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[h=1]Best bets for the Memorial Tournament[/h]
ESPN PLUS ($ MATERIAL)
The PGA Tour heads to Dublin, Ohio this week for the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. Despite a final-round 75, Jon Rahm won last year's even at Muirfield Village by three shots.
Which players are the favorites this time around, who offers good odds and what props are worthwhile?
Betting analyst Chris "The Bear" Fallica, sports betting deputy editor David Bearman and fantasy analyst Anita Marks offer their best bets.
Odds courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill unless otherwise noted.
[h=2]Bets to win[/h] [h=3]Collin Morikawa 16-1, top-10 finish (+150)[/h]
Bearman: Last year, Muirfield Village hosted the Workday Charity Open and the Memorial Tournament in back-to-back weeks. The course was set up different each week with a scoring average difference of more than 2.5 strokes. So how about a third different setup? That's right, Jack Nicklaus got his crews to work, redoing 14 greens, moving tee boxes and reshaping sand traps. So we don't know what to expect, as no one has played the redesigned course.
What we do know is one of the best shot-makers in the game, Morikawa, went out and won the first version last year with a 19-under par week. While I am not putting as much stock into course history this week as I usually do due to the changes of the course, what I do like is that Morikawa's four PGA Tour wins have all come on courses he has played for the first time. The Memorial this week could be a blend of "never seen" for the changes and "I remember that" for the few things that have not changed. Morikawa gets high grades in both. We are also getting a player who leads the tour in shots gained tee to green and on approach, as well as greens in regulation. With a lot of question marks out there with the "new" course, I want someone I can trust. Morikawa's metrics, ability to score on unfamiliar courses and good recent form (no worse than T-18 in his last four stroke-play events, which includes two majors), makes him a play for me this week.
[h=3]Morikawa 16-1; Morikawa or Patrick Cantlay (9-1)[/h]
Marks: Morikawa plays extremely well on Jack Nicklaus tracks; he has won here as well as at Congressional. He had a bump in the road last week in his third round at the Charles Schwab (72), but he finished strong on Sunday (68) and finished second in strokes gained on approach.
Morikawa ranks 13th in driving accuracy and first in greens in regulation this season, and he putts well on firm and fast bentgrass. Being a left to right ball-striker will benefit him as well.
[h=3]Xander Schauffele 22-1; Top-10 finish (+150)[/h]
Fallica: Schauffele missed the cut at the PGA after a horrible second round, so there might be fewer people backing a typically popular player. He finished T-13 and T-14 his last two trips here, and maybe the weekend off to recharge will do his mind good. It wasn't as if he was playing poorly entering the PGA, as he was third at the Masters and 14th at Quail Hollow.
[h=3]Louis Oosthuizen 40-1; top-10 finish (+200)[/h]
Bearman: As noted above, it's hard to judge past results at Jack's course because of all the changes. But one thing has stayed constant at Muirfield Village: the greens are tough and probably tougher now that 14 of the 18 have been redone. They are small, at just over 5,000 yards, with undulations throughout. The course has always necessitated good putting, with possibly even more emphasis now with added undulations. Stokes gained putting and putting inside 10 feet are some stats that I am looking at this week, and Oosthuizen leads the tour in both. He's also third in total putting. Simply put, Louis is the best with the flat stick on tour, which showed in his runner-up finish to Phil Mickelson two weeks ago at the PGA Championship. The bridesmaid finish two weeks ago was just the latest in a recent hot streak for Oosthuizen, who was eighth at Valspar and T-2 the week before with fellow South African Charl Schwarztel at the team event in New Orleans.
His struggles have been off the tee, but Muirfield is more forgiving in that respect, and with tee boxes moved and added as part of the renovation, all golfers might be in the same boat. At a surprising 40-1 price, I am looking for Louis to grab that first elusive win on U.S. soil.
[h=3]Billy Horschel 50-1; Top-10 finish (+300)[/h]
Fallica: Horschel has three top-15 finishes in his last five Memorials. The new course setup could skew the course history for some, but I'll take a long shot flier on Horschel, whose putting and off-the-tee metrics indicate he should be in a position to adapt to whatever changes there are.
ESPN PLUS ($ MATERIAL)
The PGA Tour heads to Dublin, Ohio this week for the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. Despite a final-round 75, Jon Rahm won last year's even at Muirfield Village by three shots.
Which players are the favorites this time around, who offers good odds and what props are worthwhile?
Betting analyst Chris "The Bear" Fallica, sports betting deputy editor David Bearman and fantasy analyst Anita Marks offer their best bets.
Odds courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill unless otherwise noted.
[h=2]Bets to win[/h] [h=3]Collin Morikawa 16-1, top-10 finish (+150)[/h]
Bearman: Last year, Muirfield Village hosted the Workday Charity Open and the Memorial Tournament in back-to-back weeks. The course was set up different each week with a scoring average difference of more than 2.5 strokes. So how about a third different setup? That's right, Jack Nicklaus got his crews to work, redoing 14 greens, moving tee boxes and reshaping sand traps. So we don't know what to expect, as no one has played the redesigned course.
What we do know is one of the best shot-makers in the game, Morikawa, went out and won the first version last year with a 19-under par week. While I am not putting as much stock into course history this week as I usually do due to the changes of the course, what I do like is that Morikawa's four PGA Tour wins have all come on courses he has played for the first time. The Memorial this week could be a blend of "never seen" for the changes and "I remember that" for the few things that have not changed. Morikawa gets high grades in both. We are also getting a player who leads the tour in shots gained tee to green and on approach, as well as greens in regulation. With a lot of question marks out there with the "new" course, I want someone I can trust. Morikawa's metrics, ability to score on unfamiliar courses and good recent form (no worse than T-18 in his last four stroke-play events, which includes two majors), makes him a play for me this week.
[h=3]Morikawa 16-1; Morikawa or Patrick Cantlay (9-1)[/h]
Marks: Morikawa plays extremely well on Jack Nicklaus tracks; he has won here as well as at Congressional. He had a bump in the road last week in his third round at the Charles Schwab (72), but he finished strong on Sunday (68) and finished second in strokes gained on approach.
Morikawa ranks 13th in driving accuracy and first in greens in regulation this season, and he putts well on firm and fast bentgrass. Being a left to right ball-striker will benefit him as well.
[h=3]Xander Schauffele 22-1; Top-10 finish (+150)[/h]
Fallica: Schauffele missed the cut at the PGA after a horrible second round, so there might be fewer people backing a typically popular player. He finished T-13 and T-14 his last two trips here, and maybe the weekend off to recharge will do his mind good. It wasn't as if he was playing poorly entering the PGA, as he was third at the Masters and 14th at Quail Hollow.
[h=3]Louis Oosthuizen 40-1; top-10 finish (+200)[/h]
Bearman: As noted above, it's hard to judge past results at Jack's course because of all the changes. But one thing has stayed constant at Muirfield Village: the greens are tough and probably tougher now that 14 of the 18 have been redone. They are small, at just over 5,000 yards, with undulations throughout. The course has always necessitated good putting, with possibly even more emphasis now with added undulations. Stokes gained putting and putting inside 10 feet are some stats that I am looking at this week, and Oosthuizen leads the tour in both. He's also third in total putting. Simply put, Louis is the best with the flat stick on tour, which showed in his runner-up finish to Phil Mickelson two weeks ago at the PGA Championship. The bridesmaid finish two weeks ago was just the latest in a recent hot streak for Oosthuizen, who was eighth at Valspar and T-2 the week before with fellow South African Charl Schwarztel at the team event in New Orleans.
His struggles have been off the tee, but Muirfield is more forgiving in that respect, and with tee boxes moved and added as part of the renovation, all golfers might be in the same boat. At a surprising 40-1 price, I am looking for Louis to grab that first elusive win on U.S. soil.
[h=3]Billy Horschel 50-1; Top-10 finish (+300)[/h]
Fallica: Horschel has three top-15 finishes in his last five Memorials. The new course setup could skew the course history for some, but I'll take a long shot flier on Horschel, whose putting and off-the-tee metrics indicate he should be in a position to adapt to whatever changes there are.
