The final tune-up before next week’s U.S. Open just happens to be one of the biggest non-major events of the year.
Jack Nicklaus’ the Memorial Tournament begins Thursday at Muirfield Village, which is also the seventh signature event of the year featuring an elite 73-player field competing for the $20 million purse.
Our golf experts preview the event and provide their favorite prop picks along with best bets to win this week.
THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT
Location: Dublin, Ohio, June 6-9
Course: Muirfield Village Golf Club (Par 72, 7,571 Yards)
Purse: $20M (Winner: $4M)
Defending Champion: Viktor Hovland
FedEx Cup Leader: Scottie Scheffler
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday: 2-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday: 12:30-2:30 p.m. (GC), 2:30-6 p.m. (CBS)
Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
X: @MemorialGolf
PROP PICKS
–Collin Morikawa to beat Xander Schauffele (+105 at DraftKings): Schauffele claimed his first major title in his most recent start and has been a top-10 machine with nine through 11 2024 events. But Morikawa has also rediscovered elite form, posting consecutive fourths and five top-10s over his past five starts. It has been a whirlwind few weeks for Schauffele since his breakthrough major victory, while Morikawa hunts for his first win since October.
–Viktor Hovland as top Scandanavian (+140 at BetMGM): After a rough start to 2024, Hovland reconnected with his previous swing coach and immediately contended until the 72nd hole at the PGA Championship. He also won at Muirfield in a playoff last year, but does have to fend off stiff competition in this prop. Ludvig Aberg (+150) has skyrocketed to sixth in the world with five top-10s already this year, while Alex Noren (+275) has displayed strong recent form that includes six top-20s in his past nine starts.
–Si Woo Kim Top 20 (+140 at DraftKings): Signature events make for some attractive finishing place bets due to their limited fields. This week is 73 players, meaning Kim needs to only beat 53 for a quality pay off. He is coming off a MC and a T56 in his past two starts, but Kim has three consecutive top-20s prior to that and finished fourth here last year.
2024 Prop Picks Record: 30-33-1
BEST BETS
–Scottie Scheffler (+360 at DraftKings) has won four of his past seven starts, including the Masters, The Players Championship and two signature events. He finished third last year, one stroke out of a playoff between Hovland and Denny McCarthy. Scheffler has been backed by 20 percent of the money wagered on the winner, more than twice that of any other player in the field.
–Xander Schauffele (+900) makes his first start since claiming his first career major at the PGA Championship. He has been backed by a modest 3 percent of the money.
–Rory McIlroy (+900) seeks his third win of the season but has never finished better than T4 at the Memorial (2016).
–Collin Morikawa (+1400) has consecutive fourth-place finishes and is second at the book with 9 percent of the money backing him to win for the first time in 2024.
–Viktor Hovland (+1600) is trying to join Tiger Woods as the only player to win the Memorial in consecutive years. He’s coming off a solo third at the PGA Championship.
–Patrick Cantlay (+2500) is seeking his first win since 2022. However, the 2019 and 2021 champion’s 70.32 career scoring average at Muirfield Village is the lowest among players with at least 10 rounds.
NOTES
–Muirfield Village has played host to the tournament every year since 1976 and is the only course in the United States to host the Ryder Cup, Solheim Cup and Presidents Cup.
–Each of the top 30 players in the FedEx Cup standings are in the 73-player field along with nine of the top 10 players in the Official World Golf Ranking.
–Robert MacIntyre withdrew from the event one day after claiming his first PGA Tour victory (Canadian Open).
–The four sponsors exemptions this week are Billy Horschel, Matt Kuchar, Brandt Snedeker and Alex Noren. 2024 Jack Nicklaus Award winner Jackson Koivun, a freshman at Auburn, was also awarded a spot in the field as the best Division I college golfer.
–The Aon Swing 5 players who earned spots in the field are Davis Riley, Ben Griffin, Chris Gotterup, Victory Perez and Davis Thompson, who replaced MacIntyre.
–Field Level Media