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A stellar 3-week stretch of the PGA Tour schedule begins this week with the 2024 Memorial Tournament, the last event before the U.S. Open at Pinehurst. As a signature event, most of the game’s best players will be in the field at Muirfield Village, all vying for a victory handshake from tournament host Jack Nicklaus on Sunday. The 1st round from Dublin, Ohio, begins on Thursday morning.
Below, we search for the best value prop bets from BetMGM Sportsbook among the 2024 Memorial Tournament odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions.
The top-ranked golfer in the world and in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, Scottie Scheffler, comes in as the betting favorite once again at +350. Xander Schauffele has the 2nd-best odds (+900) and is also ranked 2nd by Golfweek/Sagarin, followed by Rory McIlroy (+1000), who’s 3rd in betting odds and the latest rankings.
Muirfield has been renovated multiple times over the years and now plays at 7,585 yards as a par 72. Viktor Hovland won the Memorial last year with a score of 7-under-par, 12 shots worse than Patrick Cantlay’s winning score (19-under) in 2019. The rough is long and penalizing, which makes hitting approaches into the small, firm greens even more difficult when missing the fairway.
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Memorial Tournament – Top-5 picks
Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 7:50 p.m. ET.
Patrick Cantlay (+400)
Cantlay is a 2-time champion at this course and also has 2 other top-5 finishes since 2018. His game isn’t in peak form right now, but his course history makes him a worthy bet for a top-5 finish again this week.
Ludvig Aberg (+350)
Assuming Aberg is fully healthy, he’s more than capable of cracking the top 5 at Jack’s place. It’ll be his 1st time playing the Memorial Tournament, but that didn’t impact him at all at the Masters when it was his 1st time seeing Augusta National.
Memorial Tournament – Top-10 picks
Collin Morikawa (+105)
Morikawa is on a hot streak coming into the week, finishing 4th in each of his last 2 starts. His ball-striking is back and if he gets even an average performance on the greens, he’ll be in contention.
Sahith Theegala (+275)
Theegala struggled at the RBC Canadian Open last week and surprisingly missed the cut, but he had just finished 12th at the PGA Championship not long before. Perhaps a longer course like Muirfield will fit him better; he finished 5th here in 2022.
Corey Conners (+300)
Conners is always in danger of his putter going ice cold, but with how well he hits his irons, he’s going to give himself plenty of birdie opportunities. His best finish at Muirfield was a T-13 in 2022 and he’s made the cut in 4 of 5 years.
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Memorial Tournament – Top-20 picks
Will Zalatoris (+160)
This is either a good buy-low spot for Zalatoris or a bit of a risk if he isn’t actually healthy. He showed signs of being back to his usual form earlier this year and his iron game is still on point (14th in SG: approach), but he needs to be better on and around the green.
Keegan Bradley (+138)
Bradley is heating up, finishing 21st or better in each of his last 3 starts – including a T-2 at the Charles Schwab Challenge two weeks ago. He’s 21st in SG: tee-to-green, evidence of how well he’s hitting the ball coming into the week.
Russell Henley (+110)
Henley may not have the desired length for a course like Muirfield but he’s going to keep it in the fairways and his short game is excellent. Other than SG: off the tee, he ranks in the top 37 in every other category, including 35th in approach.
Memorial Tournament – Matchups
Suggested play is golfer in bold.
Corey Conners (-120) vs. Tom Kim (-105)
Kim is starting to turn things around, finishing 4th in Canada last week, but he missed the cut here last year – his only appearance in the Memorial. Conners is 4-for-5 in cuts made at Jack’s place and finished 13th 2 years ago.
Justin Thomas (-125) vs. Tommy Fleetwood (+100)
Fleetwood doesn’t have a great track record here, with his last 2 starts (2017 and 2015) resulting in missed cuts. Thomas is playing well right now, with finishes of T-5, T-21 and T-8 in his last 3 starts.
Memorial Tournament – Top Asian
Byeong Hun An (+333)
This is a closely contested market with all 5 players between +300 and +400 odds, led by Hideki Matsuyama at the shortest number. Matsuyama hasn’t played much (or very well) since the Valero Texas Open in April, and An is in the midst of the best season of his career.
Memorial Tournament – First-round leader
Viktor Hovland (+2200)
Hovland was the champion here last year and though it’s mostly been a disappointing season for him, he finished 3rd at the PGA Championship last month. It’s easy to see a scenario where he goes low on Thursday and keeps up that momentum.
Shane Lowry (+5000)
Lowry shot 69 in the opening round last year, which put him tied for 3rd and only 2 shots off the lead. He’s in good form and can weather some difficult scoring conditions like the ones at Muirfield.
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More expert prop bet predictions
Will there be a playoff? Yes: (+350)
Hovland won in a playoff last year, the 6th playoff at Muirfield in the last 10 years. For whatever reason, this course yields close finishes and we’ll bet on another one this year.
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For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
Golfweek:
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