The PGA tour heads to the Muirfield Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio this week for The Memorial Tournament. The invitational event sees that only the top-75 on the previous PGA Tour season’s money list is guaranteed a place in the field, including the big three of Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy. That means there’s going to be a lot of attention paid to this tournament both by bettors and the media. That trio of players all opened as co-favorites for this event.
Event Details
Event: The Memorial
Category: PGA
Date: June 2-5
Location: Muirfield Village Golf Club, Dublin, Ohio
One of the most unique aspects of this year’s tournament is that each of the big three is coming off a win in its most recent appearance. Spieth won the Dean & DeLuca Invitational last week, McIlroy is coming off a victory at the Irish Open and Day is coming off an impressive win at The Players championship a few weeks ago. Spieth has had some ups and downs this year and McIlroy has yet to win on the PGA Tour (in 10 tournaments), but all are playing their best of the season right now.
Past Five Winners
2015: David Lingmerth -15 (Playoff)
2014: Hideki Matsuyama -13 (Playoff)
2013: Matt Kuchar -12
2012: Tiger Woods -9
2011: Steve Stricker -16
What To Know About The Course
Length off the tee used to be a lot more advantageous than it is now as three of the top-five in last year’s tournament including the winner David Lingmerth ranked in the 60’s for Driving Distance. The average Driving Distance for the last 10 winners is 39.2 compared to an average Driving Accuracy ranking of 11.3 so make sure you take that in to consideration when breaking down the field for this week’s tournament. Greens in Regulation should also be an important stat to keep an eye on as the 2012 and 2013 winners both ranked first in that category while Lingmerth ranked 16th in that department a year ago. As of right now, the players that lead the PGA Tour in Greens in Regulation Percentage are Russell Knox (72%), Sergio Garcia (71.89%), Bubba Watson (71.86%), Lucas Glover (71.54%) and Rickie Fowler (71.4%).
The Field
This will be one of the most impressive fields in a non-major event all year. Day is the outright betting favorite according to Las Vegas at +650 odds tied with McIlroy and Spieth at +650 odds. The 2014 tournament champion Hideki Matsuyama has been very consistent on Tour this season and is listed at +1550 odds followed by Dustin Johnson, Matt Kuchar and Rickie Fowler at +2000. Bubba Watson, Patrick Reed, Daniel Berger and Jason Dufner round out the top 10 selections on the board according to the betting odds.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Jason Day over Rory McIlroy
McIlroy’s performance in his home country was impressive as he finally broke through with his first-career win at the Irish Open. However, he will face a much tougher test against a more difficult field this week and that includes the world No. 1 in Day, who has won three of his last six tournaments. Victories at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, WGC-Accenture Match Play and The Players Championship combined with a couple of weeks off to rest and prepare for this event is enough to convince us he will contend for the win again this week. Day has not finished worse than 23rd at any one of his last eight events so he should be a good bet to beat out McIlroy this week.
Top-Five Pick: Jordan Spieth
Spieth’s ability to rally down the stretch at the Dean & DeLuca Invitational inspired us to make him our best bet to finish in the top-five this week. Spieth shot an even-nine in the final round at Fort Werth before firing six birdies on the back nine and clinching his first victory since the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Spieth currently leads all golfers in the par-five scoring stats and his ability to close will be important again this week as he builds on last week’s victory with the confidence and momentum to contend for the win again this week at Dublin.
Top 10 Odds To Win The Memorial Tournament
Jason Day +650
Rory McIlroy +650
Jordan Spieth +650
Hideki Matsuyama +1550
Dustin Johnson +1850
Matt Kuchar +1850
Rickie Fowler +2250
Bubba Watson +2250
Patrick Reed +3550
Paul Casey +4550
