Tony Finau leads the 2020 Memorial Tournament at 6-under par after the opening round. He is the live betting favorite at +650 at BetMGM with a one-shot lead over Ryan Palmer (+3500) at Muirfield Village Golf Club. Below, we’ll look past Finau in search of value bets and make our picks to win the Memorial Tournament going into Round 2.
2020 Memorial Tournament Round 2 betting picks: Favorites
Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Thursday at 7:20 p.m. ET.
Jon Rahm (+750)
Rahm sits three shots back in a tie for fifth at minus-3. Ranked second in the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings, he holds the highest placing of anyone in the top 10.
Rahm ranked fourth in the field with 1.87 Strokes Gained: Off the Tee and sixth with 3.73 SG: Tee-to-Green Thursday, according to Data Golf. He was strong on the greens with 1.19 SG: Putting. He made just two bogeys and five birdies on the day, including each of the four par 5s.
Ryan Palmer (+3500)
Palmer led the field with 5.93 SG: Tee-to-Green Thursday en route to a second-place finish on the day at minus-5. He also ranked third in SG: Around the Green Thursday at 2.70. He started the first round of the RBC Heritage with a 6-under 65 to sit one back of the lead before going on to finish T-8 at minus-17.
2020 Memorial Tournament Round 2 betting picks: Contender
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Viktor Hovland (+6600)
Hovland is T-59 after Day 1 at plus-2. A third-place finisher at Muirfield Village last week in the Workday Charity Open, he fired an opening round of 2-under 69 before making his charge Friday and Saturday.
One of the leaders in SG: Off the Tee since the PGA Tour’s restart, he lost 2.03 strokes off the tee Thursday. He was able to gain 1.19 strokes putting in a usual area of weakness and should be able to correct the rare poor driving performance.
2020 Memorial Tournament Round 2 betting picks: Long shot
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Joaquin Niemann (+12500)
Niemann is tied for 42nd at plus one and sits a stroke inside the projected cut line. He ranked third with 3.49 SG: Approach and 10th with 3.43 SG: Tee-to-Green Thursday, but lost 2.51 strokes putting as the 10th-worst performance in the field on the day.
He’s tied with Bryson DeChambeau after the opening 18 holes of the tournament, but DeChambeau is just +2200 to go on to win. Back Niemann for a massive hit, as he just needs a neutral putting performance the rest of the way in order to contend Sunday.
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