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Muirfield Village Golf Club - Dublin, OH
Par 72, 7392 Yards
Back for another week of Daily Fantasy Golf and coming off another successful week at the Byron Nelson(8/10 cuts made, 4 Top 10's, 6 of the 8 who made cut finished inside T22). Steven Bowditch opened on Thursday with a 62 and capped his win with a 64 on Sunday. He won by 4 strokes and played terrific throughout the tournament. The tournament was delayed due to rain and the 14th hole which started out as a Par 4 on Thursday, finished as a Par 3, 100 Yarder for the remaining 3 days due to the fairway under water. Overall, a very odd week ending in a longshot winner. Nice to see, even nicer if he was in my lineups. I can assure you there won't be a longshot winner this week.
Unlike last week's no show of top talent, this week has 15 of the worlds top 25 in the field for the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. The course is Muirfield Village Golf Club built by Jack Nicklaus and was opened in 1974. It is the only venue to host all 3 Team Match Play Championships(Ryder Cup, Solheim Cup, Presidents Cup). The course has been annually ranked as a Top 20 course in America and Top 50 in the world. It presents a tough test for the players in many areas. First, a player must be accurate off the tee as the fairways are narrow and getting a GIR from rough is quite tough as the greens are guarded by water and sand throughout the course. The greens are average size but extremely fast. It will be important to not only hit the green but get it close to have shots at birdies. Proximity will be more important than GIR this week. If you are not hitting the greens in regulation Scrambling will become crucial to save pars and not give strokes back on the tough holes. When looking at the course setup there is 4 Par 3's(184-200 yards), 10 Par 4's(363-484 yards), and 4 Par 5's(527-567 yards). The wining score last year was -13 which is about average over the past 5-6 years. I will also be looking at scoring average overall this week as it takes a really good player to win here at Jack's Place. Below are all the stats I will using in my cheatsheet formula this week:
Tier 1 is a a little more closely grouped together this week. Every one of them(except Tiger as not enough stats in 2015 to register) are inside the Top 60 Scoring Average Rank. I will turn to Proximity, Scrambling, and Driving Accuracy next to find 4 guys who need to be rostered this week.
Jordan Spieth - $12,500 (Vegas Odds – 7.5/1)
My top pick this week is Masters Champ Jordan Spieth. Definitely the best player in the field this week. Spieth is coming off a T30 at the Byron Nelson, which by his standards, is an off week. Look at his season overall to this point though and it is pretty brilliant so far. He has 2 Wins, 3 runner ups, and 8 Top 10's. He comes back to Muirfield Village for a third time and has gotten better each time(T63-2013, T19-2014). His game is on and he has the stats to prove it. He averages a rank 34.5(3rd in field) in the 6 categories I am focusing on this week.
Hideki Matsuyama - $11,500 (Vegas Odds – 19/1)
Last years defending champ took down the Memorial on his first try. Pretty impressive in deed. He looks to win back to back and is coming in with some good form. He has made 7 straight cuts and hasn't finished outside T23. In that time he also has 3 Top 10's. He is elite in all stats except putting this year so if he can put together a 4 day stretch of average putting or better look for him to be there on the leaderboard on Sunday again.
Jim Furyk - $10,900 (Vegas Odds – 26/1)
Furyk's stats are very similar to Matsuyama's in that he is elite in all except putting. Combine the stats with his history at Muirfield Village(18/19 cuts made career, 6 Top 10's & a career avg finish of 25) and you have another golfer you better have on your rosters. He missed his most recent cut at the Wells Fargo but has had a Win and another Top 10 in the past month so form is current form is also there.
Matt Kuchar - $11,000 (Vegas Odds – 26/1)
Kuchar comes into the Memorial having played very consistent all year only missing 1 cut and recording 3 Top 10's. He has made 8 of 9 cuts here with 5 Top 10's & 1 Win. He loves the Memorial and always shows up for the big events. He is average in driving distance and GIR and below average in Prox. He is an elite scrambler, is elite in scoring average and a terrific putter. Very safe pick this week.
Also consider Bill Haas($9200) & Kevin Na($9000) at the bottom of Tier 1
In Tier 2 I think I found 3 guys who are all safe for cash games and have upside in GPP as well.
Brendon Todd - $8400 (Vegas Odds - 76/1)
Todd comes in to this tournament after missing the cut last week. Don't worry though. He hasn't missed back to back cuts since 2012. He finished T8 here last year in his only trip to Muirfield Village. His game fits the course in that he is elite in all stats except GIR where he is average. He should be able to post at least another Top 20 here this year.
Kevin Kisner - $8200 (Vegas Odds – 34/1)
Kisner comes in to the Memorial in good form. He has made his last 5 cuts with 2 runner ups and another T5 in his last start at the Crowne Plaza Invitational. Kisner played here for the first time last season and finished T46. His game matches up well with the course and his stat ranks this year prove it.
Ben Martin - $8000 (Vegas Odds – 56/1)
He hasn't missed a cut since the Masters and has posted T10, T38, T4, T17, T37 his last 5 tournaments. He is in good form and finished T49 here last year in his first trip. Like the other 2 guys in this Tier he is an accurate driver who also ranks highly in proximity. I will feel safe with any of these 3 guys in my cash game lineups this week.
Justin Thomas - $7200 (Vegas Odds – 51/1)
First thing I noticed with Thomas was that his price dropped $2000. He is in that group of young stars on the brink of breaking out and getting their first win. He played the Memorial last year for the first time and finished T37. He is playing full time this year and playing quite well so I can see him achieving at least a Top 30.
Graham DeLaet - $7100 (Vegas Odds – 81/1)
The thing I like the most about Delaet this week is his 30 rank in Proximity. He has been average in the other stats but I feel he is building towards a top finish. He has made his last 3 cuts including a T22 last weekend. He has played here twice missing the cut in 2010 and T21 in 2013. I am backing my fellow Canadian this week eh?
Russell Knox - $6900 (Vegas Odds – 101/1)
When looking at Knox's average rank of 40.5 and his price of $6900 he seems like a bargain. He has made his last 5 cuts and 8 of his last 9. He played here for the first time last year and missed the cut by a stroke. I think he is a good bet to make the cut and finish inside Top 30 this week.
William Mcgirt - $6300 (Vegas Odds – 151/1)
When looking for someone in Tier 4 to make the cut and help fill out a Stars and Scrubs lineup I will be looking at Mcgirt. He has made his last 2 cuts and only missed 4 all season. He has played here twice missing the cut last year and finishing T37 in 2013. His average rank on my cheatsheet this week is 48.8 which is 11th overall in the field this week.
Chris Durell has been playing Daily Fantasy Sports for three years and fantasy in general for more than a decade. He is active player in college football, NFL, NBA and of course PGA. He lives in Saskatchewan, Canada with his wife and two daughters. You can follow him on Twitter at @jager_bombs9 for advice, strategy, answers to any PGA questions and how he copes with the winters up north. Playing other DFS? Be sure to try out a free 3-day trial to the projection system that helps produce picks for the NBA, MLB and NFL! And check out our free NBA ebook below.
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