Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – 2024 Memorial Tournament

2024 Memorial Tournament Fantasy Sleeper Report

It was a truly family affair at the Canadian Open last week.

Robert MacIntyre, who has previously admitted that homesickness has plagued his time on the PGA TOUR, had dad Dougie on his bag at the Hamilton Country Club – together, the Scots masterminded the younger MacIntyre’s maiden victory on North American soil. The left-hander went from four shots clear to one back on Saturday, so he needed a stern word from his father to right the ship – which he did, with a flurry of birdies on the back nine.

The Scot never really looked like giving his lead away on Sunday, despite the best efforts of Ben Griffin and Victor Perez, and so there were emotional scenes on the 18th green as the MacIntyre’s celebrated their unexpected success. Bobby, as he’s known, has already confirmed that he will have a new full-time caddie on the bag this week at the Memorial Tournament. The elder MacIntyre returns home to the small town of Oban safe in the knowledge that he is now part of PGA TOUR history – they became the first father-son combo since the Slocums in 2005 to win a TOUR event.

There’s big bucks on the table at Muirfield Village this week, with the Memorial Tournament the latest of the $20 million Signature Events – good timing from MacIntyre to play his way in, you might say. Muirfield Village, designed by Jack Nicklaus, is one of the most storied of PGA TOUR courses – in 2026, the venue will celebrate 50 years of hosting this event. It has stood the test of time due to the nature of its test, which defies the modern-day yardage gains of the players and still keeps winning scores down to below the TOUR average.

Thick tree lines, juicy rough, and small, fast greens are just some of the reasons for that, while the yardage – in excess of 7,500 yards for its Par 72 – also keeps the players honest with a series of accurate 200+ yard approaches required. Viktor Hovland found just 57% of greens in regulation on his way to victory here 12 months ago, which not only highlights how challenging Muirfield Village can play but also how well the Norwegian chipped and putted too.

The nature of these Signature Events is such that we have the best players on the PGA TOUR this week, including Scottie Scheffler – who can play with freedom now that his baby has been born and criminal charges dropped, Rory McIlroy, recent PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele, and Hovland himself.

Whoever wins will have done so the hard way at a firm, fast, and breezy Muirfield Village – winning here, at Jack’s Place, in this company is a real feather in the cap. But who will take care of business? Here’s five to look out for in our Memorial Tournament sleeper shortlist.

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Matt Fitzpatrick – 50/1 – Having gained +1.47 strokes on the field with his ball-striking at the PGA Championship, you don’t need us to tell you how badly Matt Fitzpatrick putted there to miss the cut. But that was a rare aberration on the greens, and we’re inclined to go with the takeaway that when Fitzpatrick is striking the ball this well, his short game is good enough to make magic happen. Solo fifth at the correlating TPC Sawgrass this year as just one example of his liking for this kind of test, with two top-10s at Muirfield Village confirming as much.

Russell Henley – 50/1 – This is exactly the kind of keep it simple, stay out of trouble track that you’d expect Russell Henley to thrive at. He has a T7 finish to his name at Muirfield Village, and that’s no surprise for a player that has thrived on the PGA TOUR courtesy of his ability to find fairways and greens in regulation with regularity. Henley’s game is in a good place, too. Since the start of April there’s been solo fourth at the Texas Open, T10 and T12 respectively at the Wells Fargo and RBC Heritage, and T23 at the PGA Championship.

Sungjae Im – 55/1 – After a poor run of form since the start of the year, Sungjae Im needed a hard reset to his game – he found it on a return home to his native South Korea. He won on the tour there, and has since returned to America with a pair of top-10s in three outings at the Wells Fargo and Charles Schwab Challenge. His ball-striking numbers are returning to the levels previously seen when Im has won PGA TOUR events, and it makes him such a danger given how strong his short game is. To add further fuel to the fire, the Korean has a previous top-10 at Muirfield Village too.

Sepp Straka – 66/1 – Accurate off the tee and elite on approach, it feels as though Sepp Straka is always halfway towards solving golf’s puzzle. His chipping game is something of a concern at venues like Muirfield Village, but he still manages to produce the goods in small green events – T5 at both Colonial and Sawgrass, plus T16 at Sawgrass, evidence of that. If he putts well, excellent things could happen for the Austrian. And, given that he wasn’t too shabby in that department on the Bentgrass greens of Colonial, we can only hope continued improvement with the flat stick is incoming.

Billy Horschel – 70/1 – Billy Horschel delivered his best measured approach play numbers in a year at the PGA Championship – an effort which carried him to a T8 finish amongst classy company. It’s noteworthy because Horschel is so good on the greens, so when he’s hitting approaches close anything is possible for a player who, on his day, is also a dab hand at finding fairways off the tee. The winner here in 2022, Horschel also has two other top-10s to his name here – he loves it at Jack’s Place, and arrives with plenty of confidence to burn.

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Want more of this week’s fantasy predictions? Check out our full fantasy preview for the Memorial Tournament here.

Fantasy Golf Predictions This Season (2024)

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