The Cheat Sheet provides DraftKings fantasy golf players with course info, player history and the most noteworthy trends of the week to help them with their roster selections.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $800K Summer Sand Trap [$200K to 1st]
The Field
Hosted by the Jack Nicklaus-designed Muirfield Village, the Memorial is now a signature field event that features an elite 73-player field. Given that it is one of three player-hosted tournaments on the PGA TOUR, the Memorial will also have a cut line with 50 players and ties making the weekend—along with any player within 10 shots of the leader after Round 2.
The field this week will feature nearly all of the current eligible players ranked inside the top 50 of the OWGR. That includes Scottie Scheffler and last year’s Memorial runner-up Collin Morikawa, who did win at Muirfield in 2020 at the Workday Championship. Rory McIlroy is the only top player not in attendance as he’ll be in Canada next week playing as his final prep before the US Open.
The course will be a big story this week as it has played very hard the last couple of seasons, with the winner getting in at just 7-under par in 2023 and 8-under par in 2024. In 2023, only one player managed to break 70 on Sunday (T3 finisher Scottie Scheffler).
The Course
Muirfield Village — Dublin, Ohio
Par 72, 7,569 yards, Greens: Bentgrass (some poa)
Muirfield Village is a true championship course. It was built in 1972 and named after Jack Nicklaus’ favorite Open Championship venue (Muirfield); it also shares some design similarities with Augusta National. Like Augusta, Muirfield Village is a par 72 and carries four par 5s. These holes still play as the easiest on the course, but have been lengthened somewhat over the years and are no longer the pushovers they once were. Many will play as three-shot holes now and will require either precision short irons or lengthy chips from deep rough. The par 3s at Muirfield remain some of the toughest on the PGA TOUR and challenge players with longer tee shots into awkwardly shaped and smaller greens.
Muirfield Village was played twice on the PGA TOUR (in back-to-back weeks) in 2020, but it has since undergone massive renovations, which include a complete reconstruction of the bentgrass greens. Length was added to the course, and it can now play close to 7,600 yards. In addition to the added length, trees were added to make some of the tee shots more challenging.
With the changes, the last few seasons have seen an added emphasis on around-the-green play. Two of the past four winners have gained over 4.0 strokes around the greens for the week. 2023 was a bit of an anomaly as eventual winner Viktor Hovland made up more strokes on the greens (+6.1 strokes putting) than he did around them, but still managed to be very solid off the tee, where he gained 3.6 strokes. In comparison, playoff loser Denny McCarthy lost strokes off the tee, but gained 3.2 strokes on approach, in addition to having one of the best putting weeks ever recorded on the PGA TOUR (+11.3 strokes putting for the week).
With seven par 4s measuring over 450 yards, there aren’t a ton of birdie chances available, making bogey avoidance another key stat to monitor. 2022 winner Billy Horschel led the field in this stat by a wide margin, while 2021 winner Patrick Cantlay was second in bogey avoidance in the year of his win.
Approach play is still the most vital stat to focus on this week, especially when looking for potential spike candidates down the salary range. The fairways at Muirfield still are somewhat easy to hit, but the course gets demonstrably tougher as you approach the flag, such that good around-the-green play and timely putting can make a huge difference due to the smaller greens and low GIR percentages. It’s a good week to emphasize recent form and look for some continuation from players who are striking it well and have some course history playing at Memorial or similar-styled venues.
2025 outlook: Thunderstorms can play a role in this event, but it doesn’t look like they will affect the event this season. There is a little rain in the forecast, which could soften the course a touch, but the wind and cooler weather may also counteract any advantages gained by less dry greens. Highs are only predicted to reach the low 70°F range the first three days of the event, and the wind is scheduled to pick up Thursday afternoon. Gusts of 10-15mph are expected in the PM wave for Day 1, while Friday looks windy all day with gusts over 20mph in the afternoon. Conditions do get better on the weekend, and Sunday could see light wind, but expect tougher scoring again. For DraftKings single-day lineups on Thursday (and first-round leader bets), looking at earlier starters looks like a must given the current forecast.
Last 5 winners
Scottie Scheffler (-8 over Collin Morikawa -7)
Viktor Hovland (-7 over Denny McCarthy playoff)
Bill Horschel (-13 over Aaron Wise -9)
Patrick Cantlay (-13 over Collin Morikawa playoff)
Jon Rahm (-9 over Ryan Palmer -6)
Winning Trends
- 15 of the last 16 winners had a T5 finish or better on the PGA TOUR in the year of their victory before winning at the Memorial.
- Course History: Nine of the past 10 winners of the Memorial had made the cut at Muirfield Village in their previous appearance at this event.
Winners Stats and Course Overview
2023 Winner: Scottie Scheffler (8-under par)
2024 lead-in form (T16-T2-T43-T59-T7)
SG: OTT—0.9
SG: APP—13.0
SG: TTG—12.8
SG: ATG—-1.1
SG: PUTT—0.9
- Cantlay was tied for second in bogey avoidance in his win from 2021, and Horschel led the field in bogey avoidance in 2022. Hovland finished tied for second in birdies or better.
- The most popular grouping of approach shots here over time has been from 175-200 yards, but 150-175 yards is also very popular. Two of the par 3s also fall in this shorter range.
- Muirfield Village now has seven par 4s that range between 450-500 yards, making par-4 efficiencies from 450-500 yards worth looking at.
- The course features wide fairways, so driving accuracy numbers are surprisingly higher than the PGA TOUR average, with cut-makers at Muirfield hitting around 68% of fairways.
- Greens are smaller than normal, so they’re difficult to hold. The average cut-maker at this event has hit 61% of GIR vs. 65% at other PGA TOUR stops. As mentioned above, this has enhanced the need for sharp around-the-green play.
- Three of the last four winner/runner-up combos had gained at least 5.0 strokes on their approaches (Scheffler +13.0/Morikawa +5.1 strokes in 2024)
- 2023 was more of a putting duel as Hovland and McCarthy both gained over 6.0 strokes on the greens. However, both men still gained over 2.5 strokes on approach for the week as well.
- Off the tee play still matters, but with easier fairways to hit and hard to hit greens, approach play and the ability to sink a lot of 5-15 feet putts is most critical.
Finding Values (DraftKings Sportsbook)
Odds to win are one factor to think about when picking players (but not the only thing, so be careful putting too much weight on them). This section is going to detail a few of the players who have the best fantasy value compared to their DraftKings Sportsbook odds of winning this week.
Denny McCarthy +4500 and $7,900
Comparables:
JJ Spaun +6000 and $7,500
Comparables:
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
HORSES FOR COURSES
1. Patrick Cantlay ($9,500; best finishes: win-2019 +2021, fourth-2018): Cantlay will be making his 10th career start at Muirfield Village this week. The 30-year-old is a two-time winner of this event and has now landed five top-10 finishes at this venue. Despite missing the cut here last season, he’s fourth in SG: Total stats at Muirfield over the last five seasons.
2. Scottie Scheffler ($13,300; best finishes: win-2024, T3-2023, 2021): Scheffler has finished T3 at this event twice and won it (last season) in his last three starts at Muirfield. As the best approach player in the game, this is genuinely the perfect setup for the American, and it’s a course we’ll likely see him win at multiple times over the next decade.
3. Si Woo Kim ($8,300; best finishes: T9-2021, T4-2023): Kim ranks second in strokes gained total stats at Muirfield Village over the last five seasons. He’s now finished top 20 at this event in each of the past five seasons and hasn’t missed the cut here over that span. Kim’s been playing better of late, and with his approach game looking great, he could challenge at one of his favorite venues on TOUR.
4. Rickie Fowler ($7,000; best finishes: T2-2017, T8-2018): Even when he’s struggled, Muirfield Village has always been a bit of a safe haven for Fowler, who finished T9 at this event in 2023, gaining over 7.5 strokes ball striking for the week. Fowler played well for three rounds last week at Colonial and has gained strokes on approach in each of his last two starts.
5. Jordan Spieth ($8,500; best finishes: T5-2023, T3-2015): Spieth has been up and down this season, but he’s got a great record at Muirfield. The American has finished top 20 in five of his last six appearances and recorded top 10s at this event in 2015, 2019, and 2023. He’s coming off somewhat of a poor effort at Colonial, which should make him a lower-owned target in DFS.
RECENT FORM
1. Scottie Scheffler ($13,300; T4-win-win): Scheffler followed up his win at Quail Hollow with a nice effort at Colonial that saw him rack up another top-five finish. He’s gained over 5.0 strokes on approach in four straight starts.
3. Xander Schauffele ($10,900; T28-T11-T18): Schauffele is slowly rounding into form. He’s finished T18 or better in four of his last five starts. If his approaches improve a little, he could contend this week.
4. Robert MacIntyre ($7,700; T6-T47): MacIntyre is coming off a great Charles Schwab, where he finished T6 and gained over 4.5 strokes putting and on approach. It will be his first time playing Muirfield in competition, but the Scotsman looks ready for a big summer.
5. Ben Griffin ($7,800; win-T8): Griffin won his first individual event last week in Fort Worth, holding on late Sunday for a one-stroke win. He gained with the putter (+6.5 strokes putting), and could be due for a little regression after two big finishes.
5. JJ Spaun ($7,500; T6-T37): Spaun showed up with another top 10 at Colonial last week. The American gained strokes across the board and landed his third top 10 finish since the start of March. He’s never finished better than T30 at Muirfield but seems likely to improve on that mark this week.
DRAFTKINGS DFS STRATEGY
Cash Games: Si Woo and Fitzpatrick, nice values
Regardless of whether you are looking to start core lineups with Scheffler ($13,300) or some sort of combo that involves a more balanced build, like Cantlay ($9,500)/Lowry ($8,700), there are some solid plays in the 8k range you can look to this week for either approach. Si Woo Kim ($8,300) has finished top 20 at this event in each of the last four seasons and is hitting his irons very well at the moment. While he fell back a little last week, he’s made five cuts in a row now and has top 10 finishes in two of his last five starts. Matthew Fitzpatrick ($8,000) is going through a similar resurgence, having made four straight cuts and is coming in off a T8 at the PGA Championship, where he gained 5.8 strokes on approach. Both men make for great targets in the 8k range this week. Further down, names like Robert MacIntyre ($7,700) and JJ Spaun ($7,500) both look like great value targets in the 7k range.
Tournaments: Bahtia could bounce back
Bhatia ($7,300) had a terrible final round at Colonial, dropping down to a tie for 22nd after starting the final round in the top five. Still, there were some positives to take for the week from the former Valero winner, who was coming off a missed cut at the PGA. He gained over 5.0 strokes ball-striking and gained with the putter for the third event in a row. As a lower-owned GPP play, he makes sense given that he also had a solid T22 finish at this event last season, despite losing strokes on the greens. I like Adam Scott (see below) this week in the same range, and also like South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout ($6,900), who has been striking his irons very well the last two weeks. Bezuidenhout is coming off a T16 last week and finished T4 at this venue last season. Some other names to consider further down include Ryan Gerard ($6,700) and Joe Highsmith ($6,100).
MY PICK: Tony Finau ($8,300)
Finau has looked close to putting together some solid weekend rounds to me in his last couple of starts, and could be on the verge of a big week at Muirfield. The American has finished Top 10 at this week’s venue in two of his past three starts at the Memorial and had a really good PGA Championship going until he imploded on his final two holes and dropped down to T19.
Still, he gained 5.2 strokes on approach at Quail Hollow two weeks ago, his best mark of the season in that category, and also had a couple of solid rounds at the Truist on his way to a T15 finish. He’s typically handled these longer courses well over his career, posting T2 finishes at Riviera (x2) and Torrey Pines.
For DFS Purposes, he makes sense to target in either balanced builds as a core play or to use as a second-man if you’re starting lineups with Scheffler, and looking to make more of a stars and scrubs build. For betting, his outright number of +5000 looks more than playable given his course history and the solid outing he had at Quail Hollow two weeks ago.
MY SLEEPER: Adam Scott ($7,200)
This venue has been a good one for veterans who can still bring elite ball-striking to the table, specifically with their approaches. Billy Horschel won here in 2022, and, for Adam Scott, this has been a venue he’s challenged at in recent years as well. The Aussie was T9 here in 2023 and T2 just as recently as 2019, when he lost out to a blazing final round 64 by Patrick Cantlay.
While Scott is still getting up there in age, he’s also shown that he’s still capable of patches of very elite play. He finished T2 and T4 at the last two playoff events in 2024 and was also T2 at the Scottish Open last July. While he’s struggled to get things going in 2025, he’s gained over 2.5 strokes off the tee in each of his last two starts and over 3.0 strokes putting in two of his last three starts as well.
He’ll need to hit his irons better to contend, but given the direction of his game and experience at this venue, he seems like a player worth gambling on at $7,200 in big GPPs, where he’s not likely to be too heavily owned. For betting, he also seems like a great name to ladder for some placement wagers at +210 (top 20) and +500 (top 10) on the DraftKings Sportsbook.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $800K Summer Sand Trap [$200K to 1st]
