The Memorial

Corey Conners (30-1)

Top 10 (ties included):

Corey Conners (+220)

Top 20 (ties included):

Sungjae Im (+130)

Ludvig Aberg (24-1)

The pga tour will head to Dublin, OH this week for one of the best events of the year in the memorial at Muirfield Village. Muirfield provides a true test of golf every year as the winner of this tournament typically struggles to break 10 under par, particularly after the restoration that took place 4 years ago which really beefed up this golf course. This makes sense when you think about the length of this golf course, the very thick and penile rough, and lightning fast geen complexes. Muirfield is a long par 72 measuring out at 7,569 yards.  While this is a very long golf course, it is not all about length off the tee with one of the highest missed fairway penalties on the pga tour with brutally thick rough and water hazards throughout. Accuracy specialist can absolutely separate on this golf course as long as the irons cooperate. This is a really fun betting board and there are quite a few players in this field that I think can compete.

Off the tee play as been one of the most difficult areas to gain strokes since the restoration here. While these fairways are fairly generous in terms of width, missing them can be a death sentence with extremely thick rough, well-placed fairway bunkers, and some holes with water danger. For this reason I think it’s much more important to be accurate off the tee rather than long, although being long and straight is the ultimate way to separate here. Players that can keep the ball in the fairway won’t have to deal with the nasty rough, but will also have an easier time stopping approach shots into these extremely firm, small green complexes. I think to compete at this event you have to stay out of the rough so I will be actively avoiding players that get wild off the tee, distance from edge of fairway is a great stat to look at for this.

This is also one of the hardest courses on the pga tour to gain strokes on approach. Most approaches will come from 150 yards plus, with a lot of shots coming from over 200 yards. On approach you will have to contend with some very firm greens which makes these greens very difficult to hold approach shots on, along with green side water hazards. Long irons and very small, firm greens will always result in a low greens in regulation rate. These greens also have undulations that will require players to hit the correct quadrants of these greens, increasing difficulty even further. The most elite long iron players will have a leg up on this golf course and I’ll be specifically focusing on players with long term success from 200+ yards.

Around the green play is extremely important on this golf course, I mentioned how hard it is to hit some of these greens. This plays in to elite scramblers hands given the pure volume of short game shots and the difficulty of some of these shots out of thick rough into lightning fast, undulating greens. Stroked gained ARG has actually been a huge chunk of the strokes gained pie at this event which makes alot of sense. I think lesser around the green players can find success by hitting more greens than other players, but being a great around the green player is truly an edge at this venue. I will certainly be dialing in on quality short game players, particularly guys that have had success on these golf courses with thick green side rough. In terms of putting, this is a golf course where I think lesser putters can do well as players don’t have to make as many birdie putts to have success. I’ll be largely ignoring putting stats this week in exchange for a heavy emphasis on tee-to-green play on one of the most challenging tee-to-green tests that we see on the pga tour. 

Continued…

I’ll also be looking at a couple comparative courses in bay hill, quail hollow, and Torrey pines which all require a similar skill set. To wrap this up I want players who can keep the ball in the fairway off the tee, good long-term long iron players specifically from 200+ yards, and elite around the green players. I also prefer players that have had some success at Muirfield village and the comp courses that I mentioned as these venues require a pretty specific skill set. Should be a fun week to watch as I always enjoy watching these players in difficult scoring conditions. Will post more plays throughout the week 

Lol. Your boy detry made me some money at the phoenix open and has proceeded to do absolutely nothing since. Not sure whats going on with him, good luck this week man

Hideki Matsuyama (35-1)

Top 10 (ties included):

Tommy Fleetwood (+200)

Hideki Matsuyama (+250)

@Rollz

Thoughts on Cameron young boss 

@Rollz

 Given your write-up, I don't know how you don't go all-in on Matsuyama.

He is a GIR god.... but, if he misses

2024- #1 player on tour scrambling

2025- #2 player on tour scrambling.

only thing is fairways... 130th place last year and 132nd place this year.

curious to see if Matsuyama not hitting fairways will hold him back... or if he has a good week hitting fairways.

will see what happens day 1.

you know who could win this?

Thompson (+9000)

He is good around the green and hitting fairways.

Watch out.