PGA Power Rankings: Top 5 Golfers For The Memorial Tournament
PGA Power Rankings: Top 5 Golfers For The Memorial Tournament
The 2024 Memorial Tournament presented by Workday is the seventh Signature Event on the PGA Tour schedule this season. Located at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, and designed by famous golfer and golf architect, Jack Nicklaus, a loaded field of 73 golfers are prepared to tee it up on this par 72 course this week.
Viktor Hovland is the defending champion, beating Denny McCarthy in a one-hole playoff. The Norwegian golfer had his best outing of the year at Valhalla, recording a T3 finish at the 2024 PGA Championship. Reuniting with his old swing coach appears to have elevated Hovland's level of play, but he'll need everything he has to contend with the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, and Rory McIlroy.
Scheffler has logged two third-place finishes in 2021 and 2023 at Muirfield, so he's certainly comfortable playing on this difficult, rigorous course. Schauffele finally has a major win under his belt, so he should be playing with a ton of confidence and continue nailing his approach shots with relative ease.
McIlroy won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with teammate Shane Lowry and followed it up with his fourth career win at the Wells Fargo Championship, which is the last Signature Event that's been held on the PGA Tour. McIlroy has since gone T12 at Valhalla and T4 at the RBC Canadian Open this past weekend, so he's rounding into form ahead of a return to Muirfield Village.
PGA handicapper Matt MacKay is back with his latest betting insights and top 5 power rankings ahead of the 2024 Memorial Tournament. Remember, this is a Signature Event, so there's a smaller field, but there will still be a cut-line enforced for any golfer outside the top 50 on the leaderboard or more than 10 strokes back from the lead. Round 1 tees off on Thursday morning from Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio.
MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT DATE, START TIME, AND WHERE TO WATCH
- Date: June 6-June 9, 2024
- Where: Muirfield Village Golf Club, Dublin, Ohio
- Where to Watch: ESPN+, Golf Channel, CBS
Click here for the latest the Memorial Tournament odds
MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT COURSE: MUIRFIELD VILLAGE GOLF CLUB
Muirfield Village Golf Club played as one of the hardest courses in 2023. Nicklaus has renovated the par 3 16th hole, moving the tee box to the right and taking the water hazard mostly out of play to the left. A sand bunker previously guarding the green has subsequently been removed.
Muirfield is a par 72 that runs just shy of 7,600 yards, meaning power off-the-tee is critical. Of course, approach shots remain an integral piece to succeed, while the 5,000 square foot Bentgrass greens may run up to 13 feet via Stimpmeter. High-velocity putting surfaces, combined with four-inch primary rough, punish errant lies and also force golfers to take extra care reading the contours of the greens.
11 of the 18 holes have a water hazard flanking or guarding the green, so golfers will need to be precise with their approach shots and scrambling around the green. Last year's winning scorecard was only 7-under-par, so expect par to be a quality number on a lot of holes at Muirfield this week.
MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT ODDS
| GOLFER | ODDS |
|---|---|
| Scottie Scheffler | +360 |
| Rory McIlroy | +900 |
| Xander Schauffele | +900 |
| Collin Morikawa | +1400 |
| Viktor Hovland | +1800 |
| Ludvig Åberg | +2500 |
| Patrick Cantlay | +2500 |
| Justin Thomas | +3000 |
| Tommy Fleetwood | +3500 |
| Hideki Matsuyama | +4500 |
| Max Homa | +4500 |
| Wyndham Clark | +5000 |
| Sam Burns | +5000 |
| Russell Henley | +5000 |
| Jordan Spieth | +5500 |
| Sahith Theegala | +5500 |
| Tom Kim | +5500 |
| Matt Fitzpatrick | +5500 |
MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT POWER RANKINGS
1. SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER (+360) CLICK HERE TO SEE WHICH SPORTSBOOK HAS THE BEST ODDS
Scheffler has fared well at The Memorial Tournament in his past two appearances, carding solo third-place finishes both times. Ranked first in strokes gained: approaching the green, second strokes gained: off-the-tee, and fifth strokes gained: around-the-green, there's little not to like about the World No. 1 at Muirfield this week.
The downside is that Scheffler is only +360 to win this event, with nearly three times shorter odds than Schauffele and McIlroy as the next betting favorites. Oddsmakers value Scheffler highly for many reasons, but +360 could quickly look like a great number if he starts firing out of the gate.
2. XANDER SCHAUFFELE (+900) CLICK HERE TO SEE WHICH SPORTSBOOK HAS THE BEST ODDS
Schauffele should have a ton of confidence and momentum after getting the proverbial monkey off his back during his one-stroke win over Bryson Dechambeau at the 2024 PGA Championship.
Ranked fourth in strokes gained: approaching the green, sixth strokes gained: off-the-tee, and 28th in both strokes gained: around-the-green and strokes gained: putting, the Californian is playing consistently great golf in every event this season. Last year's T24 finish won't happen again in 2024. I expect Schauffele to wind up contending and record his tenth top-ten finish in 14 events played this year.
3. VIKTOR HOVLAND (+1800) CLICK HERE TO SEE WHICH SPORTSBOOK HAS THE BEST ODDS
Hovland's early season struggles looked far removed from his last outing at Valhalla. The defending FedExCup champion finished 18-under-par at Valhalla to wind up contending on Sunday, but a couple of short missed birdie putts kept Hovland from forcing a playoff with Schauffele.
Ranked 11th strokes gained: off-the-tee, Hovland's driver and ability to hit the ball long and straight will be key to his success in defending his 2023 win at this event. 18-1 is solid value, although going back-to-back at Muirfield is historically a big challenge, so don't invest too much bankroll.
4. PATRICK CANTLAY (+2500) CLICK HERE TO SEE WHICH SPORTSBOOK HAS THE BEST ODDS
Patrick Cantlay has had a very quiet year thus far but the California native has performed very well at Muirfield during his career. Two outright wins in 2019 and 2021 feel like ages ago, but Cantlay did record a T3 at the RBC Heritage less than two months ago, which was also a Signature Event.
Ranked 43rd strokes gained: around-the-green and 12th in going for the green percentage, Cantlay could also lean on his top-tier scrambling ability to overcome errant approach shots. He's comfortable at this course and has had two weeks to prepare since a forgettable T53 finish at Valhalla.
25-1 odds is fairly good for Cantlay at Muirfield, so hopefully, he finds his rhythm before the final two rounds to stay in contention.
5. DENNY MCCARTHY (+8000) CLICK HERE TO SEE WHICH SPORTSBOOK HAS THE BEST ODDS
Denny McCarthy is once again being undervalued by oddsmakers. 80-1 is disrespectful and it's likely due to McCarthy not having a PGA Tour win on his résumé. However, we just saw Robert MacIntyre record his first PGA Tour win, albeit in much less time than McCarthy, during the RBC Canadian Open last week.
McCarthy found himself in a playoff with Hovland at this event in 2023 but wound up recording bogeys on the 72nd hole and during the only playoff hole to lose by a stroke. McCarthy already has a playoff loss at Valero against Akshay Bhatia two months ago, but he did bounce back with a T6 at the Wells Fargo Championship.
McCarthy ranks third in strokes gained: putting and 24th strokes gained: around-the-green. Off-the-tee and on approach are his weaknesses, but at an event he's fared well at in previous years, combined with his hot putter, we could see McCarthy climb the leaderboard and contend on Sunday to attempt another run at his first PGA Tour win.
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GOLF ODDS
Matt is an avid writer, editor, and researcher. He enjoys analyzing the game within the game which is fantasy sports and sports betting. Music is another constant in his daily life. Matt loves spending time with his wife and three pets. He likes to read, listen to podcasts, and is constantly motivated to create the most accurate and engaging content in the sports betting industry.