Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – The Memorial Tournament

2018 Memorial Tournament Fantasy Sleeper Report

You can tell when major season is on the horizon when the best players in the world start cranking up through the gears.

Justin Rose, a former US Open champion, began his own preparations for a hectic few months by winning last week’s Fort Worth Invitational. It has to be said that he was hugely impressive too, ranking first for a number of ball striking stats that confirmed his complete dominance over the field.

Over in the UK, Rory McIlroy was battling hard in the BMW PGA Championship, but eventually went down to a resurgent Francesco Molinari. Still, two of the best players on the planet have hit top form ahead of the US Open, which is now just two weeks away.

Eight of the top ten in the world rankings will head to Dublin, Ohio, for the Memorial Tournament this week, an event which, while not of major-level difficulty, is certainly one of the tougher assignments on the Tour.

Charl Schwartzel of South Africa plays his shot from the ninth tee…

Charl Schwartzel of South Africa plays his shot from the ninth tee during the third round of THE PLAYERS Championship on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on May 12, 2018 in Ponte Vedra Beach,… Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

The Jack Nicklaus designed Muirfield Village is the host, and this Par 72 layout offers an examination of those in the field’s all-round game. Fairways are of average width and lined by penal rough, while the small Bentgrass greens run at a fair old lick. So, accurate driving, precision approach play, and a sure hand with the flat stick will all combine for the best results this week.

Muirfield has hosted the Ryder Cup back in 1987, the Solheim Cup and the Presidents Cup, and you suspect that it is the kind of layout that will find its way onto the PGA Championship rotation soon enough.

So, with a tough test expected, which of the players make their way onto our list of unmissable sleeper plays this week?

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The Memorial Tournament Fantasy Sleeper Report

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The Memorial Tournament Fantasy Sleeper Report

Charl Schwartzel – Vegas Odds 55/1 – There have been plenty of positive signs for Charl Schwartzel of late, who has recorded top-tens in each of his last three outings including a T2 in THE PLAYERS Championship in his last start.

The South African ranked inside the top-ten for Strokes Gained from Tee-to-Green and on Approach at Sawgrass, and so the fundamentals of his game are in a good place, and with 13 victories worldwide – including The Masters in 2011 – we know that Schwartzel is a guy who can get the job done.

His record at Muirfield is pretty good, too. Seven consecutive visits have yielded five top-25 finishes which includes two top-10s and a T11, so there’s no doubt that this layout suits Schwartzel’s eye.

Chesson Hadley – Vegas Odds 60/1 – Given how consistently well he has played this season, it is a surprise that Chesson Hadley hasn’t been able to get over the line and into the winner’s circle.

With six top-10s this season, Hadley sits second in that particular list behind Brian Harman and that gives an indicator of his ability to get into the mix.

He also ranks third for Proximity to the Hole, which is an indictment of his fantastic approach play.

Hadley’s last six strokeplay starts have all delivered top-20 finishes, including a T7 at another Jack Nicklaus inspired property, Harbour Town Links, in the RBC Heritage.

Kevin Na – Vegas Odds 60/1 – It is not beyond the pale to suggest that Kevin Na is playing some of the best golf of his career right now, and you wonder where that will take him.

He opened up 66-65 at the AT&T Byron Nelson and was just four shots off the lead at the 54-hole stage, and at Colonial last week he bookended his fourth-place finish with rounds of 62 and 61 in a sublime display of golf.

So, if he can connect four good rounds at Muirfield Village this week – and he has finishes T2 here in the past remember – then who knows: perhaps Na can add a long overdue second PGA TOUR win to his resumé.

Billy Horschel – Vegas Odds 66/1 – It has been a productive few months for Billy Horschel, who returned to form at the RBC Heritage with a T5 return back in April.

He followed up with T11 at the Texas Open before teaming up with Scott Piercy to win the Zurich Classic, where his putter was red hot.

Subsequent finishes at THE PLAYERS Championship (T37) and AT&T Byron Nelson (T21) suggest a cooling off but seven of those eight rounds were under par, and with five PGA TOUR titles to his name – including a pair of FedExCup events – we’re always happy to have a proven winner on side at this kind of price.

Xander Schauffele – Vegas Odds 90/1 – After a stellar 2017 in which he was named the Tour’s rookie of the year, it is perhaps not such a surprise that Schauffele has struggled at times this term.

But the youngster appeared to have found his game at THE PLAYERS Championship in finishing T2, and while he missed the cut at Colonial two weeks later it was apparent that his putter is back working nicely; he ranked fifth for Strokes Gained: Putting, albeit from a small sample size.

So, he gained strokes on approach at Sawgrass and on the greens at Colonial, and that is a happy combination ahead of a trip to a Muirfield layout that should suit his eye.

Schauffele has already tasted victory at a Jack Nicklaus property, the Old White, for his maiden PGA TOUR win in the Greenbrier Classic last year, so he will be hoping that lightning strikes twice this week.

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

Sleeper Report Predictions This Season (2017-2018)

[skill_bar heading=”Total Top 3s” percent=”2.22%” bar_text=”3 out of 135 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 10s” percent=”9.62%” bar_text=”13 out of 135 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 25s” percent=”27.940%” bar_text=”37 out of 135 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Winners Picked” percent=”3.70%” bar_text=”1 out of 27 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Runners-Up Picked” percent=”3.70%” bar_text=”1 out of 27 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Made Cuts (Includes Sleepers)” percent=”62.96″ bar_text=”85 out of 135 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″]

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