One of the marquee events on the PGA Tour, the Memorial at Muirfield Village is this week’s stop.
Jack Nicklaus’ tournament and course make this invitational event a special one but we also get a packed field. The venue has seen a number of changes over the years with Nicklaus constantly tinkering to make it better but what it gives us is a great challenge, particularly on approach shots.
Jon Rahm will be the talk of this week after last year’s dramatic end to his event. After building up a huge six shot lead through three rounds, when defending his title from 2020 nonetheless. he was informed he had tested positive for COVID and was forced to withdraw. So the Spaniard not only loves this venue, but has some unfinished business.
Rahm starts the tournament at +1000 and while it is short, it is a more than fair price. Two starts ago he got his first win of the year so his golf game is in good shape, and nobody has played this course as well as he has of late. He has shown through his career that when he likes a venue, he tends to do well there year after year so we can feel confident he will show up here once again.
⛳️ Memorial Tournament picks
Jon Rahm 11-1 (1.5u)
Collin Morikawa 20-1 (1.2u)
Jason Day 80-1 (.3u)Rahm 14th or better -110
It’s Rahm or Morikawa this week and you can’t convince me otherwise. still had to include J Day for #narrative. Back 2 back let’s get it pic.twitter.com/NN5oJSvd9a
— Cam (@LaFontaineCam) June 1, 2022
Collin Morikawa is a very interesting case this week. His form of late just has not been good enough with not a single top 25 in his past four starts. But he has an incredible history here. He lost in a playoff in this event last year and also has a win at Muirfield Village — not in the Memorial however. He is joint seventh favorite at +2200 and despite him not showing his best lately, it is hard to look past that generous price. At a course that favors ball strikers and great iron players it is hard not to be drawn to the American. It will take some faith that he can come here and find his best, but we have seen so many times over the years that a particular venue can inspire players and that could be the case here.
Patrick Cantlay is somebody that has to be looked at here. Two wins (one of those was last year where Rahm probably wins) and a fourth is a superb record but he was really poor at the PGA Championship last time out. +1600 is a good price considering his history here and he had played well heading into the last major, but he looked so bad there that he can maybe be avoided here.
In the past we have seen some big priced winners, but lately it has been dominated by favorites and that is likely to be the same again this week. But if there is somebody that can defy their odds it may be Matt Kuchar. He is 70/1 and while his past few starts here have not been great, going back he has a superb record here. He has played some good golf this year and while a win might be a stretch, although if you are looking for a longshot there may not be a better one, he can be backed in the top 10/20 markets at good value.
GOLF TIPS | Memorial Tournament
Muirfield – Ohio
Jon Rahm – $11.50
Patrick Cantlay $18.50
Cameron Smith $23
Tom Hoge $160Good luck Tagaloa!
— SENTrack (@SEN_track) June 2, 2022
The US Open is just two weeks away and for many of these players it will be their last chance to sharpen up ahead of that great test. Bryson DeChambeau is expected to make his long awaited return but will be looking ahead to the next major, rather than winning here despite his good record. Rory McIlroy has to be respected after some great form of late, but he does not have a good record around Nicklaus’ course so like DeChambeau, may be looking ahead to Brookline more than this week.
This tournament has given us some great moments over the years — many from Tiger Woods — and this week should be no different. It is such a tricky course with undulating greens and small targets that we can see some big scores run up quickly. It does give players some chances though and there will be some birdies. So no tournament is done until the very end.
