Charl Schwartzel leads a five-strong South African charge at the FedEx St. Jude Classsic in Memphis this week.
Schwartzel is in the field that includes Rickie Fowler, Russell Henley, Brooks Koepka and Billy Horschel with compatriots Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Rory Sabbatini and Tyrone Van Aswegen. All five will tee off before 08:00 (US time) on Thursday.
Without a win since last year’s Valspar Championship, Schwartzel confirmed that he entered this week in search of form ahead of next week’s US Open at Erin Hills.
‘I started hitting the ball much better on the weekend, I entered @fesjcmemphis to see if I can find some better form before @usopengolf,’ tweeted Schwartzel, who finished third at The Masters.
The Big Easy joins Schwartzel this week in looking for a US Open tune-up.
‘You’d be right in saying this is the final tune-up for the US Open, but this is also undoubtedly a fine tournament in its own right,’ wrote Els on his blog.
‘I’m looking forward to teeing it up here and trying to build further on some of my recent good play at the AT&T Byron Nelson and the BMW PGA Championship over in the UK. Let’s see how we go.
‘It will actually be only my third appearance in the FedEx St. Jude Classic, having made my debut back in 1995 when it was played the week after the US Open, not the week before as it is now. I played here last year also.’
American Daniel Berger is the defending champion at TPC Southwind.
