The Memorial Tournament tees off this week at Muirfield Village Golf Club.
This is a look at the best first-round leader bets to make for the event on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Memorial Tournament: First Round Leader Picks
The Memorial Tournament is being played at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. The Memorial Tournament is always one of the best events on the PGA Tour calendar, hosted by the great Jack Nicklaus. Muirfield Village Golf Club is a par 71 golf course and ranges 7,571 yards. The greens are bentgrass, and between the quickness of the greens and the thick rough, it can be tough. There will be 72 players in the field, with the top 50 and ties making the cut after Friday’s round. This is the seventh Signature Event of the year, meaning it will be a loaded field. Scottie Scheffler is the favorite just two weeks after his major win at the PGA Championship. However, Masters winner Rory McIlroy will not be in the field this week. Outside of McIlroy, most of the world’s top players will be participating, including Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas.
Viktor Hovland FRL (+3000)
Viktor Hovland is still trying to find the consistent form that he had in 2023 and parts of 2024. Hovland seemingly lost his game, missing three straight cuts earlier this season. However, in the week after missing that third straight cut, he inexplicably bounced back and won the Valspar Championship. Since that win, he has been reasonably competitive, finishing T21 at The Masters, T13 at the RBC Heritage and T28 at the PGA Championship. While those aren’t catching any headlines, they show that Hovland is at least finding a competitive level of consistency compared to earlier this season. This could be the perfect tournament for Hovland to reach his peak again. Hovland won the Memorial in 2023 and had a strong T15 finish in 2024. He has good memories of this course and is capable of going very low to lead after the first round.
Denny McCarthy FRL (+4000)
Denny McCarthy is another player finding his form in recent weeks. McCarthy played really solid golf at the PGA Championship to finish T8, his second career top ten finish at a major. McCarthy doesn’t have the raw talent of some players to be winning multiple times in a season, but he is one of the most consistent players on the PGA Tour. In 13 starts this season, he has seven finishes inside the top 25. McCarthy has also made the cut in all 13 of his starts this season. That level of consistency means that McCarthy is always worth a bet to lead after the first round at a price as high as +4000, especially at the Memorial, where McCarthy has been great in the past. He was the runner-up at Muirfield in 2023 and finished T5 in 2022. McCarthy is sixth in strokes gained putting this season and if the putter can get hot on these tough greens, he could be at the top of the leaderboard after Thursday’s round.
