Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – 2025 Memorial Tournament presented by Workday

Memorial Tournament presented by Workday Fantasy Sleeper Report

No win in 89 PGA TOUR appearances. Two wins in 94 PGA TOUR appearances.

Whether the floodgates have opened for Ben Griffin remains to be seen, but there’s no doubt that victory alongside Andrew Novak at the Zurich Classic set him up perfectly to see out the win at the Charles Schwab Challenge on Sunday.

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Griffin came unglued on the back, it would be fair to say, and went on a spree of missing fairways and greens in regulation. But he’s made of sterner stuff these days, and lent on a short game that wouldn’t crumble under pressure – Griffin just about closing out a one-shot margin of victory.

It pushes him up to world number 24, and he’ll find plenty of his fellow members of the OWGR top-30 heading to Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio for this week’s Memorial Tournament.

Scottie Scheffler will lead the way as the world number one and the defending champion. He out-ground the field in a war of attrition at Muirfield Village 12 months ago, with only eleven players finishing under par here in 2024.

A fruity weather forecast, with strong winds expected, could see a repeat this week, too.

Muirfield Village, known as ‘Jack’s Place’ in deference to its creator, Jack Nicklaus, is a suitably uncompromising ball-striking test, with a genuine need to hit fairways off the green before launching approaches into some small Bentgrass greens. 

There’s plenty of thick rough, sand, and water around the property, and strong winds are only going to add to the complexity yet further.

Scheffler is perhaps the best placed to deal with such inconveniences, particularly with no Rory McIlroy in the field for this Signature Event. But could the winds be a leveller this week?

Plenty of others will be of interest, with the likes of Viktor Hovland and Patrick Cantlay already crowned champions at Muirfield Village, with Collin Morikawa a two-time runner up. A stern test of tee-to-green golf could also play nicely into the hands of Xander Schauffele, Tommy Fleetwood, and perhaps even a rejuvenated Justin Thomas.

There’s limited scope for a longer odds winner, you might fancy, although Billy Horschel did prevail as a 60/1 chance here in 2022. And besides, these Signature Events afford us the opportunity to back quality operators at some juicy prices, too.

So who makes the grade in our sleeper shortlist for the 2025 Memorial Tournament?

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Denny McCarthy – 50/1 – There’s plenty of value in backing those with prior success at Muirfield Village, and Denny McCarthy certainly fits the bill in that regard.

He suffered a tough playoff loss here to Viktor Hovland in 2023, having racked up a T5 turn at the venue 12 months prior, so McCarthy will enjoy the test this week.

His game is advanced beyond simply being a putting machine, with McCarthy 2.0 recording a major top-ten finish, two Signature Event top-20s, and T14 at the PLAYERS Championship since February alone.

That maiden PGA TOUR win remains elusive, but McCarthy continues to mature and develop as a player – is it a question of when, rather than if?

Sungjae Im – 50/1 – Sungjae Im is one of those guys that hasn’t won often enough relative to his ability, but he does tend to reserve his best golf for the toughest of conditions.

The Korean a real grind at the Honda Classic a few years ago, and has to his name a pair of top-fives at The Masters, as well as similarly eye-catching results at difficult layouts like Bay Hill and Sedgefield. 

Inconsistency has crept into Im’s game in recent years, but a formline that boasts a T5 turn at The Masters and T11 at the RBC Heritage in April is indicative of a player that isn’t far away from their best. 

Sam Burns – 50/1 – A club down, test of chipping and scrambling has come along at the right time for Sam Burns, who has been leaning heavily on his putter of late.

Indeed, he’s never been in better shape on the greens – rolling the rock so well at the RBC Heritage and PGA Championship that he’s been able to record top-20 finishes in world-class company while losing strokes to the field on approach.

Burns’ best performance at Muirfield Village came in last year’s tough scrap, and so he represents good value in a week where the wind could once again wreak havoc.

Alex Noren – 70/1 – You have to take your hat off to Alex Noren.

He suffered a serious hamstring injury in January that kept him out for the best part of five months; and also meant that his last competitive round came back in October.

But the Swede, having shaken off the rust at the Truist Championship, played a blinder at the PGA Championship – finishing T17 and gaining strokes in every department on an elite field.

A former champion on the Links in Scotland, Noren won’t give a hoot if the wind blows strong in Ohio – his game is built for exactly that.

Andrew Novak – 80/1 – Aside from the ‘Ben Griffin effect’, Andrew Novak rates a good chance in his own right this week.

He was one of the first to celebrate with Griffin on Sunday, with the pair having been good friends for some time – that kinship evident in their win at the Zurich Classic.

Novak will no doubt be inspired by his buddy’s maiden solo win, coming as it does not long after he had a close brush with his own success, having lost in a playoff to Justin Thomas at the RBC Heritage.

T11 at the Charles Schwab Challenge – an event that’s proven to be an excellent primer for the Memorial in recent years, Novak has to be of interest this week.

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

Fantasy Golf Predictions This Season (2024-2025)

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