This will be the third and final signature event with a cut, as they only whittle the field down on “player-hosted” events (Genesis, API, & Memorial). I’m 95% sure the Travelers is the final of these events, meaning we’re in for a hell of a three-week stretch here with a major sandwiched between two elite fields in Ohio and New England.

Love this event, always will have the weird memory of when they played here two weeks in a row back in 2020 and they truly showed how much you can crank up the difficulty of a course after the Workday Charity Open had a cutline of -2. The following week only nine men would finish 72 holes under par. The Thursday winds didn’t help either but it would play about 2.5 strokes tougher for the Memorial.

So:

• Par 72, 7,569 yards

• 73 in the field. Top 50 from ‘23, the folks that made the Aon Next 10 & Aon Swing 5 lists (FedEx Cup Standings), a few sponsors exemptions, anyone else who’s won this year that wasn’t on any of those lists, and Jackson Koivun (your 2024 Jack Nicklaus Award winner from Auburn.)

• Top 50 plus ties make the cut + anyone within 10 shots of the lead (I’ll assume Rory)

• Weird Fact: Lucas Glover is making his 20th consecutive appearance at the Memorial Tournament, the longest active streak by any player

A look at the course:

Muirfield Village Golf Club

Muirfield Village Golf Club is a par-72 course that measures 7,569 yards. The recently added length makes it the fifth-longest annual course on Tour. This classical parkland layout is characterized by elevation changes, wide tree-lined fairways, challenging bunkers, firm and fast green complexes, and penal rough. There are also 12 holes with water danger.

With so many areas that the course defends itself, the margin for error is minuscule. Even slight mistakes can compound matters quickly leading to bogey or worse. Looking back from 2016-2020, Muirfield Village played to an average score of 0.75 over par. When analyzing the last three years of data since the renovation, it has played significantly more difficult at an average of 1.12 strokes over par ranking it as the second-toughest non-major course on the PGA Tour.

Said 2020 Memorial champion Jon Rahm after the renovation, “It’s a test out there. It’s more how golf should be. I’m glad for once we’re not having a week where it becomes a putting contest and see who shoots 20-plus under par. I do think the redesign has made it a better golf course.” Because of the penal rough, players who drive it well have a much better chance of finding success with their approach shots than those stuck trying to hack their ball out of the thick grass.

Muirfield Village’s design is typical of one of Nicklaus’s core philosophies. With wider fairways, each hole gets more difficult the further it gets from the tee box. Nicklaus believes in challenging players on approach and into the greens so that those who hit quality irons and can scramble to save par will rise to the top. Similar to how the “Golden Bear” himself played the game, Muirfield favors a power fade off the tee with a high ball flight apex into the greens which typically get dramatically firmer as the weekend progresses.

Tiger Woods confirmed this advantage a few years ago. “So over the course of my career, I’ve done well on Nicklaus courses. And I’ve always felt maybe just the high fade or just high shots in general, because I’ve always hit the ball high has always been advantageous.”

Known for its immaculate grass and fantastically manicured grounds, Muirfield Village is one of the most picturesque golf courses on Tour. Fairway grass and greens are made up of Bentgrass, while the rough is a 4″ blend of Kentucky bluegrass, ryegrass and fescue. The greens are very pure and consistent throughout rolling at around a fast 13 on the stimpmeter. They rank below average in size at 5,000 square feet and are also known for being some of the toughest greens on Tour with broad sweeping contours and numerous pin locations that will funnel back toward the hole when hit to the proper quadrant….

Betting

Took one in the teeth last week with Akshay not giving me nearly enough to take down powerhouse MacKenzie Hughes. Course played about how I thought, Hughes was just much better striking the ball than I expected.

Still on the right side of zero for the season. YTD: 11-9-1, +1.26u

Small outright card for the small field. One of the top golfers in the world at 10/1 and Valspar Champ Peter Malnati (only here since he has a win)

Matchup For the Week:

Keegan Bradley > Sepp Straka -120 (DK)

Both men played well at the Chuck Schwab but short term I trust Keegan’s putting and chipping a bit more. Ball striking stats I’m looking at are fairly even, but finishing holes and finding scoring opportunities favor Keegs in my opinion here.

Also, took some small bets on Brooks and Bryson in Houston. This is a weird/bad time of year to play golf in Texas, so it should be fun. Short (free to read) preview up on the site:

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Weather

Delightful late spring weather for the most part. Winds will be kicking up a bit in the afternoons, and some showers possible.

It does look like Friday late would be the worst of it for the afternoon gust, so slight lean to the PM/AM wave here.

News and Notes

Jason Day wore boxer shorts today by accident.

Video of the day, of the week:

I’ll be dusting off the round by round matchups model this week, but mostly with an eye looking towards the Carolinas…

I will admit I had given zero thought to how the Olympic golf teams are determined, but we’ve got a hell of a race for the Spanish team.

As always, bet responsibly, have fun, and enjoy the start of summer!

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