DAILY FANTASY GOLF MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT PREVIEW

MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT PREVIEW

The PGA Tour heads to Jack’s place this week at Muirfield Village for the Memorial championship. An invitational event hosted by the great Jack Nicklaus the winner this week will be greeted by the Golden Bear beside the 18th green come Sunday.

The Memorial Tournament is one of the most storied non-major tournaments on tour and dates back to 1976. Set upon one of the most breathtaking backdrops in golf, Muirfield Village has sternly tested golfers through the years and produced a diverse set of winners.

A regular stop on TOUR this event normally attracts some of the world’s best golfers. With 7 of the world’s top 10 here this week, we should be in for an exciting week of golfing action.

THE FIELD

Like last week at the Charles Schwab Challenge the field, this week will consist of 120 players with the top 65 and ties making the cut.

Despite being sandwiched in between 2 major championships the field this week is stacked. Headlined by world number 2 Jon Rahm who will be hoping for redemption after having a 6 stroke lead going into Sunday last year but had to withdraw due to COVID.

Last year’s winner Patrick Cantlay returns to defend his title after edging past Colin Morikawa last year in a playoff. The win was Cantlay’s second win here in 3 years, so it’s clearly a place he likes. Other former winners in the field include Bryson DeChambeau, Jason Dufner, David Lingmerth, Hideki Matsuyama, and Matt Kuchar.

Other notables in the field include Rory McIlroy, last year’s runner-up Colin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, Daniel Berger, Jordan Spieth, Will Zalatoris, Sungjae IM, Players Champion Cameron Smith, and Abraham Ancer.

A stacked field that should provide an exciting week of golfing action.

RECENT WINNERS

2021: Patrick Cantlay

2020: Jon Rahm

2019: Patrick Cantlay 

2018: Bryson DeChambeau

2017: Jason Dufner

2016: William McGirt

2015: David Lingmerth

2014: Hideki Matsuyama

2013: Matt Kuchar

THE COURSE

Muirfield Village Golf Club

Yardage: 7,456

Par: 72

Greens: Bentgrass

Fairways: Bentgrass

Comp Courses: Augusta National, TPC Potomac, Torrey Pines, Bay Hill, and Caves Valley.

This course was founded by Jack Nicklaus and opened in 1974. Its name sounds familiar as it’s named after Muirfield in Scotland, where Nicklaus won his first of three Open Championships to complete the career grand slam.

Muirfield Village has hosted many standout events in the past including Solheim cups, Ryder cups, and Presidents cups. 

In 2020 the course went under a major renovation that saw Nicklaus reconstruct all 18 greens with new air systems, resurfacing bentgrass and new run-off areas. Every bunker on this course has also been rebuilt with many moved for strategic purposes. 

The course has also been extended by 100 yards thanks to several new tee boxes with the 15th hole par 5 seeing the biggest changes, having been completely rebuilt from tee to green.

Add in the fact that Water is in play on 11 holes then Muirfield is one of the truest golfing tests outside of the majors.

KEY STATS 

Strokes Gained Approach

Driving Accuracy

Strokes Gained Par 5’s

There is a theme with this place and that’s Augusta National. It’s a second-shot golf course much like Augusta. With tight pin locations on firm fast greens, accuracy on approach is crucial. Much like Augusta flighting the ball to a higher apex is crucial to hitting greens in regulation, so again strokes gained on approach are worth looking at this week.

While the fairways are wide around this place there is a drastic penalty doe missing them so driving accuracy is worth a look at this week. With water lurking on 11 holes and long thick links-style rough, the penalty for missing the fairways is massive. Missed fairway penalties are amongst the highest on tour here so driving accuracy is well worth weighting into models.

The Augusta theme continues with scoring on Par 5’s absolutely crucial. It’s a stat I tend to look at across most par 72 golf courses, to be honest, and this week will be no different. Considering zero of the par 4’s and par 3’s have a scoring average under par then par 5 scoring will be crucial this week.

WEATHER

This week’s forecast calls for a rainy Thursday start. Rain is currently scheduled for the start of this tournament on Thursday which will clear through the day. The rest of the week is expected to be sunny with temperatures around 68F. Sustained winds up to 8mph will be around for all 4 days but currently not much to worry about. Look out for our final thoughts article on Wednesday for further weather updates.

THE CONTESTS 

The PGA Tour rolls on and to Muirfield Village this week for the Memorial Championship. This week’s contest has a €12 buy-in with a €5,000 prize pool.

€12 entry – Memorial Main Event  – €4,000 GTD – 2nd June – 5th June

€2 entry – Memorial Mini Main Event – €1,200 GTD – 2nd June – 5th June

€5 entry – Memorial Round 2 – €500 GTD – 3rd June

€5 entry – Memorial Round  3 – €500 GTD – 4th June

€5 entry – Memorial Round 4 – €500 GTD – 5th June

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