Amen Corner. Azaleas in bloom. Jim Nantz and gentle atmospheric music. Golf is in the air as the Masters takes the sports world’s center stage this weekend. Seems like the right time for a visit with Joe Tomek, the new executive director of the FedEx St. Jude Championship. TPC Southwind will deliver its own charms August 11-14.
Memphis Flyer: Welcome to Memphis. What are your impressions of the city, now that you call it home?
Joe Tomek: My predecessor, Darrell Smith, told me, “If you love Memphis, Memphis will love you back.” My wife and I arrived [in December] with open minds, ready to learn about the city. We had certainly heard what national media and outsiders had to say, but it’s been fun to explore the different areas, the food scene, go on hikes. There have been so many people willing to reach out, with no objective. I’m learning different opinions about our golf tournament, the history. We feel very welcome. There’s a connection [to the tournament] everywhere.
And what about TPC Southwind, your new home course?
It doesn’t get the national recognition some of the big-name courses do, but it’s by far one of the most underrated courses on the PGA Tour. Our players will say that. I bet the vast majority would put Southwind in their top-five courses. It’s not because it’s easy; it’s challenging. But it’s a fair challenge. It rewards good shots and punishes the bad ones. When a player is on his game, he can score really low.
After three years as part of the World Golf Championships, the FedEx St. Jude Championship now opens the FedExCup Playoffs. What’s the significance of the transition, and what can Memphis fans expect from the tournament’s new format?
There’s a lot of change, and it can be confusing, misunderstood. But since the FedExCup system was established in 2007, this has been the goal: to host the playoffs in Memphis. We’re at the pinnacle. Our players spend the entire season — from October 2021 to August 2022 — competing to make it to Memphis. That has such a cool storyline. Everyone should be excited about it. We kick off the biggest three-week stretch in golf. You’ll see the magnitude of what this event is. Our field size has doubled: we’ll have the top 125 players [in the FedExCup standings].
NOTE: 70 players will advance to the next week’s BMW Championship.
The tournament’s relationship with St. Jude is profound, and goes back generations. Have you been able to visit the hospital, and what kind of impact does St. Jude make on the PGA, beyond the tournament here?
Rick Shadyac graciously hosted my wife and me for a brief tour recently. Across the PGA Tour, every tournament is set up to benefit charities in their local community. But there is nowhere — not in golf, maybe not in all of sports — a better visual representation or tangible feeling of the impact our sport can have outside the ropes. The fund-raising is amazing. But the personal impact you can make on an individual basis: seeing a child’s face when a top-ranked player bends down to say hi or shows them how to putt. Those are moments that can change a kid’s life. Everyone has a “St. Jude moment.” I haven’t had mine yet, but I’m excited for it. I know it will bring me to tears.
Do you play golf yourself? What first drew you to the sport professionally?
I play when I can get out, but probably not as much as people would believe. In college [at the University of Dayton], I was an engineering major. But halfway through college, I thought that if I can’t get through a class without being bored, how am I supposed to spend a career pursuing that? Going into my senior year of college, I got an internship running junior golf tournaments. You’d do everything, from setting up the course to awards. Twelve- or fifteen-hour days. And I had a blast. I felt I could make a career out of it.
The Memphis tournament has long been known for two things: St. Jude and the intense heat. What else might distinguish the FESJC from any other event on the PGA Tour?
There’s big pride in Memphis for the tournament. It’s easy for me to feel that pride, being new here. With this new platform, being a playoff event, we’re starting to look regionally, if not nationally, to draw partners and fans to this event. There’s no other opportunity in the Mid-South to see these stars. Everyone we talk to — be it St. Louis or Nashville or Little Rock — it’s about the golf and the charity. But it’s also about the city. Using this platform to show off for a national audience how great Memphis is. All eyes will be on us [in August].
I’ve got to put you on the spot: Who will win the Masters this year?
You know, I really like Rory McIlroy. He hasn’t done it there yet. To complete a career Grand Slam. He’s such a good person. Team Rory.