Picks to Win & Best Bets for the Memorial Tournament

Folks, this is the start of a pretty unreal stretch of golf. First, we’re treated to a week at Jack’s Place. Then we’ll head north of the border for the Canadian Open before the third major championship of the year at Oakmont. Then to finish it off, it’s up to Connecticut for the Travelers.

The butt print in my couch might become permanent over the next four weeks.

This marvelous month kicks off on Thursday with the first round of the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club. Its status as a signature event has attracted almost every notable name on the PGA TOUR, minus a pretty big exception.

Rory McIlroy, who hasn’t skipped Mr. Nicklaus’ event since 2017, has not made the trip to Dublin, Ohio, and instead will do his final prep for the U.S. Open at the RBC Canadian Open.

As for this week’s defending champion, Scottie Scheffler is officially back to being dialed the f*** in. Over his last three starts, he’s won the PGA Championship, THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson, and tied for fourth at the Charles Schwab Challenge. He’s made it back to the point where it’s almost surprising when he doesn’t win.

Now, let’s pick a winner, shall we?

Golf Course and Course History

Muirfield Village Golf Club | Par 72 | 7,569 yards

Odds to Win the Memorial Tournament

Scottie Scheffler (+280)

Xander Schauffele (+1600)

Collin Morikawa (+1600)

Justin Thomas (+1800)

Ludvig Aberg (+2200)

Patrick Cantlay (+2200)

Viktor Hovland (+2800)

Tommy Fleetwood (+2800)

Corey Conners (+3000)

Hideki Matsuyama (+3500)

Jordan Spieth (+3500)

Daniel Berger (+4000)

Sepp Straka (+4000)

Si Woo Kim (+4000)

Shane Lowry (+4000)

Tony Finau (+5000)

Denny McCarthy (+5000)

Russell Henley (+5000)

Keegan Bradley (+5000)

Matt Fitzpatrick (+5000)

Picks to Win the Memorial Tournament

Tommy Fleetwood (28/1)

I’m chasing my tail with Tommy. I feel like I bet on him every week and he just hasn’t been able to get it done. But guess what—I’m going right back to him in this spot. Muirfield feels like the perfect place for Tommy Lad to get win No. 1. He missed the cut here in his first two appearances (2015, 2017), but tied for 20th last year. Looking at recent form, he has finishes of seventh (RBC Heritage), T-4 (Truist), and T-4 (Charles Schwab Challenge) over his last four starts. That’ll do. It’s time to get a W, Tommy.

Si Woo Kim (40/1)

Since missing back-to-back cuts in Texas earlier this season, Kim has been balling. He finished T-8 at the RBC Heritage, T-15 at THE CJ CUP, T-17 at the Truist, T-8 at the PGA Championship, and T-28 at the Charles Schwab. As for his history at Jack’s tournament, he hasn’t finished worse than T-18 since 2020, a stretch highlighted by a solo-fourth just two years ago. This will be his seventh event played in a row, so I’m a little worried about fatigue. But his course history and recent form are more than enough to earn a spot on my card.

Matt Fitzpatrick (50/1)

It’s been good to see Fitzy play some good golf over his last two starts. He tied for 23rd at the Truist before cashing in a top-10 at the PGA Championship. If his game is ready to get him back into the winner’s circle, this week is as good as any. Sure, he missed two cuts in his last five trips to the Memorial (2021, 2022), but he also finished third (2020), T-9 (2023), and T-5 (2024) during that stretch. His game is built for tough golf courses, and it doesn’t get much harder than Muirfield.