2016 hasn’t
been Matt Jones’ best year but after some encouraging golf at last week’s
Memorial the reigning Australian Open champion brings good memories to TPC
Southwind for this week’s FedEx St Jude Classic.

Jones
finished T3 here last year and will look to draw on those good memories coming
off his best result since February’s Pebble Beach Pro-Am with a T20 at
Muirfield Village last week.

Statistics
suggest Jones has struggled with all parts of his game at various stages of the
season though it is on the greens where things have come unraveled, eight of
his 19 starts reflecting a Strokes Gained Putting figure in the negative.

However, he
will take plenty of confidence to Memphis this week after four days of
consistently good play in Ohio and another good result would go a long way
towards securing his playing rights for 2017.

Jones is
currently outside the top-125 on the FedEx Cup points list and his two year
exemption for winning the 2014 Shell Houston Open expires at the end of the
season. For a player who has been in the top-35 in two of the past three years
that is an unlikely scenario and look for Jones to turn things around in the
second half of the season.

Jones is
one of 10 Australians teeing up this week as several of the Tour’s top players
skip the event to prepare for next week’s US Open at Oakmont.

Robert
Allenby, Steven Bowditch, Cameron Percy, Stuart Appleby, Rhein Gibson, Aaron
Baddeley, Cameron Smith, Mark Hensby and Rod Pampling are also in the field.

Smith tees
up for the first time since missing the cut at the Byron Nelson three weeks ago
but 51 weeks after his career changing performance at Chambers Bay he will be
feeling a lot of positives. Smith’s T4 at the 2015 US Open was the defining
moment in earning his way to the PGA TOUR and while he hasn’t been at his best
in his rookie season has shown glimpses of the sort of form which has been the
hallmark of his short career.

A T11 at
Pebble Beach has been his best so far but making the cut at his first Masters
in April is an achievement not to be overlooked and with the US Open just a
week away his motivation will be high.

Of the rest
it is Robert Allenby who boasts the best record at this tournament with a 2008
playoff loss one of five top-10 finishes here since he first played in 1999.In
his 2015 season this was one of only eight events where he qualified for the
weekend and with 2016 telling a similar story it will be a welcome return to
the venue for the four time PGA TOUR winner.

Aaron
Baddeley comes into the tournament off a disappointing US Open qualifying
attempt earlier in the week where he let chances slip late in the day. However,
Baddeley has been rejuvenated this year after losing his card in 2015 and he
showed enough during the 36 hole qualifier to suggest another good result is
not beyond him.

Steven
Bowditch took a step backwards last week after two encouraging performances in
Texas and while his track record at TPC Southwind is less than stellar he will
be keen for another good week, as will Stuart Appleby and Rhein Gibson.

Appleby’s
record here is poor by his standards with no top-10’s in nine appearances but
with five events left on his medical extension to earn $242,773 and keep is
card for next year he has everything to play for.

Gibson
hasn’t produced anything resembling his best golf since graduating from the
Web.com Tour but he is a confidence player and if he can get on a roll this
week he is capable of going low.

Mark Hensby
also gains a start this week, getting into the field as an alternate after
several players dropped out at the conclusion of US Open qualifying.

Hensby is a former winner on the PGA TOUR and has low
priority status but has already made two previous starts this season for a
missed cut in Puerto Rico in March and a 74th place finish at the RSM Classic
last November.