2020 Memorial Tournament Preview, Odds, Predictions

In an odd scheduling twist, this week’s PGA Tournament, The memorial, will take place at the same venue as last week’s tournament. It is the first time in PGA Tour history that it has happened. This should be a very exciting event to watch as there are some big names in it and The Memorial also marks the return of Tiger Woods, who is making his first PGA Tour appearance since the season restarted. I will have more on this week’s event in a bit.

Last week, the Workday Charity Open took place here and it was an exciting tournament with Collin Morikawa besting Justin Thomas in a playoff. Could Morikawa be turning into the next Tiger Woods? He has now played 24 tournaments in his brief career and he has won two of them while making the cut in 23 of the 24 starts. That is not a bad way to start a career. Can Morikawa make it two in a row here at Muirfield? We shall see.

The Muirfield Village Golf Club is a long course that measures 7392 yards but it is not necessarily for the big hitters. Many of the holes are not just straight shots and 11 of them will have watcher come into play. This course will require some precision off the tee. Let’s also note that some of the players will have an advantage after playing last week right here Muirfield. The pin positions will not be the same, but overall, it is still the same course. Now let’s go over several players to watch in this tournament.

Players To Watch

In this part, I will look at some players to keep an eye on in this event. These are not ones that I will pick to win it but they could be some that are there near the end (or not) or could be used in some props.

Let’s start with an obvious one… Tiger Woods, who is making his first official start since the PGA Tour restarted. Woods comes in ranked 14th in the world rankings but just 41st in the FedEx Cup standings. He has 82 career titles on tour overall, which puts him tied with Sam Snead for the most career tour victories. This is a course that Tiger likes to play and he has won The Memorial five times in his career, including three in a row from 1999-2001. He also won in 2009 and 2012. Overall, Tiger has played this event 17 times in his career and he has nine top-10 finishes and 13 top-25s while making the cut all 17 times. This is a course that he owns and should have a good showing this weekend.

Rory McIlroy is always a threat as he is the top-ranked golfer in the world, while also posting a ranking of number 5 in the FedEx Cup standings. Having said all that, it has not been a great restart for McIlroy as he has placed 32nd, 41st and 11th in his three starts so far, This is after Rory finished 5th or better in his first nine starts of the season. He has eight starts in the Memorial and while he has four top 10 finishes in those starts, none have been in the top three. He missed the cut here last year but finished 8th in 2018 and 4th in 2017. Rory is 1st in tee-to-green, 4th off the tee, 10th around the green and 45th in greens in regulation but he is also 163rd in driving accuracy and 119th in putting. As I said, Rory is always dangerous but I do not see him winning this event.

Collin Morikawa could have a let down this week but he is still very dangerous. After missing the first cut of his career, Morikawa bounced back with a win last week, right here at Muirfield. He is 8th in tee-to-green and 45th in driving accuracy, but also 150th in putting. Despite having some solid numbers he does have just nine top 25 finishes and just five top 10 finishes in 15 events this year. Look for a solid showing but not enough for a win.

Victor Hovland has played all five events since the restart and he has finished in the top 25 in all five of those. He comes in with some momentum after finishing 3rd here last week. He is 9th in tee-to-green, 5th off the tee, and 35th in driving accuracy but also 151st in putting and 172nd in sand save percentage. Hovland has been very consistent, but those last two numbers have scared me away from making him someone I will look to be a winner in this event.

Let’s take a gander at one more and that will be Xander Schauffele, who some do feel he will win the Memorial. He fished 14th here last week at the Workday Charity open and finished 14th here at the Memorial last year. He also missed the cut in 2018. Still, Schauffele is always dangerous and he has three top 20 finishes in his last four starts, plus he is ranked 13th in tee-to-green, 14th off the tee, 4th in greens in regulation and 48th in putting. Some solid numbers, but we also note that Xander is 111th in driving accuracy. He should have a good tournament but just not enough to win it.

My Three Winners

I have been making my golf selections each week here and I try and add new elements to give you all the most plays I can while also giving the most info that I can. Starting this week, I will give three players that I have tom win the tournament outright, followed by four or five props. That should give you plenty of chances to make some nice coin. LOL.

Patrick Cantlay (+1400) is the defending champ at The Memorial and he has been playing well of late. Last week, he finished 7th on this course, and prior to that, it was an 11th place finish at the Travelers Championship. Cantlay has been very consistent this year with three top -10s in seven events and he hasn’t finished worse than 17th in each of his last six starts. This is a course that rewards the complete golfer and Patrick is ranked 63rd in driving accuracy, 58th in driving distance, 11th in greens in regulation, 37th in sand save percentage, 46th in putting, 7th in tee-to-green, 8th in approach to the green and 34th off the tee. Those are nice numbers overall and he has some momentum after shooting a 64 in the final round last week. Patrick Cantlay is someone who I will be putting money on this week.

Justin Thomas (+1000) is the 2nd favorite in this tournament and he has a great shot of winning the Memorial. Last week, on this course, Thomas was in it until the end before finally losing to Collin Morikawa in a playoff. One thing that scares me a bit here is that in 6 tries at the Memorial, Thomas has two top 10 finishes, three missed cuts, and a 37th finish. Still, he is coming off an impressive showing on this course just a week ago and he has three top 10 finishes in four events since the restart. Justin is playing very well at the moment and he is 2nd on tour in tee-to-green, 19th off the tee, 2nd in approach to the green, 15th in greens in regulation, 79th in putting and 4th in sand save percentage. Those numbers showed why he had a great showing last week. This week, I feel he can finish what he missed out on a week ago.

Back in 2018, Bryson DeChambeau had three wins and nine top 10 finishes in 26 starts, with one of his wins coming right here at the Memorial. I feel that he is better than that version of Bryson DeChambeau. He has eight top 10 finishes in just 11 starts so far this year and is off his first win of the season, which came two weeks ago at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. DeChambeau has been on a roll since the restart, with four top 8 finishes in four events. That is consistency and a reason why I will be putting some money on him to win the memorial this week. Another reason is his stats. Bryson comes in ranked 1st on tour off the tee, 6th in tee-to-green, 36th in approach to the green, 12th in putting, 5th in greens in regulation and 6th in sand save percentage. He is 110th in driving accuracy but still, his overall numbers are very good and Bryson has finished 8th or better in his last seven starts this year overall. Definitely, put some money on Bryson (+1000) this week.

Props & Long Shot

Long Shot - Adam Hadwin +8000 - Adam has not had great success on this course and he finished 35th here last week but still, he could be a nice play at this price. Two weeks ago, he finished 4th in the Rocket Mortgage Classic and his stats suggest that he could be a live play this week. Hadwin comes in ranked 34th in tee-to-green, 29th in approach to the green, 20th in putting, 27th in driving accuracy, 17th in greens in regulation and 1st in sand save percentage. Also, playing here last week should give him extra info to adjust his game for this week’s event. I say to take Adam Hadwin as a long shot in this one.

Tournament Matchup - Bryson DeChambeau -1.5 (145) strokes over Tiger Woods.

Tournament Matchup - Patrick Cantlay +109 over Rory McIlroy

Top 5 Finish - Patrick Cantlay +350

Top 10 Finish - Xander Schauffele +275

Tiger Woods Prop - Play Under 336.5 yards For His longest Drive Of the Tournament (-130)

All Stats Taken From PGATour.com

Odds are Courtesy of Betonline.ag

Also Check Out David Shields' Predictions For The Memorial