After watching Emiliano Grillo secure the second PGA TOUR victory of his career at the Charles Schwab Challenge, we travel to Muirfield Village Golf Club (par 72, 7,571 yards, bentgrass greens) in Dublin, Ohio for the Memorial Tournament. Also known as “Jack’s Place” — given it was designed by the great Jack Nicklaus — Muirfield Village has been the only course to host a Memorial Tournament since the event was added to the annual PGA TOUR schedule in 1976. At last year’s edition of the Memorial, Billy Horschel won by four strokes, finishing at -13.
Muirfield Village is a tree-lined par 72 that is home to some of the widest fairways of any PGA TOUR venue, which allows any length of player to contend at this track. While the fairways are easy to find at Muirfield Village, this course is one of the most challenging non-major venues on the PGA TOUR due to its small putting surfaces and that there is plenty of hazards to worry about, with water in play on 13 holes and 68 bunkers on site. With these greens difficult to stick at a high rate, not only do you need to be in compelling form with your irons to contend at Muirfield Village, you also need to be a strong player around the greens. For four years running, the golfer to win the Memorial has finished the event top-11 in both SG APP and SG ARG.
With Muirfield Village certainly being a tricky test of golf, avoiding the large numbers on your scorecard will also be essential if you want to win at this track. The cutline for the Memorial has been over par for six straight years, and the last five champions of this tournament have all finished top-five in bogey avoidance during their wins. As for what holes are the most crucial for success at Jack’s place, capitalizing on the birdie opportunities the four par fives present is a must at this difficult par 72. Of the last four Memorial victors, three finished the tournament top five in par five efficiency.
As one of the PGA TOUR’s designated events this season, the Memorial boasts a $20 million purse and is hosting a star-studded field, with 22 of the top 25 players teeing it up. This is a slightly shorter field than usual, with 120 golfers competing, and there will be a standard top-65 and ties cutline following the first two rounds.
Below, I dive into four of my favorite DraftKings bargain plays for the Memorial that all cost less than $7.5K.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $1M Pitch + Putt [$250K to 1st]
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Byeong Hun An ($7,400) – An has flashed great upside at Muirfield Village in the past, with four top-25 finishes at the par 72 — most notably a runner-up finish in 2018 — and returns to Dublin in excellent form this week. This season, the 31-year-old boasts a 17-for-21 record in terms of made cuts and ranks second in SG ARG. Furthermore, An is on the heels of back-to-back top-25 finishes, both of which he gained strokes in every major category — outside of on the greens.
If An can find some luck with his putter on these bentgrass greens at Jack’s place, which he is very familiar with, he is a legitimate threat to finish inside the top 10 this week.
Kyoung-Hoon Lee ($7,300) – Lee is an outstanding value at this cheap salary, which is a notable $1K decrease from last week. The strong all-around player has made eight cuts in a row and has carded four top-30 finishes during this run. Additionally, Lee ranks 11th in par-5 efficiency over his last 50 rounds, setting him up perfectly for Muirfield Village.
Lee has never missed a cut at the par 72 in three appearances and is a vastly underpriced for his chances of advancing through cut again this week.
Kevin Streelman ($6,700) – Streelman has been outstanding at the Memorial Tournament, making seven of his last eight cuts at the event, five of which have been top-20 finishes. The veteran now returns to Jack’s place fresh off a T8 at the Charles Scwhab Challenge last week. During this start that marked Streelman’s best finish of the season, the 44-year-old shot under par in three of his four rounds and caught fire with his flat stick at Colonial CC, finishing the event sixth in SGP.
Just like Muirfield Village, Colonial is home to bentgrass greens. If Streelman can remain hot with his putter this week, he has the potential to add another top-20 finish to his Memorial resume.
Brendon Todd ($6,700) – Todd is a terrific combination of strong course history and current form that needs to be attacked at this sub-$7K salary. The 37-year-old has recorded three top-25 finishes in five starts at the Memorial and has only missed one cut in his last seven starts coming into this week, with that outlier coming at the grueling Oak Hill CC for the PGA Championship.
Todd is one of the best short-game players on the PGA TOUR — he ranks fourth in SG ARG this season — and brings far better upside than his low price tag suggests.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $1M Pitch + Putt [$250K to 1st]
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is Hunta512) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.