This Pro Pick was released to clients on August 12, 2026 at 12:48PM ET.
img GOLF

Kurt Kitayama vs. Min Woo Lee

2026 FedEx St. Jude Championship

August 16, 2026
img7:00 AM Eastern

Min Woo Lee's season carries the better ceiling on paper, with an early stretch as a runner-up and two top-fives that had him near the top of the FedExCup board, but the summer has been rockier than that hot start suggests, including an 11-over missed cut at the Masters that dropped him out of form for a stretch. Kurt Kitayama has quietly been building the opposite trend. His strokes gained numbers over his last five starts sit well above his season average, real evidence he's rounding into form at the right time, and his tee-to-green game grades out in the same class as Lee's stroke for stroke. TPC Southwind is a second-shot golf course, small targets, thick rough, water in play on eleven holes, and neither player separates much there, which is exactly why this is priced near even money. Where I lean is toward the player trending up over the player still working his way back from a rough month. Take Kitayama on the moneyline this week.

1.5 units on Kurt Kitayama -105 (moneyline) (risk 1.5 to return 2.93)
Result:
WIN
FINAL
R1
R2
R3
R4
F
Kurt Kitayama img
65
73
66
71
-5
Min Woo Lee
67
71
75
71
+4
odds odds
 
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