After Scottie Scheffler’s first missed cut of the season, he followed it up with a great performance at the Colonial despite losing to Sam Burns in a playoff. Burns captured his third victory of the season with Scheffler just missing out on grabbing his fifth win in ten starts. If Scheffler had won, he would have become the first player since Tom Watson in 1980 to win five PGA Tour events before June.
Last year we saw chaos unfold on the 18th green on Saturday as Jon Rahm was forced to withdraw due to a positive COVID test. Rahm was six strokes clear of the field and looked to be on his way of winning back to back titles here. Instead, we saw Patrick Cantlay defeat Collin Morikawa in a Playoff to win his second title at Muirfield Village. There’s plenty of storylines this week so we should be in for a great event.
Tournament Information:
- Dates: June 2nd, 2022 – June 5th, 2022
- Location: Dublin, Ohio, United States
- Course: Muirfield Village Golf Club
- Course Type: Parkland
- Par: 72 (4x 3’s / 10x 4’s / 4x 5’s)
- Length: 7,533 yards
- Format: 72 hole stroke play
- Field/ Cut: 120 Players | Top 65 and Ties after 36 Holes
- Greens: Bentgrass .090″
- Fairways: Bentgrass .375″
- Rough: Kentucky bluegrass / ryegrass / fescue 4”
- Stimpmeter: 11.0
- Purse: $12,000,000 / Winner $2,160,000
- FedEx Cup Points: 550
- Bunkers: 68
- Water Hazards: 13 (In-Play on 13 Holes)
- Average Green Size: 5,000 sq. ft.
- Scoring Average:
- 2021: 72.97 (+0.97), Rank 10 of 51
- 2020: 74.01 (+2.01), Rank 2 of 41
- 2019: 72.08 (+0.08), Rank 13 of 49
Course Architect/ Comparable Courses:
- Course Architect: Jack Nicklaus/ Desmond Muirhead (1974)
- Renovation: Jack Nicklaus (2020)
- Comparable Courses:
- Augusta National – The Masters
- Bay Hill – Arnold Palmer Invitational
- TPC Potomac – Wells Fargo Championship
TV Information:
- Round 1: Thursday, June 2nd, 2022
- Golf Channel – 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM ET
- Round 2: Friday, June 3rd, 2022
- Golf Channel – 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM ET
- Round 3: Saturday, June 4th, 2022
- Golf Channel – 12:30 PM – 2:30 PM ET
- CBS – 2:30 PM – 6:00 PM ET
- Round 4: Sunday, June 5th, 2022
- Golf Channel – 12:30 PM – 2:30 PM ET
- CBS – 2:30 PM – 6:00 PM ET
- Thursday: AM Rain 59 F, 12 mp/h NNW, 85% Humidity, 70% Chance of Rain
- Friday: Mostly Sunny 64 F, 10 mp/h WNW, 52% Humidity, 10% Chance of Rain
- Saturday: Sunny 66 F, 5 mp/h NE, 49% Humidity, 0% Chance of Rain
- Sunday: Partly Cloudy 72 F, 6 mp/h SE, 50% Humidity, 10% Chance of Rain
Course/ Tournament History:
The Memorial Tournament was founded in 1976 by Jack Nicklaus, who was also one of the original architects of the course. Nicklaus spent his early years in Columbus so this course, which is just 20 miles north, holds a special place in his heart.
Muirfield Village has hosted the tournament since its debut. In 2020, Muirfield Village hosted two back to back tournaments due to COVID scheduling conflicts. The first event was the Workday Charity Open and the following tournament was the Memorial Tournament. Collin Morikawa defeated Justin Thomas in a playoff in the Workday Charity Open and then lost to Patrick Cantlay in a playoff a week later.
Following those two events, the course underwent a rather large renovation. They lengthened the course from 7,392 yards to the current yardage of 7,533. In addition to length, they also increased the difficulty by adding some new greenside and fairway bunkers. Most of the greens have reconstructed as well with new bentgrass.
The Memorial Tournament is one of five tournaments to be given “invitational” status by the PGA Tour. With this “invitational” status the field is reduced to 120 and a larger purse.
Most tournament wins: Tiger Woods (1999, 2000, 2001, 2009, 2012)
72-Hole Record: 268, Tom Lehman (1994)
18-Hole Record: 61, John Huston (Round 2, 1996)
Course Guide/ Scorecard:
Muirfield Village is one of the tougher courses on Tour as seen by the previous years scoring average. Like most Nicklaus designs the fairways are a little wider than Tour average. However, the rough is very penal as it’s 4″ long which can make those approach shots that much tougher.
The difficulty of this course comes into play on the second shot. The greens are extremely small compared to the Tour average which makes scrambling one of the key stats this week as players are bound to miss more the green more than normal.
Last year we saw the majority of the scoring come from the Par 5’s. All four of the Par 5’s played under par along with just one other hole, #14.
Key Statistics:
- Strokes Gained: Approach
- Strokes Gained: Tee to Green
- Strokes Gained: Off the Tee
- Par 5 Scoring
- Scrambling
- Strokes Gained: Putting (Bentgrass)
The Field/ Odds:
As usual, we have a great field for this weeks event. Seven of the top-10 players in the OWGR are set to take on Muirfield Village. Patrick Cantlay, who has won this event twice, looks to join Tiger as the only other player win this event in back to back years.
If you’re looking at props, I would look at taking this week to end in a playoffs. Five of the last eight Memorial Tournaments have ended in a playoff.
Jon Rahm (+1000), headlines the field as he should be looking for this third win in a row here. He was forced to withdraw here last year due to a positive COVID test so we’ll see if the Golf Gods redeem themselves this year. Rahm recently won his first event of the year at the Mexico Open but struggled in the PGA Championship a few weeks later finishing T48.
Rory McIlroy (+1100), is next in line in terms of odds. McIlroy has been playing some great golf as of late finishing inside the top-10 in his last three tournaments. He’s played here numerous times but his best finish came back in 2016 when he finished 4th. In his past two appearances at Muirfield he finished 32nd in 2020 and 18th the following year.
Patrick Cantlay (+1700), is a two time winner here but enters this event off a missed cut at the PGA Championship. Despite his poor recent form, Cantlay seems to love this course. He’s played in the Memorial six times and has finished inside the top-10 in four of those appearances.
Xander Schauffele (+2000), who won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with Patrick Cantlay a little over a month ago has been playing some great golf. Following that win, he finished T5 at the AT&T Byron Nelson and T13 at the PGA Championship. He also has had some success at Muirfield Village. Schauffele made his debut at the Memorial in 2018 when he missed the cut. Since then he has finished 14-13-11 in this event.
Previous winners in the field; Patrick Cantlay, Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Jason Dufner, David Lingmerth, Hideki Matsuyama and Matt Kuchar.
Notable Withdraws: Harry Higgs
To see the most up to date odds, you can click the following link.
To find out how everyone in the field has qualified, you can click the following link.
Previous Winners Scores & Prices:
- 2021: Patrick Cantlay (-13)
- Price: 22-1
- 2020: Jon Rahm (-9)
- Price: 22-1
- 2019: Patrick Cantlay (-19)
- Price: 18-1
- 2018: Bryson Dechambeau (-15)
- Price: 50-1
- 2017: Jason Dufner (-13)
- Price: 66-1
Picks (Outright):
- Collin Morikawa (+2000) – BetMGM
- Risk 0.40 to win 8.00 Units
Morikawa had a great run at Muirfield Village last year. He won the Workday Charity Open then finished runner up in the Memorial the following week. Morikawa has yet to win on Tour this season but has finished second twice. He’s made the cut in his last seven starts headlined by a 5th place finish at the Masters. Given the course comp to Augusta along with his course history, he should have a great shot to win his first event of the season.
- Matthew Fitzpatrick (+2800) – FanDuel
- Risk 0.29 to win 8.12 Units
Matthew Fitzpatrick is another guy this year that hasn’t won an event on Tour. He’s really found his game finishing T2 and T5 in his last two starts. Fitz has made played at Muirfield Village four times headlined by his T3 at the Memorial in 2020. His approach play and short game make him an ideal candidate for this course. When looking at his strokes gained, there’s no real weakness in his game. He’s not particularly long off the tee but does hit a ton of fairways and should set himself nicely for his approach shot.
- Will Zalatoris (+3000) – DraftKings
- Risk 0.27 to win 8.10 Units
Zalatoris hasn’t been the model of consistency but when he’s on, he’s on. He missed the cut at the Charles Schwab last week but finished T2 at the PGA Championship the week prior. In his last five solo starts on Tour he has missed the cut twice and finished T6 or better in the other three events. He checks the box in every major category this week with his putting being the lone concern. Based off of strokes gained he seems to be turning things around and if he can get the flat stick going this week, he should be a contender come Sunday.
- Mito Pereira (+5000) – FanDuel
- Risk 0.16 to win 8.00 Units
Mito followed up his collapse at the PGA Championship with a T7 finish at the Charles Schwab. He hasn’t played Muirfield Village before but we’ve seen several players win their debut here. The main concern for Mito this week is his short game and putting. That being said, he’s gained strokes around the green in his last five starts and when he does gain strokes putting he has a shot of winning as we saw at Southern Hills.
Total Risk on Outrights: 1.12 Units
Picks (Top 20):
- Jordan Spieth (+115) – FanDuel
- Risk 1.00 to win 1.15 Units
These odds are under priced based on every other major book who has this line at -105/-110. Spieth has found his form as of late and returns to Muirfield Village, a place he’s had moderate success at in the past. Jordan struggled a bit at the PGA Championship after finishing 1-2 in his two events prior. However, he rebounded well at the Charles Schwab last week finishing T7. He’s played in this event nine times before and has finished inside the top-20 six of those times.
- Patrick Reed (+220) – Pointsbet
- Risk 0.50 to win 1.10 Units
Patrick Reed has struggled a bit this year after his return from injury/pneumonia. However, he mentioned last week that he’s felt better about his game and the results have reflected that. In his last two events he finished T34 at the PGA Championship and T7 last week at the Charles Schwab Challenge. Reed finished 10th in 2020 and 5th in 2021 at the Memorial which was his best finish at this event in six appearances.
- Chris Kirk (+230) – Pointsbet/ DraftKings
- Risk 0.50 to win 1.15 Units
Kirk has been in form lately finishing inside the top-20 in his last two starts. He’s finished T5 at the PGA Championship and T15 at the Charles Schwab Challenge. Chris Kirk ranks well in terms of SG: Approach and SG: Around the Green. His putting isn’t great but he has gained strokes in that category in the past two events. Kirk finished T26 last year at Memorial but given his recent play, I like for him to improve on that placement this year.
Total Risk on Top 20: 2.00 Unit
Just missed the card but I also really like Max Homa Top 20 (+165) – PointsBet. He finished T6 here last year and has really found his game. Homa has the distance off the tee and a great iron game. His short game play hasn’t been as consistent this year but gained strokes in that category last week.
Picks (Top 40):
- Anirban Lahiri (+140) – FanDuel
- Risk 1.00 to win 1.40 Units
Anirban Lahiri has really found his form as of late making the cut in five of his last six starts on Tour. His lone missed cut was the PGA Championship but, over the course of those six starts he finished inside the top-20 in four times. During that stretch he placed lone 2nd at the Players Championship and T6 at the Wells Fargo Championship. Lahiri has played at Muirfield Village four times before, making the cut every time. Starting in 2016 when he made his debut these were his finishes; 61-2-37-52. He hasn’t played here since 2019 but his 2nd place finish in 2017 proved he can have success here.
- Danny Willet (+260) – FanDuel
- Risk 0.50 to win 1.30 Units
Prior to missing the cut at the AT&T Byron Nelson, Danny Willet was playing some pretty good golf. Even with that missed cut, he has finished inside the top-40 in three of his last five starts. Willet isn’t a bomber or approach specialist by any means but he is great around the greens which is crucial this week. In his three appearances at Muirfield Village he has finished T32nd or better in every start.
Total Risk on Top 40: 1.50 Unit
Total Risk on The Memorial Tournament: 4.62 Units
Best of luck, and as always you can find me on Twitter @GatorBetting and Instagram @Gator_Sports_Betting.
