The eighth “designated event” of the PGA Tour season begins Thursday with The Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village.
Long one of many favourite stops for a lot of tour gamers, the excitement round “the house that Jack built” is elevated additional this 12 months. Jack Nicklaus’ signature course now contains a $20 million prize pool, which has drawn seven of the highest 10 and 38 of the highest 50 gamers within the Official World Golf Ranking to Dublin, Ohio.
Our golf consultants preview the Memorial, and supply their favourite prop picks together with one of the best bets to win this week.
THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT
Location: Dublin, Ohio, June 1-4
Course: Muirfield Village Golf Club (Par 72, 7,571 yards)
Purse: $20M (Winner: $3.6M)
Defending Champion: Billy Horschel
FedEx Cup chief: Jon Rahm
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday, 2-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 12:30-2:30 p.m. (GC), 2:30-6 p.m. (CBS)
Streaming on ESPN: Thursday-Friday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
Twitter: @MemorialGolf
PROP PICKS
–Jon Rahm to Beat Scottie Scheffler (105 at DraftKings): Yes, Scheffler received to sleep in his personal mattress final week, however he’s nonetheless ending a three-week stretch of occasions that included the PGA and the Charles Schwab Challenge. Rahm took final week off and has a rising love affair with Muirfield Village, the place he was properly on his method towards defending a title when a optimistic COVID-19 take a look at pressured him to withdraw in 2021. He additionally tied for tenth final 12 months whereas Scheffler skipped the occasion after ending third the earlier 12 months.
–Jason Day to Finish Top 20 (100 at BetMGM): Day’s finest lead to 13 earlier occasion begins was a T4 again in 2016. But the Columbus, Ohio, resident and Muirfield Village member has usually been in his finest type in years. He did miss a pair of cuts round a win on the Byron Nelson, however Day does personal eight top-20s in his previous 11 begins.
–Patrick Rodgers to Miss Cut (160 at DraftKings): A streaky participant, Rodgers started 2023 by lacking 5 of his first six cuts. He has made the weekend in 5 of his previous six occasions, however a T19 on the RBC Heritage and a T29 on the PGA are his finest outcomes towards elite fields. Rahm referred to as Muirfield Village “target golf” and that does not play to Rodgers’ strengths. He is 156th on tour in driving accuracy this 12 months — hitting solely 54 p.c of fairways — and one hundred and thirty fifth in strokes gained on method pictures.
2023 Prop Picks Record: 23-30-2
BEST BETS
–Scheffler (600 at BetMGM) leads the tour with 11 top-10s season and has completed no worse than T12 in his previous 14 begins on tour. He completed third on the Memorial two years in the past. Scheffler has accounted for the third most cash on the sportsbook with 9.0 p.c of the cash backing him to win this week. He’s additionally third with 9.6 p.c at DraftKings, the place Scheffler is 600 to win this week.
–Rahm (750) received the occasion in 2020 and held a six-shot lead after 54 holes in 2021 when he was pressured to withdraw resulting from a optimistic COVID-19 take a look at. He is trying to develop into the primary participant to win 5 occasions in a season since Justin Thomas in 2016-17. Rahm opened at 800 at BetMGM, however his odds shifted with 6.6 p.c of the overall bets backing him. He is being supplied at 700 at DraftKings, the place Rahm leads the sector with 11.1 p.c of the bets and 17.3 p.c of the cash.
–Patrick Cantlay (1000) has two wins on the Memorial and 4 top-five finishes in six profession begins. He additionally holds the match scoring common report of 69.96 amongst gamers with a minimum of 10 rounds performed since 1983. Cantlay has drawn probably the most cash at 13.4 p.c at BetMGM together with 6.1 p.c of the overall bets. Meanwhile, he’s second at DraftKings with 13.8 p.c of the cash on the identical odds.
–Rory McIlroy (1200) is making his twelfth begin on the Memorial, together with his finest end so far a T4 in 2016. The identical odds at DraftKings has drawn a modest 2.7 p.c of the overall bets and 4.1 p.c of the cash.
–Viktor Hovland (2000) is within the midst of a busy stretch, sliding to a T16 with a closing 73 final week after a T2 on the PGA Championship. Having made 23 consecutive cuts and with eight top-20s already this 12 months, the Norwegian is BetMGM’s largest legal responsibility this week as he leads the sector with 8.9 p.c of the overall bets backing him.
–Hideki Matsuyama (4000) has hardly ever been in competition on Sunday of late because the Japanese star has been battling a neck harm. He did end fifth at The Players however has not completed larger than T15 in 5 occasions since. Still, he’s BetMGM’s second largest legal responsibility as Matsuyama has drawn 5.0 p.c of the bets and 6.6 p.c of the cash to win.
–Sahith Theegala (5000) continues to be a sentimental betting favourite following his featured episode on Netflix’s “Full Swing” documentary. Despite nonetheless looking for his first PGA Tour title whereas competing towards an elite area, Theegala is fifth at DraftKings with 5.9 p.c of the cash backing him.
NOTES
–The solely participant to efficiently defend on the Memorial was Tiger Woods (1999-2001). Billy Horschel (9000), who will try to hitch him, has solely two top-10s this season and sits at 108th within the FedEx Cup Standings with 10 weeks remaining earlier than the beginning of the playoffs.
–Day (3000), who received two weeks in the past on the Byron Nelson, lives in Columbus, Ohio, and is a member of Muirfield Village. His finest end in 13 earlier begins was a T4 in 2020.
–Rickie Fowler (4000) has 5 top-10s by way of 15 begins this season. He had 4 mixed top-10s over the earlier three seasons. Fowler certified for The Open Championship by transferring into the highest 50 on the earth rankings with final week’s T6 on the Charles Schwab Challenge.
–2022 Jack Nicklaus Award recipient Chris Gotterup (35000) will make his thirteenth begin on tour, together with his finest end so far a T4 on the 2022 John Deere Classic.
–Reigning U.S. Amateur winner Sam Bennett (25000) will make his skilled debut. He completed T16 on the Masters.
–Tom Lehman holds the match scoring report of 268 set in 1994.
–Field Level Media