Fantasy Golf: Memorial Tournament Preview
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This week the PGA Tour heads to the Jack Nicklaus designed Muirfield Village Golf Course for the Memorial Tournament as William McGirt returns to the scene of his first PGA Tour victory.
A strong field heads to Jack’s Place this week, with Dustin Johnson, Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm gracing the pack as the European Tour heads to Sweden for the Nordea Masters.
The course has staged Memorial for over 40 years, and in it’s history the 7,392 yard par 72 has also welcomed the Ryder Cup, Solheim Cup and Presidents Cup. But who is the best bet to tame it this week?
Make sure you’ve made your fantasy golf team changes by midnight, Wednesday 31st May!
Fantasy Golf Picks: MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT
Past Champions in the field: William McGirt (’16), David Lingmerth (’15), Hideki Matsuyama (’14), Matt Kuchar (’13), Steve Stricker (’11), KJ Choi (’07), Carl Petterson (’06), Jim Furyk (’02)
Jordan Spieth: Fantasy Price £15m
Spieth needed to birdie the final hole to force a play-off with Kevin Kisner, but was left to settle for T2 with Jon Rahm at the tournament he was defending last week. While he missed the cut at both the Players Championship and the AT&T Byron Nelson, last week helped consolidate what has been a pretty solid season for the former World No.1. In 12 events he’s had a victory, four top 5s, a top 10, a T11, a T12 and missed three cuts. Helped with his T3 finish here in ’15 and a near-miss last week, we reckon Spieth could be a good bet this week.
Jon Rahm: Fantasy Price £12m
Rahm missed two birdie chances on his final two holes to tie Kisner for the lead at the Dean & Deluca, but instead had to settle for T2 with Spieth and a move in to the World’s top 10 for the first time. It was the second time the Spaniard has finished as runner-up in a year where he’s had a victory, five other top-5s, a top 10 and no missed cuts in 11 starts.
Dustin Johnson: Fantasy Price £15m
The numbers speak for themselves when it comes to Dustin Johnson’s results in 2017. In his last seven tournaments the World No 1 has gone T13-T12-T2-1-1-1-T3, and that’s with the break he took following his fall down stairs that caused him to miss the Masters. He narrowly missed the play-off here last year, and the year before that was T13, so he’ll be hoping to top the pile this week at a place he’s come close before.
Jason Day: Fantasy Price £15m
It’s been a very mixed season for Jason Day with just two top-5s and two missed cuts in nine events, but his runner-up finish at the AT&T Byron Nelson showed a return to form for the former World No.1 that he’ll be looking to carry on this week.
Hideki Matsuyama: Fantasy Price £14.5m
The 2014 champion returns to Muirfield village hoping to better his missed cut from 2016. He’s not been challenging for the top spot as often as he would have liked in 2017, but he has had a victory, a T2 and a T11 at the Masters in a season that includes just one missed cut in 11 events.
Adam Scott: Fantasy Price £14.5m
Scott hasn’t played many events in 2017, but the last time he teed up at Memorial in 2014 he finished T4. He was tied for 6th at the Players a few weeks ago the last time he played, so he’ll either come in to this event a little rusty, or well-rested and ready to make some low scores.
Matt Kuchar: Fantasy Price £13m
Kuchar comes in to Memorial having finished T12 at the Dean & Deluca and in the top 10 at the Byron Nelson, so the 2013 champion looks a fairly good bet for this week. Excluding the MDF cut at the Players Championship, he’s been pretty consistent is his past few events. His last six? T12- T9 – T82 – 40 – T11 – T4
Brooks Koepka: Fantasy Price £13.5m
Koepka didn’t have the most desirable final-round at the AT&T Byron Nelson, slipping down the leaderboard to end up T50 – but the run before that indicates he’s in striking distance of a victory in 2017. His last five results before Byron? T16- T5- T2- T11- T9
Byeong Hun An: Fantasy Price £11.5m
Hun An comes back across the pond having finished T24 at the European Tour’s BMW PGA Championship, and with two top 10s in the previous two starts preceding that. The 25-year-old Korean finished T11 in this event last year, and with a run of good results, it wouldn’t come as a surprise if he’s up there this week.
Pat Perez: Fantasy Price £8.5m
Perez just missed out at Wells Fargo, finishing T2 alongside Dustin Johnson – and followed it up with a T20 at The Players. He’s been a steady pick for us in our Fantasy Golf game, having not missed a cut all year until last week at Byron (excluding his WD at the Waste Management Pheonix Open) and recording two top-5s and five top 20s in 11 starts. He went off the boil last week, but with a low price and good season, it’s hard to argue against Perez as a pick.
Ollie Schniederjans: Fantasy Price £8m
Schniederjans has had a top-5 and two top 10s in 2017, and his last two strokeplay events before the Byron Nelson saw him finish T18 and T3. He finished T29 last week during his first appearance at the Dean & Deluca, and we reckon he’s quite a good outside pick if you’re low on Fantasy Cash.
Bud Cauley: Fantasy Price £7m
Cauley is playing some brilliant golf at the moment, and you can guarantee he’s going to be in our Fantasy team this week. His last five starts? T41-T5 – T5- T10- T9. He’s low value in our Fantasy Golf game, and while last week wasn’t his best performance of the year, he had a final round 69 so we reckon he’s a solid bet.
Sung-hoon Kang: Fantasy Price £5.5m
Kang is an absolute steal in our fantasy golf game if you look at his recent results. He finished T30 (the same as Sergio Garcia) in the Players, T20 last week and T57 at Dean & Deluca despite a final-round 69. He did miss the cut in the team-event Zurich Classic, but his last three results before that were T6-T11-T2
