It’s the penultimate event on the PGA Tour before the next major on the golfing calendar at Torrey Pines for the US Open. This week it’s The Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club, Dublin, Ohio.
The 120 field will have a star studded line up and will be competing on this par 72, Jack Nicklaus designed course for the $9.3M prize money with the winner receiving $1.67M.
Jon Rahm will return to defend the title he won last year when beating Ryan Palmer with three shots to spare. That could have been much more if the Spaniard never carded a disappointing final round 75 but still won comfortably.
The weather is forecast for rain on Thursday's opening round with conditions set to improve for the weekend.
The Memorial Tournament will be screened on Sky Sports Golf with live coverage starting at 12.15 GMT on Thursday.
The key to any success this week at Muirfield Village will be accuracy with greens in regulation and a hot putter pivotal.
Corey Conners
For my main selection this week I’m going to single out Corey Conners 33/1 EW Betfair.
The consistent 29yrs old Canadian will definitely be suited to this track especially with his superb approach play into the greens. He has already posted seven Top 10 finishes this year with the most notable being T8th at The Masters in April.
His best finish this year was T4th at the RBC Heritage and another worth a mention was T17th at the PGA Championship less than a fortnight ago.
Conners always seems to find a groove at the bigger tournaments and I feel this week will be no different. Although he only has one PGA Tour victory to his name when winning the Valero Texas Open in 2019, I still think there is plenty more to come from the Canadian.
He is currently ranked 7th in strokes gained tee to green and also 7th greens in regulation on the PGA Tour. It’s those figures that caught my eye, hence the reason why I’ve singled out Corey Conners as my main selection this week for the Memorial Tournament.
Collin Morikawa
For my next pick I’m going to advise Collin Morikawa 16/1 EW Bet365.
At only 24 yrs old the young classy American has already bagged a major when winning the PGA Championship last year.
Morikawa is currently ranked 6th in the world and won the Workday Charity Open when it was held at Muirfield Village last year so knows what it takes to win around this track.
This talented golfer has already finished the two majors this year inside the Top 20, 8th at the PGA Championship and 18th at The Masters.
He has also won a title this year when winning the WGC Workday Championship at The Concession so comes to Muirfield Village this week with some decent form.
In fact since The Masters at Augusta in April, Morikawa has had two Top 10 finishes and a Top 20 finish in the three events he has played. Add to that, he is ranked the best tee to green player on the PGA Tour this year then you could be looking at a winning formula from a talented golfer.
Charley Hoffman
For my next suggestion I’m going to look for some good old value especially with most firms offering seven places this week. For that reason I’m going to advise Charley Hoffman 50/1 EW Bet365.
At 44 yrs old the American has risen up the world rankings in dramatic fashion this year. He has risen up no less than 80 places, currently ranked 60th in the world.
This has been a result of his consistent play and finishes and being at the top end on leaderboards. Last week at the Charles Schwab Challenge, Hoffman finished T3rd, the week before that at the PGA Championship, he was a very respectable T17th.
He finished T18th at both the Valspar Championship and the RBC Heritage in his previous two tournaments prior to Kiawah Island and before that he was runner up at the Valero Texas Open, these are his last five tournaments.
It’s safe to say that Hoffman comes here in good shape and certainly looks overpriced at 50/1 especially with the seven places on offer with most firms.
He has been hot with his putter recently so if he can produce the tee to green figures required around Muirfield Village then I’d say he has to surely be there or thereabouts, challenging on the back nine on Sunday evening.
Collin Morikawa v Bryson De Chambeau
For my final selection I’m going for Collin Morikawa 10/11 Nap to get the better of Bryson De Chambeau in the 72 hole match bet. Is this course suited to Bryson’s long game? Mmmmm, maybe not.
