but has an edge over Kevin Na, who skipped the Open last week with a neck injury, and Kevin Tway, who has Southwind form of MC-31-MC and has missed the cut in his two latest US Tour outings.

There will be an awkward atmosphere in the final threeball of the day as Kevin Kisner commented on Patrick Reed in December in less than glowing terms.

Kisner told Golf Digest: “They all hate him – any guys that were on the team with him hate him.”

Kisner, Reed and Lucas Bjerregaard comprise the 7.10pm group. Kisner beat Reed in a 2017 WGC-Match Play meeting and is good value to edge the threeball in Memphis.

Recommendations
B Horschel to win threeball
4pts 6-5 Betfair
Back this tip with bet365
S Garcia to win threeball
2pts 11-8 BoyleSports, Sky Bet
Back this tip with Hills
K Kisner to win threeball
1pt 15-8 Betfair
Back this tip with Paddy Power

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