TheMemorial Tournament
The Memorial Tournament will be the first time in history, The PGA will host back-to-back events at the same course. Muirfield Village will look to play a little more difficult the second time around, as the course should be drying out. Officials are letting the rough grow out and greens should be running at speeds between 13-14 on the Stimpmeter (after last weeks average of 11). Jack Nickaulas designed courses are tricky as the greens are guarded by deep bunkers and water hazards. DraftKings has dealt us some soft pricing for this field of golfers that ranks the highest in strength for a non-major event in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) era. There are also only 133 golfers in the field compared to last weeks 156, and this should give us a higher percentage of golfers that will make the cut.
Strategy
With the strength of this field being so high, we should see ownership spread out more evenly than the last few tournaments. I have to assume that a majority of DraftKings entries will be built using a balanced approach. For Instance, 6 golfers in the $8K-$9K range certainly looks enticing. as we’ve seen a very small percentage of lineups squeeze 6 of 6 golfers through the cut line since the re-start. I may not put as much emphasis on looking at ownership this week, but may look to use more of a stars-n-scrubs type roster construction to gain leverage on the field of entrants. I’m not saying to ignore ownership percentages all together, but there may be some other ways to obtain said leverage in smaller guaranteed prize pool (GPP) contests. Obviously in cash games, balance will be king.
Statistics
I’veopened my model up a bit to include more stats to look at. I’vealso incorporated looks at both the last 3 months and the last 50rounds so I could get a good view of the entire field. (listed inorder of weighted importance)
SG:APP
P4:450-500
SG;OTT
SG:ARG
Prox:150-175
OpportunitiesGained
P3:200-225
SG:Putting
SG:P5
TheGolfers
I don’t have the space, time, or energy to list them all. An argument can be made either for, or against most of the golfers at this weeks Memorial Tournament. Let me just give you some things to consider while constructing your lineups.
Upper Tier
PatrickCantlay ($9800) Too cheap. Popping in every statistical metric. Greatrecent form, and history here. Most likely the highest ownership, butI’ll eat this chalk and look for leverage elsewhere.
BrysonDeChambeau ($11100) Obviously a beast in every metric to look at. Soexpensive that he may come in low owned compared to the field andprovide some much needed leverage in a stars-n-scrubs type of build.Keep an eye on his ownership and jump if he comes in too low.
JonRahm ($9300) Starting to gain popularity after finally putting hisgame together and shooting an 8 under last Sunday here at TheWorkday. If he’s on, he’s way too cheap.
XanderSchauffele ($9200) Sneaky good vs. strong fields in his career.Strong metrics and history across the board. In an interesting spotsqueezed between Rahm, Koepka, and Tiger.
Tiger Woods ($9000) Keep an eye on ownership here. I’ve seen it predicted all over the place. His age or the lengthy lay-off may scare some away, but Woods is almost always great coming off lay-offs. Tiger has won The Memorial Tournament 5 times, and is just one win away from claiming a record 83rd PGA title. This is arguably his favorite course on tour. This salary is simply too cheap for one of the greatest iron players in my lifetime.
Mid-Tier
JustinRose ($8900) Sneaky GPP candidate after burning everyone last week.No ownership and great history here.
GaryWoodland ($8600) Went back to his old driver last week and theresults SG:OTT came back as well. Could easily surprise everyone thisweek.
Paul Casey ($7900) DraftKings made a mistake with his salary as Paul comes in high on the statistical board. He hasn’t placed in the top 10 this year, but he’s a bonafide cut maker.
SergioGarcia ($7800) His game is steadily improving since coming over fromthe Euro. Always plays tough in strong fields and statisticallystrong in everything except putting. Poor putters have won hereplenty of times and Sergio’s low ownership could be a key thisweek.
Marc Leishman ($7800) Throw him in the same mix as Rose. Strong in all the metrics, great history, and upside to win outright. Burned everyone bad last week (including me). At this salary, with no ownership, he makes a strong GPP play this week if you’ve got the nerve.
Lower Tier
HarrisEnglish ($7300) Another golfer popping high in all the metrics and agenuine cut maker. Also seems to be unusually cheap at this salary.
KevinNa ($7200) If his back is good, he’s too cheap. He’ll either burnyou and withdraw, or finish in the top 5. Good luck value GPP dart.
TheOthers
Here’s a list some honorable mentions I’m looking at as well.
Upper:DJ, Morikawa, Hideki, and Koepka
Mid:Rickie, Berger, Ancer, and Reed
Lower:Doc, Hadwin, Glover, Dahmen, Steele, and Varner
Idon’t know that I feel it’s necessary to go this low, but…
Darts:Homa, McNealy, Lanto, Bud, Wiesberger, and Duncan
I know it’s a lot to consider but I just wanted to give you some of my personal thoughts after hours of research for The Memorial Tournament. I highly encourage everyone to join us in the Discord chat room as the other writers and I break down some of our favorite plays even further. Our family here at WinDaily hopes that we can teach everyone how to succeed at playing DFS and earn some extra money doing something we love.