Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, & Predictions – The Memorial Tournament 2016

Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions for the Memorial Tournament Presented by Nationwide

The Memorial Tournament Fantasy Preview

Jason Day and Jordan Spieth—arguably the two hottest names in golf right now—are back at it together again this week at Jack’s place, Muirfield Village (MV).  Spieth’s win last week certainly boosted his confidence and it’s definitely the fire power he needs to try and earn the World No. 1 Rank back from Jason Day.  Day will come in this week as the only three-time winner on TOUR this season and he will try to conquer MV; a course that hasn’t been so nice to him in the past.

But with all this Day vs. Spieth talk we can’t forget about the other hot player looking to join the hunt for a chance to regain a once held World. No. 1 spot.  That’s right, Rory McIlroy will come into Ohio this week fresh off of his win at the Irish Open—his first ever win at that event.  Rory’s been around the block at Muirfield and he already has two top-10 finishes in five attempts there.

This week’s key to success for DraftKings and other salary cap fantasy games is going to be a mix of well-balanced mid-tier players.  With so much talent in the $7,000-8,500 range, you’re going to need to hook into some Top 10 finishes from two out of three mid-tier picks along with a solid performance from your horse pick to take down this field.

Last Week’s Fantasy Results

Although six of our seven picks made the cut, we ended up on the wrong side of horse pick last week as Jordan Speith was able to shake off his jitters and get back to his winning ways last week.  Despite the Scott pick, our alternate roster faired well with five of six making the cut and three players averaging almost 80 fantasy points.

Here’s one of our sample DraftKings rosters from last week with quite a few names that performed well across the board.

Stay tuned to our fantasy picks section below because this week we’re upping the ante and providing our Premium Members with a bonus third sample roster showing you exactly how to build a killer “mid-tier heavy” lineup this week. 

Last Week’s Sleeper Report Fantasy Results

Despite coming off long Vegas odds (50/1 or greater) all five players in our Tuesday Sleeper Report played through the weekend (meaning they all brought in fantasy points) and we had a few solid finishes in there.  

Our Top Sleeper pick of the week, Bryce Molder (who we favored on our ‘must-have’ picks segment and our featured sleeper in our Sleeper Report), finished T10 and banked a nice chunk of fantasy points making him a significant value at his low price point last week.  Perhaps even more astonishing was our lowest sleeper selection, David Hearn, who at 150/1 Vegas odds ended up raking in 70 fantasy points en route to a T17 finish.

Last Week’s European Tour Fantasy Results

By now you’ve probably already heard that DraftKings (the biggest venue for DFS fantasy golf) officially rolled our European Tour contests last week.  That said, we’re happy to report a strong showing in our first week out of the gate making European TOUR fantasy picks, with four of five players making the cut including two Top 15 finishers (Van Zyl T7 and Westwood T15).    

Be sure to check out our picks for The Nordea Classic this week against a solid field of players including Stenson, Westwood, and Noren. 

The 2016 Memorial Tournament Field

Let’s just say that you’ll have your hands full trying to navigate a Memorial Tournament field that includes the Top 5 golfers in the world and twenty-one other names from the world’s top thirty.  

OWGR No. 1 Jason Day has home-field advantage for this one as Day (despite being an Australian native) lives in the area and knows the course well.  Joining Jason this week will be other top PGA TOUR names like Spieth and Fowler, as well as the aforementioned Rory McIlroy and even World No. 4 Bubba Watson will be back in action after taking 2015 off at this venue.    

Another name from this week’s field who has been in the news for the wrong reasons lately is Phil Mickelson.  Lefty will be returning to Muirfield Village this week but hasn’t done much here since his T6 in 2006.

If you’re looking for seasoned veteran with a ‘horse for the course’ feel, you may want to explore Ernie Els a little bit more this week.  The Big Easy has played in 23 consecutive editions of the Memorial and owns five Top-8 finishes including a second place finish here 16 years ago.  But, is he worth his $6,200 salary this week?  You’ll have to wait to find out below in our picks segment if he makes the cut.

This Week’s Course Overview

Muirfield Village Golf Club measures in at 7,392 yards and plays as a par 72.  The track is an iconic landmark on Tour that is both well respected and highly attended by most of the PGA TOUR’s elite year in and year out.  As mentioned earlier, Tiger owns five wins here and most recent winners include some of the hottest names of the trending players on Tour like Matsuyama (2014) and Kuchar (2013).

Believe it or not, MV is the only venue to host all three of U.S. team match-play events including the Ryder Cup (1987), Solheim Cup (1998), and Presidents Cup (2013).  

The course remains a Top 50 golf course and bucket list golf course for golfers around the world.

A photo posted by Cindy Stemple (@cmstemps) on May 30, 2016 at 8:56am PDT

Weather Forecast for Dublin, Ohio

As if the deep shaggy rough at Muirfield isn’t tough enough, rain will threaten the area Thursday morning and possibly during the final round on Sunday.  Expect low 80s temperatures and scoring to be kept low if the wet weather does roll in.

Last Year’s Results from the Memorial Tournament

Last year is was David Lingmerth who came out on top after competing in the Memorial’s longest ever playoff.  The Sweden native finished the final eleven holes in bogey-free fashion and secured his spot in the playoff with a closing 69.

After shanking his bunker shot on the 72nd hole, Rose scrambled to make it into the playoff with Lingmerth with a skillful par save. Rose then knocked down a 20-foot par putt on the first playoff hole that looked like the nail in the coffin until Lingmerth buried a 10-footer of his own.

After escaping defeat twice, Lingmerth slammed the door on Justin Rose with a par on the third playoff hole.  The victory was his first PGA TOUR win in 68 tries and he’ll be back in town this week to try and defend his title.

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk4KKvb5ie0&end=206&width=742&height=419[/embedyt]

This Week’s Broadcast Schedule

• Television Broadcasts
  • Thursday (June 2, 2016) – Friday (June 3, 2016) 3:30 pm – 6:30 pm EST (Golf Channel)
  • Saturday (June 4, 2016) 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm EST (GC), 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm (CBS)
  • Sunday (June 5, 2016) 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm EST (GC), 2:30 pm – 6:00 pm (CBS)

• Mobile Broadcasts via the PGA TOUR LIVE App
  • Thursday – Friday, 7:30 am – 3:00 pm ET (featured groups), 3:00pm – 6:00 pm (featured holes)
  • Saturday – Sunday, 8:00 am – 6:00 pm ET (featured groups)

• RADIO
  • Thursday-Friday, 12:00 – 7:00pm EST, Saturday-Sunday 1:00 – 6:00 pm ET (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM)

Where to Play Fantasy Golf for the Memorial Tournament this Week

Once again there will be twice the action this week with DraftKings adding European Tour contests to their uber-popular DFS fantasy leagues.  That said, here are just a few of our favorites.

PGA TOUR – The Memorial Tournament

• PGA $500K FORE [$100K TO 1ST!]: This hugely popular contest($3 dollar entry) has a total prize purse of $500,000 with first place winning $100,000 and all players who finish within the top 31,300th taking home a piece of the action.  We like those odds!
• PGA $250K CLUB PRO [$50,000 TO 1ST]: This exclusive 833-player game has a total of $250,000.00 in total prizes and pays out the top 183 finishing positions.  First place will walk away with $50,000 and the cost to entry is $333.  Time to put on your big boy pants and jump in there for some nice odds at a big payday.

European TOUR – The Nordea Masters

• EURO $50K FAIRWAY [$50,000 GUARANTEED]: This 2128-player fantasy game will payout $50,000.00 in total prizes to the top 435 finishing positions.  First place wins $5,000.00.  There is a cap of only 2128 entries so get in there early.

This Week’s Fantasy Notes for the Memorial Tournament

Last year Lingmerth didn’t bring much fire power, with a final week ranking of T61 in driving distance.  Additionally, 2014 winner Hideki Matsuyama finished the week T39 in distance.  Conclusion: past editions have proven that power isn’t required to be successful at Muirfield.

On the other hand, accuracy seems to be a critical stat and both winners ranked T11 in their victories—we all know the rough here can be brutal.  That said, we’d be willing to take a chance on a less accurate player if his Stokes Gained Putting stat is within the Top 3 on TOUR YTD.  Regardless, we think putting and accuracy wins here this week, plain and simple.

We know that MV has some deep shaggy rough which can drive TOUR pros nuts.  Missing fairways leads to bogeys here, so we’d rather take 280 yards in the fairway than the 335 in the rough.  You might even get to add a few guys to your roster that are super accurate and offer some distance as an added bonus.  Along with these stats we are putting a heavy weight on Greens in Regulation, Scrambling, and Strokes Gained Putting.

If you’re going to pick one high price player (horse pick), you’ll be picking between Day, Spieth, and McIlroy.  Top-tier picks will range from Fowler to Reed and mid-tier picks should fall between Mickelson and Knox.  With so many great sleeper picks, you could possibly fit a horse and a top-tier player in your lineup and still have a well-rounded roster.

No doubt the biggest question question is: “Day, Spieth, or McIlroy?”  So let’s dive in and answer that one to start…

Our Top 5 (and Top 2 Sleeper) Fantasy Picks and Odds to Win the Memorial Tournament

You must be a Premium Member to view our exclusive fantasy golf picks.

Already a member? Sign in Here.

Last Week’s Top 5 Picks/Odds to Win the DEAN & DELUCA Invitational

• Adam Scott (Golficity Odds 12/1) T55 ($15,008)
• Charley Hoffman (Golficity Odds 20/1) T42 ($23,450)
• Chris Kirk (Golficity Odds 28/1) T15 ($117,250)
• Colt Knost (Golficity Odds 40/1) T67 ($13,668)
• Boo Weekley (Golficity Odds 75/1) MC

Sleeper Pick/Odds to Win the DEAN & DELUCA Invitational

• Bryce Molder (Golficity Odds 80/1) T10 ($167,500)

Salary Cap League Sleeper Pick/Odds to Win the DEAN & DELUCA Invitational

• Emiliano Grillo (Golficity Odds 100/1) T55 ($15,008)

Fantasy Golf Predictions YTD (2015-2016)

Remember to visit our private Facebook group to discuss this week’s picks for the Memorial Tournament Presented by Nationwide with other Premium Members.

Looking for fantasy golf picks for the 2016 Nordea Masters?  Get our full European Tour fantasy preview here.

Cover Photo via Facebook