What a tough weekend for Before You Bet and followers at the Charles Schwab Challenge on the weekend. After terrible winds in Round 1 that forced nearly every golfer teeing off in the afternoon to shoot over par, four of our five tips failed to recover and missed the cut.
We’ll be looking for a big bounce back performance this weekend as the tour heads to Dublin, Ohio for the annual Memorial Tournament. We take a look at the event in full and give our betting tips below.
2019 PGA Memorial Tournament Betting Tips
The World No.4, Bryson DeChambaeu, will be back to defend his Memorial Tournament title from last season, after he edged out An Byeong-hun and Kyle Stanley in a playoff to claim the trophy. The tournament will once again be held at the Muirfield Village Golf Club, as it has been every year since 1976.
The Course
Muirfield Village Golf Club is a 7,392 yard, Par 72, which should seem like a pretty comfortable distance for most of the players on tour after a few brutal weeks at Bethpage and the Colonial Golf Course. As we mentioned above, the course has hosted the Memorial Tournament every year since its inception in 1976 and remains one of the top 20 ranked golf courses in the United States.
After a few where water has barely been in play at the PGA Championship and the Charles Schwab Challenge, it’ll be a massive change of pace for golfers this weekend, as water is the key feature of Muirfield Village Golf Club, testing the golfers on 11 of the 18 holes. On the contrary to the previous two tournaments, the fairways are generous at Muirfield, with the greens and surrounding area posing the biggest test for the field.
Expect strong approach and scrambling players to reign supreme this weekend which was the case last year for DeChambaeu, when he finished 6th in shots gained putting and 12th in shots gained from tee to green.
The Field
The Memorial Tournament is one of just five events throughout the PGA Tour season that is given invitational status, meaning that the field is reduced to just 120 players and the criteria to qualify is generally harder. It also means a higher prize-pool, which results in a more talented field.
Tiger Woods will make his first start since the PGA Championship a few weeks ago, and he’ll headline a star-studded field that includes seven of the top 10 players in the world. Woods will be joined by the likes of Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Bryson DeChambaeu, Xander Schauffele and Rickie Fowler.
Thomas will make his first appearance since The Masters after having to withdrawl from various events with a wrist injury.
Prediction
When taking scrambling and putting into account, there’s one guy that really stands out for us this weekend and that’s Aussie Jason Day ($23). Day is without doubt one of the best putters in the world and his stats in 2019 back that up. He ranks No.10 in shots gained putting and 11th in overall putting average. Day’s bunker play and scrambling play around the green is also in the upper echelon of PGA Tour golfers. He has a 100% success rate and has a 62% overall scrambling rate. Day finished T5 in The Masters and backed it up with another pretty strong performance in his last start at Bethpage a few weeks ago, finishing T23.
Rickie Fowler ($21) has proven time and time again to be one of the strongest putters on the PGA Tour. He ranks No.14 overall in shots gained putting, No.14 in total putting percentage, No.28 in 3-putt avoidance and ranks highly in putting from nearly every distance. Missed the cut in Texas at the Charles Schwab Challenge on the weekend after a horror 74 in windy conditions on Thursday but backed it up with a strong 69 on Friday. Has played 13 events in 2019 and boasts one win with five top 10 finishes and seven top 25 finishes.
