PGA Tour Picks: Memorial Tournament

By Tom LaMarre

Tiger Woods resumed his chase of Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major titles by winning the Masters in April and will have the chance to discuss it first-handed with “The Golden Bear” this week at The Memorial Tournament.

Woods will tee it up on Thursday in the 44th Memorial Tournament on Nicklaus’ course at Muirfield Village Golf Club http://www.mvgc.org in Dublin, Ohio, probably his only start before he bids for his 16th victory in the Grand Slam events next month at Pebble Beach.

“Ohio next week for the @Memorialgolf, then Pebble for the @usopengolf. Looking forward to getting out there next week,” Woods wrote on Twitter in announcing that he will play in the Memorial, which he has won a record five times, the last in 2012.

Other winners of the tournament include Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Greg Norman, Raymond Floyd, Hale Irwin, Hal Sutton, Vijay Singh, Kenny Perry, Fred Couples, Curtis Strange, Paul Azinger, Tom Lehman, and Bob Tway.

Even though Woods said he is going to play fewer tournaments this year, one reason is playing this week is that he probably wants to avoid what happened in the PGA Championship earlier this month at Bethpage Black, his first appearance since his memorable win at Augusta.

After claiming his first major title since the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, Woods was tired and sore, so he didn’t play any tournament golf between the first two majors of the year. And he took the whole day off the day before the start of the PGA.

“There’s no reason why I can’t get up to speed again and crank it back up,” the 43-year-old Woods said after the PGA. “I’ve got to start feeling a little bit better first before that happens. We’ll do that first and then start cranking it back up again.

“I just wasn’t moving the way I needed to. That’s the way it goes. There’s going to be days and weeks where it’s just not going to work.”

While Woods can’t get any closer to Nicklaus’ record this week, he can tie Sam Snead’s record of 82 PGA Tour victories, but he will have to do it against the strong field that always shows up at Muirfield Village to pay homage to the man considered the greatest golfer of all-time.

The impressive lineup includes defending champion Bryson DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, 2010 champion Justin Rose, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day, 2014 champ Hideki Matsuyama, Xander Schauffele, 2013 winner Matt Kuchar, Danny Willett, 2017 champ Jason Dufner, Marc Leishman, 2004 champion Ernie Els, Martin Kaymer, Henrik Stenson, 2002 winner Jim Furyk, 2011 champ Steve Stricker, 2015 winner David Lingmerth and Justin Thomas—who returns after missing the PGA Championship because of a wrist injury.

They all want to be the guy who accepts the trophy from Nicklaus.

BEST BETS

1. Matt Kuchar, United States – The FedEx Cup points leader on the strength of two victories and five other top-10 finishes this year, Kooch is on a roll with a tie for 12th in the Masters his worst finish in his last five outings. He also has seven top-10 finishes in the Memorial in 13 starts, winning the title by one shot over Kevin Chappell in 2013.
2. Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland – The oddsmakers installed McIlroy as the favorite this week, as he has won the Players among nine finishes in the top 10 on the PGA Tour this season, including a tie for ninth in the PGA two weeks ago. He has four top-10 results in the Memorial, including a tie for fourth in 2016 and a tie for eighth last season.
3. Justin Rose, England – Despite missing the cut last week in his title defense at the Charles Schwab Challenge, Rose figures to be in the mix in the Memorial, which he won by three strokes over Rickie Fowler in 2010. He has six other top-10 finishes at Muirfield Village, four of them in the last five years. Lost in a playoff to David Lingmerth in 2015.
4. Tiger Woods, United States – Coming off a missed cut in the PGA Championship after winning the Masters for his 15th major title, Woods always is among the favorites at Muirfield Village, where he has won a record five times—the last in 2012. He ended a much longer winless drought at Augusta, where he won for the first time since 2005.
5. Patrick Cantlay, United States – On a hot streak, Cantlay comes to the Memorial after tying for ninth in the Masters, tying for third in the RBC Heritage and tying for third in the PGA, and he has seven results in the top 10 this season. He was in the chase all the way last year in his second appearance at Muirfield Village before finishing fourth.
6. Rickie Fowler, United States – Looking to bounce back after a missed cut in the Charles Schwab Challenge, Fowler is coming to the right place. He tied for eighth in the Memorial last year, tied for second two years ago and finished solo second in 2010, when he led going to the last round. Has five top-10s this year, including a win in Phoenix.
7. Jason Day, Australia – Even though he lives near Muirfield Village, that hasn’t paid off for Day yet, as his best finish in 10 starts in the Memorial was a tie for 15th two years ago. Has five top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour this season, including a tie for fifth last month in the Masters and a tie for 23rd two weeks ago in the PGA Championship.
8. Xander Schauffele, United States – Two victories this season, plus a tie for second in the Masters and tie for 16th in the PGA Championship have Schauffele at fourth in the FedEx Cup standings. However, he missed the cut last week in the Charles Schwab Challenge and also missed the weekend in his first start in the Memorial last year.
9. Phil Mickelson, United States – Lefty is playing in the Memorial for the 15th time without claiming the title, with his best results a tie for fourth in 2006 and a tie for fifth in 2010. Mickelson, who won at Pebble Beach this year and is looking forward to the U.S. Open there in two weeks, tied for 71st in the PGA after tying for 18th in the Masters.
10. Bryson DeChambeau, Unites States – The defending Memorial champion, who beat Byeong-Hun An and Kyle Stanley in a playoff last year, is trying to snap out of a slump after missing the cut in his last three starts, including the PGA. Must play back to his form early in the season, when he won the Shriners and finished in the top 10 three times.

 OTHER PLAYERS TO WATCH – Justin Thomas, United States; Danny Willett, England; Alex Noren, Sweden; Kyle Stanley, United States; Adam Scott, Australia.

SLEEPERS

1. David Lipsky, United States – Twice a winner on European Tour, Lipsky is ninth in Race to Dubai. Won Dunhill Championship and was T-10 in WGC-Mexico this season.
2. Kyoung-Hoon Lee, South Korea – PGA Tour rookie, who has four victories in Asia, finished T-7 in Honda Classic and teamed with Matt Every for a T-3 in Zurich Classic.
3. Adam Schenk, United States – Among Shenk’s six finishes in the top 25 on the PGA Tour this season are ties for seventh in the Sanderson Farms and the Valero Texas Open.
4. Shubhankar Sharma, India – Has eight pro victories around the world and his top finishes this season are T6 in the Hong Kong Open and T10 in the CIMB Classic.
5. Jovan Rebula, South Africa – Ernie Els’ nephew, a junior at Auburn, captured the British Amateur last summer and is fresh off winning Southeastern Conference title.

For first-round tee times visit https://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard.html