Driving distance historically not key to win St. Jude Classic

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Powerful drives can capture the attention of golf fans, but they have not been the way to capture a title at TPC Southwind in recent years.

None of the last 10 champions of the St. Jude Classic have finished the season higher than 70th in driving distance. David Toms (2003) finished better than anyone this decade, ending the season in 72nd place.

Six of the winners in that span have ranked worse than 120th in driving accuracy at the end of the season.

Last year's winner, Brian Gay, finished 183rd on the PGA TOUR in driving distance in 2009. He made his mark on the greens, leading the field in putting. Gay needed just 100 putts in his wire-to-wire victory.

Toms led the tournament in Greens in Regulation both in 2003 and 2004, the two years he won the event. Finding the fairway was the key for Jeff Maggert in 2006, who won while led the field in Driving Accuracy.

While hitting the ball long will not hurt players on the 7,244-yard par-70 course, other aspects of the game have proven to be more helpful in the quest for victory at Southwind.

Here is a list of the last 10 champions of the St. Jude Classic and their final ranking in driving distance.