PGA First Look: The Memorial

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2016-06-02 13:23:05

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The PGA First Look is complete with sortable odds, salaries, Official World Golf Rankings, and course history.

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Jordan Spieth is back. The buzz around his demise was greatly exaggerated. He played well in all four rounds last week at Colonial to pick up his first PGA Tour win in his home state of Texas. His back nine on Sunday was truly remarkable, as he was locked in around the greens, knocking in long putt after long putt. After failing to record a birdie on the front nine, he put together a five-under back nine to win by three strokes.

It’s always great to see when the best golfers in the world are at the top of their game, especially when it happens at the same time. Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, and Rory McIlroy are all coming off of a win and all three are in this week’s field.

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The PGA Tour head to Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio for The Memorial Tournament. This is Jack Nicklaus’s tournament and one that is designed to produce a winner that is truly deserving. Muirfield Village is a Par 72 that measures just under 7,400 yards. It tests every aspect of a golfer’s game and because of that, we haven’t seen a specific type of golfer that has fared well here. Tiger Woods won here five times, but in his prime he did everything well. Rather than looking for a bomber or for accuracy off the tee, we are looking for a complete golfer this week.

This course features a lot of water – in play on ten of the 18 holes, and a lot of bunkers. It has thick rough that basically mirrors that of a U.S. Open. The greens are fairly small and they are fast, measuring 13 on the stimpmeter. The best part about this event is that it brings the best golfers in the world. The top three golfers in the world are playing this week, and 16 of the top 25 are in field. One important note on the field is that this is an invitational with only 120 golfers in the field. It could be another good week to employ the stars and scrubs approach in both cash games and tournaments.

As for the type of golfer that we are looking for this week, ideally we want one that can gain strokes on the field both tee to green and with the flatstick. Rather than driving distance or accuracy, I am looking at total driving this week. The fairways are easy to hit, but you don’t want to be wild off the tee. I am also using the two new statistics that the PGA Tour has put out – strokes gained around the green and strokes gained on approaches. And finally, with the DraftKings’ scoring set up the way that it is, birdie or better percentage is always something to look at.

Key Statistics

1) Strokes Gained Tee to Green
2) Strokes Gained Around the Green
3) Total Driving
4) Birdie or Better Percentage
5) Strokes Gained Approaches

Fantasy Notes

Cut Rule: Top 70 and ties will move on to play the final two rounds. With a limited field of 120 invitees, that means at least 58% of the field will make the cut this week.

Recent Winners of this Event: David Lingmerth (2015), Hideki Matsuyama (2014), Matt Kuchar (2013), Tiger Woods (2012), Steve Stricker (2011)

Salaries, Odds, and Course History (2011-2015)

Golfer	Salary	S-Rank	Odds	O-Rank	+ / –	OWGR	Cuts	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011
Jason Day	$12,400	1	6	1	0	1	4/7	72	37	41	87	500
Jordan Spieth	$12,300	2	7	3	-1	2	3/3	3	19	63	500	500
Rory McIlroy	$12,200	3	7	2	1	3	4/5	500	15	57	87	5
Hideki Matsuyama	$10,600	4	16	4	0	15	2/2	5	1	500	500	500
Rickie Fowler	$10,300	5	22	7	-2	5	4/6	72	76	37	52	22
Dustin Johnson	$10,100	6	19	5	1	8	7/8	13	46	78	19	4
Matt Kuchar	$9,900	7	21	6	1	18	7/7	26	15	1	500	2
Bubba Watson	$9,600	8	27	8	0	4	5/7	500	3	29	76	42
Patrick Reed	$9,400	9	39	9	0	12	1/1	26	500	500	500	500
Phil Mickelson	$9,100	10	46	10	0	19	5/5	65	49	500	500	13
Paul Casey	$8,800	11	52	13	-2	26	3/3	500	13	500	500	500
Kevin Kisner	$8,600	12	65	19	-7	24	2/2	8	46	500	500	500
Jason Dufner	$8,400	13	50	12	1	59	2/4	24	19	500	500	500
Chris Kirk	$8,300	14	64	17	-3	56	3/5	36	4	74	25	85
Justin Thomas	$8,200	15	67	20	-5	30	1/2	81	37	500	500	500
Kevin Na	$8,100	16	69	21	-5	32	4/5	13	2	500	92	500
Charl Schwartzel	$8,000	17	56	14	3	23	5/6	90	8	8	19	22
Gary Woodland	$8,000	17	71	23	-6	78	3/5	81	57	16	110	6
Marc Leishman	$7,900	19	70	22	-3	39	6/7	5	37	41	58	62
Rafa Cabrera Bello	$7,900	19	71	24	-5	28	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Daniel Berger	$7,800	21	48	11	10	43	0/1	96	500	500	500	500
Tony Finau	$7,800	21	82	28	-7	80	1/1	8	500	500	500	500
Bill Haas	$7,700	23	64	18	5	31	7/8	18	8	4	72	45
Byeong-Hun An	$7,700	23	90	33	-10	27	0/1	500	500	500	500	500
Russell Knox	$7,600	25	64	16	9	25	1/2	18	90	500	500	500
J.B. Holmes	$7,600	25	77	26	-1	21	5/6	500	75	500	13	51
Kevin Chappell	$7,500	27	61	15	12	36	3/6	49	76	2	72	37
Danny Lee	$7,500	27	82	27	0	41	0/2	81	500	500	500	500
Webb Simpson	$7,500	27	83	29	-2	79	2/5	500	500	90	102	7
Charles Howell III	$7,400	30	84	30	0	81	4/6	31	57	21	500	22
Francesco Molinari	$7,400	30	85	31	-1	75	1/1	3	500	500	500	500
Kyle Reifers	$7,400	30	96	34	-4	117	1/2	81	500	500	25	500
David Lingmerth	$7,300	33	75	25	8	48	3/3	1	49	57	500	500
Jim Furyk	$7,300	33	87	32	1	29	7/8	5	19	21	13	110
Ryan Moore	$7,300	33	106	37	-4	50	7/8	18	19	13	38	22
Jason Kokrak	$7,300	33	165	54	-21	106	0/2	101	500	104	500	500
Russell Henley	$7,200	37	150	45	-8	92	1/3	116	76	6	500	500
Anirban Lahiri	$7,200	37	101	36	1	55	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Luke Donald	$7,200	37	98	35	2	77	6/6	500	49	21	12	7
Thomas Aiken	$7,200	37	152	48	-11	149	1/4	26	76	500	500	74
Brendan Steele	$7,100	41	137	40	1	82	3/5	63	76	117	62	51
Graham DeLaet	$7,100	41	147	44	-3	137	2/3	26	500	21	500	500
Thorbjorn Olesen	$7,100	41	137	40	1	69	1/1	500	8	500	500	500
Patton Kizzire	$7,100	41	151	46	-5	60	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Jamie Lovemark	$7,000	45	108	38	7	84	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Spencer Levin	$7,000	45	143	42	3	194	2/3	500	500	500	4	92
Bryson DeChambeau	$7,000	45	128	39	6	213	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Emiliano Grillo	$7,000	45	145	43	2	44	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Keegan Bradley	$7,000	45	170	56	-11	122	3/5	8	37	50	87	92
Scott Piercy	$6,900	50	151	46	4	61	3/4	81	500	16	68	42
Daniel Summerhays	$6,900	50	157	50	0	101	3/5	72	28	84	4	63
Adam Hadwin	$6,900	50	183	62	-12	181	1/1	57	500	500	500	500
Bud Cauley	$6,900	50	157	49	1	361	2/2	500	500	34	52	500
Cameron Tringale	$6,900	50	164	53	-3	98	3/5	110	37	16	25	74
Sean O’Hair	$6,800	55	181	60	-5	114	2/5	106	104	500	500	74
Patrick Rodgers	$6,800	55	181	60	-5	158	1/1	40	500	500	500	500
Jonas Blixt	$6,800	55	183	62	-7	123	0/1	500	500	500	92	500
Brian Harman	$6,800	55	243	74	-19	130	0/3	500	102	90	114	500
Kevin Streelman	$6,800	55	251	79	-24	136	3/7	18	94	90	76	7
Chez Reavie	$6,700	60	174	57	3	104	3/3	500	500	500	500	63
David Hearn	$6,700	60	179	58	2	132	3/4	81	28	21	25	500
Smylie Kaufman	$6,700	60	205	67	-7	58	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Aaron Baddeley	$6,700	60	243	75	-15	271	5/7	500	37	104	9	45
Roberto Castro	$6,600	64	163	52	12	125	1/2	500	94	21	500	500
Soren Kjeldsen	$6,600	64	159	51	13	42	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
John Senden	$6,600	64	200	65	-1	107	6/7	57	500	57	76	7
Fabian Gomez	$6,600	64	287	87	-23	66	1/1	500	500	69	500	500
Hunter Mahan	$6,600	64	260	83	-19	143	5/7	500	28	16	19	13
John Huh	$6,600	64	303	94	-30	214	3/4	36	62	74	19	500
William McGirt	$6,500	70	168	55	15	102	2/3	40	117	37	500	500
Lucas Glover	$6,500	70	180	59	11	218	5/8	68	69	84	46	107
Jhonattan Vegas	$6,500	70	248	77	-7	227	1/2	500	500	500	56	85
Harold Varner III	$6,500	70	215	68	2	191	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Troy Merritt	$6,500	70	215	68	2	90	1/2	52	500	500	500	500
Si Woo Kim	$6,400	75	241	73	2	147	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Stewart Cink	$6,400	75	297	92	-17	229	8/8	31	49	29	25	30
Jon Curran	$6,400	75	268	86	-11	193	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Scott Pinckney	$6,400	75	297	92	-17	258	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
George McNeill	$6,400	75	310	96	-21	198	4/7	13	104	41	72	500
Scott Langley	$6,300	80	323	99	-19	387	2/2	68	28	500	500	500
Steven Bowditch	$6,300	80	350	102	-22	116	1/2	52	76	500	500	500
Angel Cabrera	$6,300	80	377	106	-26	351	1/3	500	500	500	76	22
Ken Duke	$6,300	80	400	108	-28	240	3/6	65	111	16	92	500
Geoff Ogilvy	$6,300	80	477	113	-33	254	4/5	500	500	104	58	500
Alex Cejka	$6,200	85	225	71	14	127	3/4	115	500	500	500	71
Ben Martin	$6,200	85	220	70	15	120	1/2	90	49	500	500	500
Robert Streb	$6,200	85	257	80	5	64	2/2	18	28	500	500	500
Ernie Els	$6,200	85	245	76	9	261	6/8	106	19	37	58	61
Mark Hubbard	$6,200	85	480	114	-29	373	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Brendon Todd	$6,200	85	460	112	-27	187	2/2	17	8	500	500	500
Andrew Loupe	$6,100	91	287	87	4	153	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Camilo Villegas	$6,100	91	290	89	2	246	7/7	40	37	41	70	30
Matt Jones	$6,100	91	310	96	-5	83	3/6	40	115	6	500	114
Morgan Hoffmann	$6,100	91	293	91	0	180	0/2	117	104	500	500	500
Vaughn Taylor	$6,100	91	314	98	-7	112	2/3	500	500	500	500	92
Ryan Ruffels	$6,100	91	457	111	-20	711	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
K.J. Choi	$6,000	97	185	64	33	111	7/8	72	28	21	19	22
Freddie Jacobson	$6,000	97	205	66	31	109	3/4	500	49	500	500	500
George Coetzee	$6,000	97	258	81	16	97	1/2	110	500	65	500	500
Zac Blair	$6,000	97	360	103	-6	165	1/1	61	500	500	500	500
Hiroshi Iwata	$6,000	97	450	110	-13	142	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Carl Pettersson	$6,000	97	550	116	-19	302	5/8	36	62	29	92	100
Jason Bohn	$5,900	103	248	77	26	89	3/5	52	104	500	500	51
Jim Herman	$5,900	103	261	84	19	76	1/1	40	500	500	500	500
Ricky Barnes	$5,900	103	235	72	31	211	3/4	500	500	78	25	18
Johnson Wagner	$5,900	103	261	84	19	209	4/4	500	500	500	38	63
Scott Brown	$5,900	103	290	89	14	162	1/3	72	13	74	500	500
Hudson Swafford	$5,800	108	258	81	27	247	1/1	63	500	500	500	500
Brian Stuard	$5,800	108	347	101	7	153	1/3	61	94	78	500	500
Shawn Stefani	$5,800	108	303	94	14	279	1/1	40	500	500	500	500
Davis Love III	$5,800	108	377	106	2	173	6/6	500	500	29	16	37
John Hahn	$5,800	108	423	109	-1	343	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Wes Homan	$5,800	108	860	118	-10		0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Ethan Tracy	$5,800	108	1200	119	-11		0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Stuart Appleby	$5,700	115	337	100	15	341	2/5	500	500	500	87	103
Brendon De Jonge	$5,700	115	367	105	10	262	4/6	72	28	84	38	63
Nathan Holman	$5,700	115	360	103	12	169	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Peter Malnati	$5,700	115	500	115	0	179	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
D.H. Lee	$5,700	115	737	117	-2	421	0/0	500	500	500	500	500

Color Coding
Course history in BLUE indicates a top ten finish.
Course history in GREEN indicates a top 25 finish.
Course history in YELLOW indicates a made cut with a finish outside of the top 25.
Course history in RED indicates a missed cut.

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