WGC Fedex St Jude Invitational Winners and History

WGC Fedex St Jude Invitational Winners and History

For Fedex St. Jude Championship winners — the PGA TOUR playoff tournament — follow the previous link.

The WGC Fedex St Jude Invitational is the successor to the long-standing WGC Bridgestone and in a way, to the Fedex St. Jude Classic. In 2019, the long running St. Jude Classic was dropped from the PGA TOUR schedule, while the WGC moved to the tournament’s host at TPC Southwinds in Memphis.

Memphis, not coincidentally, is home of both FedEx and the St. Jude Hospitals.

The WGC FedEx St. Jude Invitational began life in 1962 as a four-man invitational tournament held at the Firestone Country Club. The field expanded, and by 1976, it was an official PGA Tour event known as the World Series of Golf. Thanks to the strength of field, it was considered just a step below the Majors, with a victory granting a 10-year exemption on Tour. The field at that time consisted of tournament winners from the various international tours.

NEC sponsored the event from 1984 to 2006.

In the years since the WGC Invitational (either as WGC-NEC or WGC Bridgestone) in 1999, Tiger Woods has owned the event, winning eight times.

The current field is composed of 75 players, who fit the following criteria:

• Playing members of the last named United States and International Presidents Cup teams.
• Playing members of the last named United States and European Ryder Cup teams.
• Players ranked among the top 50 on the Official World Golf Rankings (one week and two weeks prior to event).
• Tournament winners of worldwide events since the prior year’s tournament with an Official World Golf Ranking Strength of Field Rating of 115 points or more.
• The winner of one selected tournament from each of the following tours: PGA Tour of Australasia, Sunshine Tour, Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour.

St. Jude is the name of a children’s hospital located in Memphis, Tennessee. St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital was founded in 1962 by popular nightclub entertainer and television star Danny Thomas.

Thomas was born Amos Muzyad Yakhoob Kairouz in Deerfield, Michigan. His parents were Maronite Catholic immigrants from Lebanon. Deerfield is a small town 33 miles southeast of Ann Arbor.

St. Jude’s founding founding was the result of a vow Thomas had made as a young actor—that if he found success he would open a hospital dedicated to Saint Jude, the patron saint of hopeless causes. It is a moving story:

More than 70 years ago, Danny Thomas, then a struggling young entertainer with a baby on the way, visited a Detroit church and was so moved during the Mass, he placed his last $7 in the collection box. When he realized what he’d done, Danny Thomas prayed for a way to pay the looming hospital bills. The next day, he was offered a small part that would pay 10 times the amount he’d given to the church. Danny Thomas had experienced the power of prayer.

Two years later, Danny Thomas had achieved moderate acting success in Detroit, but he was struggling to take his career to the next level. Once again, he turned to the church. Praying to St. Jude Thaddeus, the patron saint of hopeless causes, Danny Thomas asked the saint to “help me find my way in life, and I will build you a shrine.”

His career took a turn for the better, and soon he moved his family to Chicago to pursue career offers. A few years later, at another turning point in his life, Danny Thomas visited a church and remembered his pledge to St. Jude. Again he prayed to St. Jude and repeated his pledge to build a shrine to the saint if he would show him the way.

In the years that followed, Danny Thomas’ career flourished through films and television, and he became an internationally known entertainer. He remembered his pledge to build a shrine to St. Jude.

A list of past WGC FedEx St Jude winners follows:

Year	Player	Country	Score
WGC Fedex St. Jude Invitational
2021	Abraham Ancer	Mexico	264 (-16)
2020	Justin Thomas	US	267 (-13)
2019	Brooks Koepka	US	264 (-16)
WGC-Bridgestone Invitational
2018	Justin Thomas	US	265 (-15)
2017	Hideki Matsuyama	Japan	264 (-16)
2016	Dustin Johnson	United States	274 (-6)
2015	Shane Lowry	Northern Ireland	269 (-11)
2014	Rory McIlroy	Northern Ireland	265 (-15)
2013	Tiger Woods	United States	265 (-15)
2012	Keegan Bradley	United States	267 (-13)
2011	Adam Scott	Australia	263 (-17)
2010	Hunter Mahan	United States	268 (-12)
2009	Tiger Woods (7)	United States	268 (-12)
2008	Vijay Singh	Fiji	270 (-10)
2007	Tiger Woods (6)	United States	272 (-8)
2006	Tiger Woods (5)	United States	270 (-10) PO
WGC-NEC Invitational
2005	Tiger Woods (4)	United States	274 (-6)
2004	Stewart Cink	United States	269 (-11)
2003	Darren Clarke	Northern Ireland	268 (-12)
2002*	Craig Parry	Australia	268 (-16)
2001	Tiger Woods (3)	United States	268 (-12) PO
2000	Tiger Woods (2)	United States	259 (-21)
1999	Tiger Woods	United States	270 (-10)
NEC World Series of Golf
1998	David Duval	United States
1997	Greg Norman (2)	Australia
1996	Phil Mickelson	United States
1995	Greg Norman	Australia
1994	José María Olazábal (2)	Spain
1993	Fulton Allem	South Africa
1992	Craig Stadler (2)	United States
1991	Tom Purtzer	United States
1990	José María Olazábal	Spain
1989	David Frost	South Africa
1988	Mike Reid	United States
1987	Curtis Strange	United States
1986	Dan Pohl	United States
1985	Roger Maltbie	United States
1984	Denis Watson	Zimbabwe
World Series of Golf
1983	Nick Price	Zimbabwe
1982	Craig Stadler	United States
1981	Bill Rogers	United States
1980	Tom Watson	United States
1979	Lon Hinkle	United States
1978	Gil Morgan	United States
1977	Lanny Wadkins	United States
1976	Jack Nicklaus	United States