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This article originally appeared on Lucky Trader: Slate Breakdown
Happy Memorial Week to all! Memorial Day, often seen as the unofficial start to the summer season, aligns with improving weather conditions across the country. It is during this time that the PGA TOUR typically heads north.
Customarily, this segment of the season commences with the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio. This tournament, already known for attracting a robust field, received an “elevated” status during the offseason, further ensuring its relevance in the annual PGA TOUR. Now, let’s dive deeper into the course details and discuss the golfers expected to excel this week.
The Tournament
The Memorial Tournament, hosted by Jack Nicklaus, distinguishes itself from other PGA TOUR competitions with distinctive features not found in typical competitions. From signature milkshakes to the course’s challenging nature, it doesn’t quite reach major championship level but demands a comparable level of talent to triumph at Muirfield Village.
For Reignmakers PGA TOUR participants, this tournament is recognized as a deluxe event, boasting a prize pool of $350,000 this week. Prizes are awarded across all tiers, from CORE to REIGNMAKER, with payouts of $3,000, $5,000, $10,000, $10,000, and $10,000, respectively.
Having introduced the tournament, let’s now explore Muirfield Village, the host venue for this week’s event.
The Course
Muirfield Village, a par 72 course spanning approximately 7,400 yards, is renowned for its wide, undulating fairways and complex greens that are difficult to hit. With one of the lowest percentages of greens hit in regulation across all PGA TOUR courses, golfers who can either increase their greens hit or showcase superior skills around the green are likely to excel this week.
Despite the presence of four par 5s on the course, winning scores typically do not exceed -15, with many past tournaments featuring single-digit winners.
The Golfers
This tournament is expected to feature some of the strongest fields in the coming years. In fact, it might be simpler to mention who isn’t attending than who is. Tony Finau is taking a break after playing many consecutive weeks, and Max Homa will be absent due to his sister’s wedding.
Apart from these two, the tournament will see the participation of the finest PGA TOUR golfers. This includes the world’s top two golfers, Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm, along with Rory McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay, a two-time champion of the Memorial Tournament.
Xander Schauffele, who has been performing excellently, will also aim to extend his run of good form this week. These five golfers currently rank as the top five in the world. However, it’s unlikely these five are the “optimal” players, so let’s identify some potential REIGNMAKER targets for this week’s lineups.
Three-Ball: 3 DraftKings Reignmakers PGA TOUR Targets
Find below a trio of options for this week’s tournament:
Shane Lowry
The skilled Irish golfer, Shane Lowry, hasn’t cracked the top 10 in almost four months. However, he had respectable performances in the last two major championships, finishing tied for 12th at the PGA Championship two weeks ago and tied for 16th at The Masters. Unfortunately, these results weren’t enough to push him into the top 70 of the FedEx standings. Currently ranked at No. 93, Lowry will need to significantly improve his season-end performance to qualify for the playoffs. With his ELITE tier prices hovering around $135.00 and an anticipated value of approximately $210.00, he offers one of the best values, particularly in the ELITE tier.
Russell Henley
Russell Henley, for unspecified reasons, hasn’t been playing frequently. Since THE PLAYERS Championship, he has participated in only four events over approximately the past three months. However, when he played and made it through to the weekend, which happened in three of the four events, he finished in the top 20. This includes a tie for fourth place at The Masters. Unlike Lowry, Henley holds the 30th spot in the FedEx Cup standings. Therefore, we can anticipate his participation in at least the first two playoff events, along with several upcoming tournaments.
Billy Horschel
By his own standards, Billy has had a disappointing year, failing to place within the top 25 throughout the current calendar year. However, due to a strong performance in the fall, he remains within striking distance of the playoffs, only a top 10 finish or two away. This suggests that he’ll likely increase his participation for the remainder of the season in an effort to make up lost ground, which should lead to improved results as the season progresses.
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