2016 PGA the Memorial Tournament
Where: Dublin, Ohio, Muirfield Village Golf Club
When: Thursday 2nd June (first tee 9:20pm)
Purse: $8,500,000
Last week’s Dean & Deluca Invitational was eventually won by Jordan Spieth. Spieth finished the weekend off with back to back 65’s which included him birdying the final three holes on Sunday. It marked an historic first win in his home state of Texas. It also broke Tiger Woods record for wins at age 22 or younger. A significant win that answered questions such as “will he ever recover from the Masters meltdown” or “can he win in his home state” plus breaking Tigers record. After Jordan Spieth’s career is all said and done I believe this win at Colonial will hold a special place in his heart.
Now we take a look at this week’s PGA Tour event. The Memorial tournament, which is held at the Muirfield Village Golf Club in the state of Ohio. This golf course and tournament was a vision from the great Jack Nicklaus, who wanted to bring a world-class tournament to his hometown of Columbus. Did you know? Before they called Jack Nicklaus the Golden Bear the other players and public referred to him as Ohio Fats or Fat Jack. Jack went on to win 73 tournaments and 18 Majors. The moral of the story. Don’t poke the bear, especially a Golden Bear.
Jack has been redesigning and tweaking this course since it opened in 1974. Some notable renovations include: the par 3 16th which now has a pond guarding the front left of the green. The 17th has more fairway bunkers, making it even longer and the 18th tee has been moved back, making the dog leg right par 4 over 480 yards. These changes have made Muirfield Village one of the toughest finishes on the PGA Tour.
If you are looking for an angle in I would suggest taking a look at Par 3 and 5 scoring, strokes gained tee to green and scrambling statistics. Furthermore, course experience and recent form are once again important factors to consider when betting on the golf. With all that in mind here are my selections for the 2016 Memorial Tournament.
Matt Kuchar
Kuchar is playing super consistent golf. Another good weekend at the Dean & Deluca Tournament where he finished T6. That’s a T3, 3rd and 6th in his last three tournaments. Now he heads into Ohio with good form for a tournament that he won in 2013. Kuchar is still searching for his first PGA tour win in 2016 and this week sets up perfect for him.
Tip: Matt Kuchar to win outright - $21 at CrownBet
Charl Schwartzel
After missing the cut at the Masters. Schwartzel has been slowly working back with a T58 at the Byron Nelson and a T25 last week in the Dean & Deluca Invitational. He won the Valsper Championship in march and I believe he can get back to that sort of form. He shot 65 on Saturday in Texas and looked like he found a little something, he also had a T8th here in 2013 and 2014.
Tip: Charl Schwartzel to win outright - $51 at CrownBet
Kevin Kisner
Kisner went off the rails for a couple of weeks. Missing cuts at the Players championship and the Wells Fargo. However, he looked like he was back to playing solid golf in last week’s Dean & Deluca Invitational. Kisner finished in 10th place with a couple of 66’s. He played well here last year and finished in a T8th. Good Value this week.
Tip: Kevin Kisner to win outright - $67 at CrownBet
Marc Leishman
Marc has had an up and down season so far. He has five top 25’s and just over $930,000 in earnings but he is capable of much more. Last week he showed signs of what we expect with four rounds in the 60’s and finished in a tie for 13th place. He also played very well here last year finishing in a tie for 5th.
Tip: Marc Leishman to win outright - $67 at CrownBet
Take note: Any of the tips in this article are simply the author’s opinion, so bet at your own risk and always gamble responsibly. Also be sure to check out the Before You Bet Twitter Page for all our thoughts in the lead up to bets! Happy punting!
