The PGA Tour will “Jack’s Place” this week for the Memorial Tournament. This is the tournament hosted by Jack Nicklaus, so the fields are always strong. The Memorial is a “Signature Event” again this year. That means the purse is $20M and the top golfers are required to play. 43 of the top-50 golfers in the World Golf Rankings will tee it up in Dublin, Ohio. There will be plenty of good choices for our DFS lineups this week.
COURSE BREAKDOWN
Muirfield Village was renovated before the Memorial Tournament three years ago. The course is a par 72 which plays 7,570 yards in length. It is a tough course which should prepare the golfers for the U.S. Open next week.
Muirfield Village has a lot of water and bunkers so it will be important for the golfers to be accurate off the tee. Bombing it off the tee will not be important this week since most of the golfers club down in order to keep it in the fairway. Accuracy off the tee will be more important than length in Ohio. The greens have a lot of slope and play very fast. Most of the golfers say that the Memorial Tournament plays like a major because of the tough course conditions. Every aspect of the golfer’s game will be tested this week.
Click here to see the course: Muirfield Village Golf Club
THE MEMORIAL KEY STATS
– Accuracy off the Tee
– Stroke Gained Approach
– Ball-Striking
– Strokes Gained Putting (Bentgrass)
– Par 4 Scoring (450-500 yards)
– Birdie or Better %
Here is the recent form and course history for each golfer this week:History & Form
TOP 30 GOLFERS
CORE GOLFERS FOR THE MEMORIAL
THE MEMORIAL STRATEGY
The Memorial is an invitational tournament. There are 72 golfers in the field this week and unlike some of the other “signature events”, there is a cut this week. The top-50 and any golfer within 10 shots of the lead will play the weekend. There will be three or four “chalk plays” that miss the cut and blow up people’s lineup. The key to winning this week is to avoid those landmines.
To Scottie or not to Scottie, that is the question…. I have been fading Scottie Scheffler and it has worked out well. The decision to fade the World No. 1 Golfer is much tougher this week. Scheffler won the last two Memorial Tournaments and winning a third is really important to him. I plan to play Scheffler in some of my Cash Contest and Single-Entry Tournament Contests, but I will fade him in the Multi-Entry Tournament Contests. There are a lot of golfers in the $9K and $8K price ranges that I want exposure to. So, I will build a lot of “balanced lineups”, without Scheffler at the Memorial.
DRAFTKINGS CASH CONTEST
LUDVIG ABERG ($10,100): There is a lot to like about Aberg this week. He has six finishes in the top-10 in his last eight tournaments, so the form is great. Aberg hasn’t finished outside the top-20 since early February. He also finished 5th and 16th in his two trips to Muirfield Village, so his course history is good. Aberg ranks No. 4 in SG Tee-to-Green, No. 4 in SG Approach, No. 2 in Ball-Striking and No. 4 overall in the Key Stats. Aberg has a great chance to win Sunday.
SI WOO KIM ($9,400): I thought about going with Patrick Cantlay in this spot based on his course history, but Si Woo is nearly as good at Muirfield Village and his recent form is much better. Kim finished 2nd in his last tournament (CJ Cup), 4th at the Cadillac Championship and 3rd at the RBC Heritage. He also finished five of his last Memorial Tournaments in the top-18. Si Woo ranks No. 10 in SG Tee-to-Green, No. 12 in Ball-Striking, No. 5 in Scrambling and No. 9 overall in the Key Stats. This should be another week where Si Woo is on the first page of the leaderboard.
JUSTIN THOMAS ($8,400): Thomas has found his game. He ranked No. 2 in the field last week in SG Tee-to-Green behind the winner (Russell Henley). Thomas has some good form right now. He finished 13th at the Truist, 4th at the PGA Championship and 13th at the Charles Schwab last week. Thomas ranks No. 9 in SG Tee-to-Green, No. 11 in Ball-Striking, No. 19 in SG Putting, No. 11 in Scrambling and No. 8 overall in the Key Stats. Thomas should be a solid play for your Cash Contest lineup this week.
ALEX SMALLEY ($8,000): I am going to ignore the course history with Smalley and play him based on his recent form. Smalley missed the cut in 2022 and 2022 at Muirfield Village. He is a totally different golfer now. Smalley finished 7th at the Cadillac Championship, 17th at the Truist, 2nd at the PGA Championship and 3rd last week at the Charles Schwab. He is playing some of the best golf on the PGA Tour right now. It also helps that Smalley ranks No. 2 in the Key Stats behind “you know who”…. (Scottie Scheffler).
GARY WOODLAND ($7,300): I wanted to play Sepp Straka in this spot, but I could not find a way to make his salary work without removing one of the golfers listed above. I will pivot to Woodland. He has really found his game this year. Woodland won the Houston Open, finished 8th at the RBC Heritage, 17th at the Truist and 6th last week at the Charles Schwab. Woodland also has some good course history at Muirfield Village and he ranks No. 20 in the Key Stats. Woodland should score well on this difficult course this week.
NICK TAYLOR ($6,800): I like Alex Fitzpatrick, Eric Cole and Nick Taylor a lot in the $6K price range. I will give Taylor the spot in my Cash Contest lineup because he has a history of showing up on the first page of the leaderboard in the tough tournaments. He also ranks No. 2 in the field in SG Putting on Bentgrass. Taylor finished 4th in this tournament last year. He should have a good chance to finish in the top-20 Sunday.
DRAFTKINGS TOURNAMENT CONTEST
XANDER SCHAUFFELE ($9,800): Schauffele has always been one of the best golfers on the toughest courses on the PGA Tour. That is the reason why he has so many top-five finishes in the majors. Schauffele finished 3rd at THE PLAYERS, 4th at the Valspar, 9th at the Masters, and 7th at the PGA Championship. His course history at Muirfield Village is really good. Schauffele is a good golfer to start your Tournament Contest lineups with.
RUSSELL HENLEY ($9,300): The narrative in Fantasy Golf is to fade a golfer the week after he wins. Henley is a veteran golfer and I doubt he spent the week celebrating his win too much. I do know that Henley ranks No. 1 on the PGA Tour in Accuracy off-the-tee and No. 3 in Greens in Regulation. If Henley can hit the middle of the fairways and hit all of the greens like he did last week; he should be near the top of the leaderboard at the Memorial Tournament.
BEN GRIFFIN ($9,000): Griffin often gets overlooked for the more popular golfers in the $10K and $9K price ranges. That could be a mistake. This is the time of the year when Griffin took off last year. He finished 2nd in the Memorial and then got hot throughout the summer. He form is much better entering the Memorial this year. Griffin finished 3rd at the Cadillac Championship, 14th at the PGA Championship and 3rd last week at the Charles Schwab. Griffin is accurate enough and his short game if good enough to finish in the top-five Sunday.
RICKIE FOWLER ($8,500): I went all in with Fowler last week and he said “Screw You” and decided not to show up. I later found out that Fowler only played last week to meet a sponsor’s obligation. I wish I knew that before the tournament started. Now Fowler gets to play at his best tournament. He finished 7th at the Memorial last year and 9th in 2023. I am hoping his play last week scares some people away from Fowler. He should bounce back nicely at Muirfield Village.
ERIK COLE ($6,700): I took a chance with Cole last week and he rewarded me with a 2nd place finish for $7,200. I doubt Cole will have that kind of value this week, but he should be one of the best plays from the $6K price range. Cole has played the Memorial three times and he has never missed the cut. He off-the-tee game is shit, but these are some of the widest fairways on the PGA Tour. Cole ranks No. 3 in SG Approach, No. 7 in Scrambling, No. 3 in SG Putting and No. 13 overall in the Key Stats. That is pretty good for his price.
ALEX FITZPATRICK ($6,700): It is hard to believe, but Alex has been just as good as his brother (Matt) over the last two months. The younger Fitzpatrick finished 9th at the Cadillac Championship, won the Zurisch and he finished 4th at the Truist. Can he keep it going this week at Muirfield Village? I think he can, so Fitzpatrick gets a spot at the bottom of my Tournament Contest lineup this week.
Here is my Multi-Entry Tournament Contests Lineups: (Multi Entry Lineups)
FANDUEL CASH CONTEST
FANDUEL TOURNAMENT CONTEST
PGATOUR.COM FANTASY PICKS
* This is the final tournament in Segment 2. There is no need to save your golfers this week. The allocations will reset following the Memorial Tournament.
FANTASY GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP ONE & DONE PICK: PATRICK CANTLAY (MEMORIAL)
Players in Fantasy Golf Championship One & Done so far: Rickie Fowler (MC), Jordan Spieth (19th), Bryson DeChambeau (MC), Cameron Young (10TH), Scottie Scheffler (2ND), Matthew Fitzpatrick (WIN), Jon Rahm (38th), Keith Mitchell (M/C), Brooks Koepka (M/C), Jacob Bridgeman (14th), Collin Morikawa (W/D), Rory McIlroy (W/D), Shane Lowry (2nd), Tommy Fleetwood (7th), Russell Henley (12th), Si Woo Kim (3rd), Jason Day (38th), Ben Griffin (24TH), Hideki Matsuyama (13th)
SEASON-LONG ONE & DONE PICK: ALEX SMALLEY (MEMORIAL)
– One & Done picks used so far this season: Rickie Fowler (MC), Eric Cole (31st), Xander Schauffele (7th), Rory McIlory (19th), Scottie Scheffler (2nd), Sahith Theegala (24TH), Patrick Cantlay (8TH), Bryson DeChambeau (M/C), Jordan Spieth (63RD), Min Woo Lee (3RD), Jacob Bridgeman (14th), Collin Morikawa (W/D), Rory McIlroy (W/D), Shane Lowry (2nd), Hideki Matsuyama (28th), Justin Rose (37th), Cameron Young (41st), Maverick McNealy (10th), Si Woo Kim (6TH), Russell Henley (19th), Michael Thorbjornsen (7th), Nico Echavarria (46TH), Garrett Higgo (15th), Alex Noren (23rd), Davis Thompson (21st)
BEST BETS FOR THE MEMORIAL
I am going to play it safe this week and bet the “Winner Without Scottie Scheffler” market. This means that is Scheffler wins and your golfer finishes 2nd, you still win your bet. The first number next to the golfer listed below is his “Winner Without” price; the second number is his straight up price.
LUDVIG ABERG 13-1 / 16-1
XANDER SCHAUFFELE 14-1 / 17-1
SI WOO KIM 18-1 / 23-1
JUSTIN THOMAS 31-1 / 39-1
BEN GRIFFIN 32-1 / 40-1
ALEX SMALLEY 48-1 / 60-1
Good Luck This Week!!!!
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