Free Premium! PGA DFS Core Plays: The Memorial Tournament

Article Image

Top-ranked DFS player, Notorious, breaks down his favorite PGA DFS picks at various salary ranges for this week’s tournament. Who should you be building around? Find out below.

After a solid few weeks, I came crashing back down to earth last week at the Charles Schwab Challenge. I ended up with way too much exposure to Jordan Spieth and not nearly enough exposure to Emiliano Grillo. If we are going to talk up the good weeks, we have to take the losses in stride after the bad weeks. And make no mistake about it, Colonial Country Club was tougher on my bankroll than it was on the golfers in the field. I didn’t cash a single golf bet and the DFS results left much to be desired. These weeks are going to happen and they aren’t fun to talk about, but it’s important to realize that nobody has a perfect track record when it comes to PGA DFS. This is a volatile game and we have to embrace the variance that we see on a week-to-week basis.

We now turn our attention to the last designated event before the U.S. Open. We have the Canadian Open this week and then the year’s third major the week after that. While there is a lot to look forward to, the event in front of us is one of my favorites. The Memorial Tournament is held at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. This is a Par 72 that now measures over 7,500 yards. Jack Nicklaus has designed many courses, but this one is his pride and joy. He loves to tinker with it in hopes that it will continue to provide a tough test for even the best golfers in the world. We’ve seen the course lengthened, we’ve seen some holes changed slightly, and we’ve seen entirely new greens put into place.

While the fairways here are quite wide (33 yards on average) and while the course is long, this is far from a bomber’s paradise. In fact, this course has the biggest missed fairway penalty of any on the PGA Tour. The rough is thick and lush and water is in play on seven of the tee shots. The fairways are typically firm and fast, which helps negate the distance angle a bit. While being long off the tee helps on all courses, golfers will need to keep it in the fairway in order to attack these pins. I will be looking at total driving more than any other off the tee metric this week. I should also note that these par fives are extremely long and many will play as three-shot holes for a large portion of the field.

The greens at Muirfield are small (5,000 square feet on average) and feature many undulations. This places an emphasis on approach play because if you don’t hit the right tier of the green, the undulations will funnel the ball away from the hole. After seeing bentgrass greens only once or twice all season, it’s funny that we’ve had three straight events with greens that are similar in size and feature the same grass. The greens here aren’t overly fast and are some of the purest on the PGA Tour. Perhaps that is why we see such a high percentage of putts made within 10 feet. With so many putts made and with the course being so demanding tee to green, it’s no surprise that bad putters have fared well at this event over the years.

Birdies can be made if you hit the ball well, but big numbers are always lurking at Muirfield Village. Golfers will need to be patient and know when to take their medicine. The forecast looks fairly benign, so we should have some good scoring conditions. Even with that said, I’m only expecting one or two golfers to reach double-digit under par this week. I’m focusing on total driving, strokes gained approach, and strokes gained around the green. The better a golfer is tee to green, the better of a fit they are for this place.

PGA DFS Picks: DraftKings & FanDuel Core Plays for The Memorial Tournament

Field Breakdown Video & Model Download Link for The Memorial Tournament

Field Size:

Cut Rule:

Weather Forecasts

Golf Course

Course Notes

What to Look For

Core Plays

Patrick Cantlay

DK: $10,500 — FD: $11,800

Article Image

Total Driving — 1
SG: APP — 11
Bogey Avoidance — 7
SG: ATG — 30
SG: Putting (Bent) — 1
Noto’s Rating — 95.7

I’ve gone back and forth between Cantlay and Scheffler all week. There’s very little separating the two for me, so I ended up siding with Cantlay because he’s cheaper in DFS and he has better odds in the outright market. While Scheffler is better on approach and around the green, Cantlay is first on tour in total driving this season and he’s a much better putter. In fact, he’s the best putter in this field over the last 36 rounds. He has taken a liking to Muirfield Village, racking up two wins and two other top five finishes here over the last five years. You can say that one of his wins was gifted to him when Rahm had to withdraw after the third round in 2021, but it counts nonetheless. Cantlay has been trending in the right direction for quite some time now, posting seven straight finishes of T21 or better.

Si Woo Kim

DK: $8,000 — FD: $9,600

Article Image

Total Driving — 7
SG: APP — 19
Bogey Avoidance — 27
SG: ATG — 25
SG: Putting (Bent) — 84
Noto’s Rating — 73.3

Kim is one of a handful of golfers that seems to have his favorite stops on the PGA Tour. He’s very consistent when it comes to playing well on the same courses each year. Muirfield Village seems to be one of his favorites, as he’s a perfect 6-for-6 here with three straight top 20 finishes. He’s not long off the tee, but he’s extremely accurate. His irons have been solid in the long run and he has gained 9.2 strokes on approach in his last four starts. The form is good, the history is good, the course fit is good, and the price is good. That sounds like a lot of good to me.

Rickie Fowler

DK: $8,500 — FD: $10,000

Article Image

Total Driving — 12
SG: APP — 34
Bogey Avoidance — 22
SG: ATG — 34
SG: Putting (Bent) — 40
Noto’s Rating — 77.0

Fowler is hoping to join Rose and Day as veterans that have bounced back from poor seasons and have won on tour this year. His game is certainly firing on all cylinders. The approach play has been the real highlight, but he’s been good around the green and has been consistently making putts. The only cut that he missed this year was at the PGA Championship where he bogeyed his final hole and missed the cut on the number. Even with that, he’s finished in the top 20 in eight of his last 10 starts. My favorite note on Fowler is that he’s finished in the top 15 here in three of the last five years when he was in much worse form.

Conviction Plays

Scottie Scheffler

DK: $11,300 — FD: $12,100

Article Image

Total Driving — 2
SG: APP — 1
Bogey Avoidance — 1
SG: ATG — 7
SG: Putting (Bent) — 67
Noto’s Rating — 96.6

Scheffler has the highest ceiling of any golfer in the field (six wins in the last 15 months) and he has the highest floor of any golfer in the field (15 straight top 12 finishes). If you like golfers that are always in contention and never seem to have bad weeks, you should probably think about picking Scheffler this week. I’ll likely have just as much Scheffler as Cantlay this week, but gave the edge to the latter due to the discounted price point. My favorite Scheffler stat is that he is averaging 0.80 more strokes gained tee to green per round than any other golfer on tour. He is finishing in the top five of events while losing four or five strokes putting. If he putts to field average this week, he’ll have a good chance to win.

Adam Scott

DK: $8,000 — FD: $9,700

Article Image

Total Driving — 52
SG: APP — 71
Bogey Avoidance — 36
SG: ATG — 55
SG: Putting (Bent) — 35
Noto’s Rating — 72.4

Scott isn’t exactly flying under the radar this week, but I wanted to make sure to include him in my article. For the last couple of years, his short game has carried him. He’ll have good weeks with the driver thanks to his distance, but his around the green and putting have really helped hide some bad iron play. And it has been strange because when we think of Scott’s career, we think of him as one of the best ball strikers out there. Luckily, the irons are back. He has gained 8.8 strokes on approach in his last three starts. For reference, that’s his best three-start stretch since October of 2021. He has a good track record here and tends to play well on these classical courses.

Keegan Bradley

DK: $7,800 — FD: $9,500

Article Image

Total Driving — 26
SG: APP — 48
Bogey Avoidance — 31
SG: ATG — 70
SG: Putting (Bent) — 11
Noto’s Rating — 74.9

Bradley has been one of the more consistent players on tour over the last few years, but that wasn’t the case to start the season. He was missing a lot of cuts and he was posting a lot of top 10s. Recently, he has gotten back to that consistency. In terms of his long-term skill set, he’s a good total driver of the ball and he’s very good on approach. Over the last 12-to-18 months, he has actually turned into a decent putter. If you just look at his bentgrass splits, he’s 11th in this field in strokes gained putting, which might surprise a lot of people. He has mixed course history, but I like the fit and he does have two top 10s here in his career.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout

DK: $7,200 — FD: $8,600

Article Image

Total Driving — 93
SG: APP — 65
Bogey Avoidance — 58
SG: ATG — 49
SG: Putting (Bent) — 4
Noto’s Rating — 61.4

I typically don’t like to target C-Bez on longer courses, but again, accuracy is more important than distance this week. While his long-term approach numbers are nothing to write home about, he has quietly gained over 20 strokes on approach over his last five starts. He has always been solid around the green and he’s one of the best putters in the field. He’s played here twice and has made the cut both times. I like the floor that he offers at this price point.

Brendon Todd

DK: $6,700 — FD: $8,400

Article Image

Total Driving — 72
SG: APP — 75
Bogey Avoidance — 39
SG: ATG — 5
SG: Putting (Bent) — 5
Noto’s Rating — 58.4

“Noto, are you aware that this course is over 7,500 yards?” To answer the question everyone will be asking me, yes. Yes, I am. I know Todd is one of the shortest hitters on the PGA Tour, but he’s also one of the most accurate. I wouldn’t call him a good iron player, but he has quietly gained strokes on approach in five of his last seven starts. When it comes to the short game, there are few that chip and putt better than Todd. The par fives are going to play as three-shot holes for a large portion of the field, so I’m not sure his lack of distance is really going to hurt as long as he’s hitting fairways. In five appearances here, he’s made four cuts and has posted three top 25s.

PGA Betting Card

To compare odds across sportsbooks, check out the ScoresAndOdds golf page.

Article Image

Last week: -8 units

Season total: +8.6 units

This week: 7.5 units in play

No winners from last week, but it’s still been a great month for the golf bets:

Charles Schwab Challenge

The Memorial Tournament

Placement Parlays

Note: When it comes to units, betting on golf is a bit different than betting on other sports. For instance, what I bet on an outright in golf is smaller than what I would bet on an NBA or MLB game. However, to keep it simple for tracking purposes, each golf bet posted will be for one unit unless stated otherwise.

Image Credit: Getty Images
Meet the Experts Content Posting Times

About the Author

Notorious
Derek Farnsworth (Notorious)

Derek Farnsworth (aka Notorious) is a lead RotoGrinders Expert and one of the most recognizable names and faces in all of DFS. Before joining the RotoGrinders team, Derek received a Master’s Degree from the University of Utah. When he’s not busy providing content, he’s dominating the DFS industry as evidenced by his consistent top rankings in several sports and multiple Live Final appearances. Noto provides expert NBA, NFL, MLB, and PGA analysis for RotoGrinders Premium members on a daily basis and has also been nominated for five different Fantasy Sports Writer’s Association (FSWA) awards. Follow Noto on Twitter – @RG_Notorious