PGA First Look: The Memorial Tournament

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2018-05-31 11:32:50

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

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Justin Rose ran away from the field at the Fort Worth Invitational in what ended up being a star-studded leaderboard. We are inching closer to the U.S. Open and have a major-like field on tap this week for the Memorial. Eight of the top ten and 32 of the top 50 golfers in the world are here to compete, which makes the pricing for DFS feel soft. Jordan Spieth is $9,800 on DraftKings, which is the cheapest I can remember him being in years. With only 120 golfers in the field, there will be a higher percentage of golfers that make the cut. We can look at this in two ways — we can argue that since more golfers will make the cut, it makes sense to employ a stars and scrubs method. We can argue that we’ll need 6-of-6 golfers to make the cut in order to win a tournament (and potentially cash games), so a balanced approach also makes sense.

The Memorial Tournament is played at Muirfield Village Golf Club, which is a Par 72 that measures 7,392 yards. It is a Jack Nicklaus design that is meant to bring all types of golfers into the fold. We’ve seen shorter, accurate hitters win here and we’ve also seen the bombers succeed. It is a classical golf course with tree-lined fairways, water in play on 11 holes, and undulating bentgrass greens. Even though the width of these fairways are similar to Colonial and TPC Sawgrass, we will see more drivers being hit this week. You don’t necessarily have to be an accuracy specialist, you just can’t be too far off the mark. Rather than focusing on distance or accuracy, give a nod to total driving when it comes to off the tee statistics.

With small and undulating greens, it’s important to be accurate with your irons. Many have described this as a second-shot golf course, which is why I have strokes gained approach as my heaviest weighted statistic in my model for the week. Birdies are always important for fantasy scoring and with four par fives in play, golfers will need to take advantage of those holes. These par threes are some of the toughest the golfers will see all season and this course is routinely one of the most difficult to scramble. I’m not going to look too heavily at scrambling, especially if everyone is struggling to get the ball up and down. I will take my chances with ball strikers, especially ones in good form.

Oh, and Tiger Woods is back! If you want to hear me talk about him for an hour, tune into the Drive for Show, DFS for Dough with myself, Justin Van Zuiden, and Jason Rouslin.

Cut Rule:Top 70 and ties move on after the first two rounds. The MDF rule is in effect if more than 78 golfers make the initial cut.

Recent Winners of this Event:Jason Dufner (2017), William McGirt (2016), David Lingmerth (2015), Hideki Matsuyama (2014), Matt Kuchar (2013)

Key Statistics (In Order of Importance)

1) Strokes Gained Approach
2) Strokes Gained Off the Tee
3) Birdie or Better %
4) Par 5 Scoring
5) Strokes Gained Putting (Emphasis on Bentgrass)

Hole by Hole Breakdown

Salaries, Odds, and Course History (2013-2017)

Golfer	DK Salary	FD Salary	FDRFT Salary	OWGR	Odds	DK Odds	FD Odds	FDRFT Odds	Cuts	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013
Dustin Johnson	$11,300	$12,300	$17,000	2	12	0%	67%	50%	3/5	104	3	13	46	78
Jason Day	$11,100	$12,500	$17,200	8	12	0%	0%	-100%	4/5	15	27	72	37	41
Rory McIlroy	$10,800	$11,900	$17,000	6	14	-33%	20%	-100%	3/3	500	4	500	15	57
Justin Rose	$10,600	$12,600	$16,900	3	13	25%	-200%	25%	2/3	500	500	2	77	8
Justin Thomas	$10,300	$12,100	$16,700	1	14	0%	-25%	0%	2/4	4	117	81	37	500
Jordan Spieth	$9,800	$11,800	$16,500	5	17	0%	0%	0%	5/5	13	57	3	19	63
Rickie Fowler	$9,500	$11,700	$15,900	7	19	0%	0%	0%	2/5	2	88	72	77	37
Tiger Woods	$9,400	$11,300	$15,800	83	22	0%	38%	0%	2/2	500	500	71	500	65
Henrik Stenson	$9,200	$11,700	$15,700	15	26	0%	-29%	0%	1/1	500	500	500	500	41
Hideki Matsuyama	$9,100	$11,500	$15,400	10	31	0%	0%	0%	3/4	45	103	5	1	500
Marc Leishman	$9,000	$11,400	$15,200	16	33	-18%	-18%	0%	5/5	15	11	5	37	41
Patrick Reed	$8,900	$11,400	$15,300	13	32	8%	0%	0%	3/3	57	8	26	500	500
Branden Grace	$8,800	$11,600	$14,800	31	40	-15%	-67%	0%	0/2	500	500	500	114	104
Bubba Watson	$8,700	$10,700	$15,300	18	33	14%	29%	-9%	4/4	6	65	500	3	29
Adam Scott	$8,600	$10,800	$14,500	65	43	-13%	-6%	6%	3/3	31	500	500	4	13
Matt Kuchar	$8,500	$11,300	$15,000	23	37	13%	-8%	0%	5/5	4	4	26	15	1
Emiliano Grillo	$8,400	$10,400	$14,700	52	41	6%	16%	0%	2/2	40	11	500	500	500
Phil Mickelson	$8,300	$11,100	$14,600	19	44	0%	-20%	-6%	4/4	22	20	65	49	500
Charl Schwartzel	$8,200	$9,500	$14,400	43	48	0%	39%	0%	4/5	35	11	90	8	8
Tony Finau	$8,100	$10,600	$14,300	35	53	-5%	-17%	-5%	3/3	40	11	8	500	500
Jason Dufner	$8,000	$9,700	$14,200	51	52	5%	26%	5%	4/4	1	33	24	19	500
Chesson Hadley	$7,900	$9,700	$13,900	61	66	-23%	0%	-8%	1/2	500	500	49	105	500
Aaron Wise	$7,800	$8,900	$13,800	68	68	-22%	44%	-4%	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Byeong-Hun An	$7,800	$8,800	$13,400	85	76	-39%	40%	0%	2/2	25	11	500	500	500
Bryson DeChambeau	$7,700	$10,300	$14,200	38	56	12%	-10%	-5%	1/1	500	38	500	500	500
Louis Oosthuizen	$7,700	$9,900	$14,100	33	57	8%	0%	0%	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Kiradech Aphibarnrat	$7,700	$9,000	$13,600	30	72	-20%	32%	0%	1/1	500	500	500	62	500
Kevin Na	$7,600	$9,500	$13,900	62	59	14%	23%	4%	3/3	500	74	13	2	500
Charles Howell	$7,600	$10,100	$13,400	56	77	-18%	-57%	-3%	4/4	500	48	31	57	21
Billy Horschel	$7,600	$9,600	$13,800	81	64	7%	10%	4%	3/4	85	500	11	15	41
Kyle Stanley	$7,600	$8,600	$13,200	49	83	-21%	42%	3%	3/3	6	500	500	74	3
Danny Lee	$7,600	$8,400	$13,100	137	84	-29%	45%	0%	2/3	49	52	81	500	500
Ryan Moore	$7,500	$9,300	$13,700	66	69	12%	22%	0%	4/5	99	48	18	19	13
Beau Hossler	$7,500	$9,100	$12,900	89	97	-21%	5%	-5%	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Shane Lowry	$7,500	$8,400	$12,800	82	89	-15%	42%	5%	1/2	15	500	500	500	112
Kevin Kisner	$7,500	$9,400	$13,600	29	73	6%	6%	-3%	3/4	6	100	8	46	500
Patrick Cantlay	$7,400	$9,900	$14,000	36	62	32%	-9%	-4%	1/1	35	500	500	500	500
Luke List	$7,400	$9,300	$12,700	54	101	-16%	-16%	-5%	0/1	77	500	500	500	500
Chris Kirk	$7,400	$9,200	$12,600	131	105	-22%	-13%	-5%	2/5	104	76	36	4	74
Zach Johnson	$7,400	$9,800	$12,900	59	91	-5%	-56%	-3%	2/2	40	500	500	500	71
Adam Hadwin	$7,400	$10,000	$12,500	44	109	-32%	-123%	2%	2/3	104	11	57	500	500
Xander Schauffele	$7,400	$9,400	$13,300	24	84	5%	-6%	-3%	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Joaquin Niemann	$7,300	$8,600	$12,400	406	114	-21%	12%	0%	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Rory Sabbatini	$7,300	$9,000	$12,600	149	107	-7%	-5%	-7%	1/2	500	500	24	95	500
Kevin Chappell	$7,300	$9,600	$12,500	50	111	-19%	-76%	-2%	4/5	52	48	49	77	2
Russell Knox	$7,300	$9,200	$12,600	127	97	7%	0%	7%	3/4	65	64	18	91	500
Nick Watney	$7,300	$8,700	$12,100	96	135	-35%	-5%	-2%	2/3	500	500	65	55	116
Shubhankar Sharma	$7,300	$8,600	$11,900	75	154	-44%	-5%	-2%	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Cameron Smith	$7,300	$8,800	$12,600	42	103	-2%	17%	-2%	1/2	65	500	106	500	500
J.B. Holmes	$7,300	$8,900	$11,800	125	158	-49%	-28%	0%	2/3	114	4	500	75	500
Keegan Bradley	$7,200	$9,000	$13,000	72	86	27%	16%	0%	4/5	99	8	8	37	50
Keith Mitchell	$7,200	$9,300	$12,700	139	100	18%	-14%	-2%	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Jamie Lovemark	$7,200	$8,900	$12,600	94	108	8%	6%	-9%	2/2	10	52	500	500	500
Peter Uihlein	$7,200	$8,700	$12,600	60	108	8%	15%	-9%	1/1	25	500	500	500	500
Trey Mullinax	$7,200	$7,600	$11,400	182	200	-51%	15%	0%	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Andrew Landry	$7,200	$7,600	$11,800	70	173	-31%	26%	-5%	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Bud Cauley	$7,200	$7,900	$11,800	136	173	-31%	16%	-5%	3/3	25	38	500	500	34
Pat Perez	$7,100	$9,400	$12,300	28	119	9%	-61%	0%	4/4	19	500	57	69	8
J.J. Spaun	$7,100	$7,900	$11,400	135	219	-40%	-1%	-5%	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Austin Cook	$7,100	$8,500	$11,500	104	190	-26%	-14%	1%	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Bill Haas	$7,100	$9,400	$12,600	88	110	14%	-52%	-16%	4/5	25	76	18	8	4
Anirban Lahiri	$7,100	$7,700	$11,700	106	179	-21%	20%	1%	2/2	2	61	500	500	500
James Hahn	$7,100	$8,000	$11,400	77	204	-36%	-4%	-3%	2/3	6	500	52	500	100
William McGirt	$7,100	$8,000	$11,400	164	192	-31%	0%	1%	4/5	67	1	40	118	37
Patrick Rodgers	$7,100	$7,700	$11,100	148	269	-59%	-6%	-8%	2/3	67	76	40	500	500
Martin Piller	$7,100	$7,200	$10,900	250	296	-67%	3%	-2%	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Kevin Tway	$7,000	$8,600	$12,000	151	145	10%	-2%	0%	0/1	104	500	500	500	500
Kevin Streelman	$7,000	$8,300	$12,100	115	125	18%	19%	4%	3/5	13	8	18	95	90
Charley Hoffman	$7,000	$9,800	$12,200	34	124	19%	-116%	2%	3/3	45	500	500	19	63
Jason Kokrak	$7,000	$8,100	$11,900	122	148	9%	16%	0%	1/4	35	88	101	500	104
Russell Henley	$7,000	$9,100	$12,300	57	126	16%	-33%	-6%	2/4	500	33	116	77	6
Lucas Glover	$7,000	$7,600	$11,600	103	190	-10%	19%	-3%	4/5	45	33	68	69	84
Julian Suri	$7,000	$8,600	$11,900	79	160	3%	-10%	-7%	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Jim Furyk	$7,000	$8,500	$11,200	256	219	-21%	-27%	2%	4/5	99	52	5	19	21
Ryan Armour	$7,000	$7,800	$11,100	159	256	-33%	-7%	-5%	0/1	104	500	500	500	500
Brian Stuard	$7,000	$7,700	$10,800	241	271	-40%	-8%	3%	3/5	52	69	61	95	78
Gary Woodland	$6,900	$9,000	$12,200	39	132	26%	-30%	-4%	4/5	49	4	81	57	16
Stewart Cink	$6,900	$8,000	$11,000	176	246	-10%	-12%	6%	4/4	25	500	31	49	29
Satoshi Kodaira	$6,900	$8,700	$11,800	32	173	13%	-22%	-5%	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Si Woo Kim	$6,900	$9,000	$12,100	45	145	23%	-34%	-4%	1/1	500	74	500	500	500
Ollie Schniederjans	$6,900	$8,700	$11,800	93	179	9%	-27%	-9%	1/1	71	500	500	500	500
Cameron Davis	$6,900	$7,400	$11,800	105	154	19%	35%	3%	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Sam Burns	$6,900	$8,200	$11,000	167	258	-17%	-27%	0%	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Abraham Ancer	$6,900	$8,200	$10,700	196	308	-30%	-41%	0%	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Daniel Summerhays	$6,900	$7,500	$11,100	322	252	-13%	7%	-2%	3/5	10	38	72	28	84
Yusaku Miyazato	$6,900	$8,100	$11,000	64	277	-23%	-30%	-6%	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Martin Laird	$6,800	$9,000	$11,800	111	163	24%	-50%	-3%	2/4	52	500	90	116	53
John Huh	$6,800	$8,000	$11,100	209	240	3%	-11%	1%	3/4	500	27	36	62	74
Brian Gay	$6,800	$7,800	$11,300	146	235	5%	0%	-1%	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Ted Potter	$6,800	$7,800	$11,100	84	248	1%	-4%	-1%	0/1	500	500	500	500	84
Tom Hoge	$6,800	$7,300	$11,000	194	271	-7%	5%	-3%	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
David Lingmerth	$6,800	$7,100	$11,500	231	190	15%	30%	0%	5/5	15	27	1	49	57
Jhonattan Vegas	$6,800	$8,300	$11,600	69	202	10%	-15%	-8%	0/1	500	115	500	500	500
Kenny Perry	$6,800	$7,000	$10,300		392	-24%	2%	-2%	0/2	500	500	72	500	84
K.J. Choi	$6,800	$7,200	$10,400	606	369	-20%	-4%	1%	4/5	67	52	72	28	21
Wesley Bryan	$6,800	$7,800	$10,800	116	300	-14%	-19%	-2%	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Grayson Murray	$6,700	$8,300	$11,500	107	188	26%	-6%	3%	1/1	35	500	500	500	500
Patton Kizzire	$6,700	$7,900	$10,700	63	319	-4%	-26%	-1%	1/2	99	38	500	500	500
Jonas Blixt	$6,700	$7,100	$10,800	244	296	0%	8%	0%	2/2	31	46	500	500	500
Alex Cejka	$6,700	$7,100	$10,500	265	369	-7%	1%	0%	2/3	57	57	115	500	500
Brice Garnett	$6,700	$7,700	$11,400	123	215	18%	8%	-4%	0/1	500	500	500	95	500
Whee Kim	$6,700	$7,000	$10,300	170	425	-13%	0%	-4%	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
John Senden	$6,700	$7,000	$10,300	1006	400	-12%	1%	-3%	3/3	500	11	57	500	57
Doc Redman	$6,700	$7,200	$10,300		385	-9%	-6%	0%	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Sean O’Hair	$6,600	$8,100	$11,200	92	252	17%	-19%	-5%	1/4	52	100	106	105	500
Brandon Harkins	$6,600	$7,500	$10,900	232	288	9%	-2%	-1%	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Robert Streb	$6,600	$7,200	$11,000	240	263	13%	9%	-1%	3/3	500	20	18	28	500
Mac Hughes	$6,600	$7,200	$10,200	220	450	-7%	-12%	-1%	1/1	45	500	500	500	500
Ernie Els	$6,600	$7,100	$10,200	667	531	-10%	-10%	-4%	2/4	500	88	106	19	37
Vijay Singh	$6,600	$7,000	$10,300	567	385	-1%	4%	0%	1/4	85	500	11	112	74
Kelly Kraft	$6,600	$7,000	$10,200	179	465	-8%	-3%	-2%	0/1	114	500	500	500	500
Sung Kang	$6,600	$7,100	$10,600	130	350	2%	2%	-1%	1/1	75	500	500	500	500
Will Zalatoris	$6,500	$7,000	$10,100		673	-4%	-6%	-1%	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Scott Brown	$6,500	$7,000	$10,600	160	333	10%	7%	0%	2/5	91	27	72	13	74
Yuta Ikeda	$6,500	$7,400	$10,200	73	427	2%	-16%	0%	0/1	112	500	500	500	500
Sang-Moon Bae	$6,500	$7,300	$10,200	953	485	-1%	-16%	-3%	1/2	500	500	49	500	111
Rod Pampling	$6,500	$7,000	$10,100	392	635	-3%	-5%	0%	2/2	57	61	500	500	500
Carl Pettersson	$6,500	$7,000	$10,000		769	-5%	-8%	0%	3/5	91	113	36	62	29
Andrew Dorn	$6,500	$7,000	$10,000		788	-6%	-9%	-1%	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Harry Ellis	$6,500	$7,000	$10,100		692	-4%	-7%	-2%	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.

Legend