Favorite Plays by Tier
The Memorial
Muirfield Village GC: Dublin, OH Par 72, 7,456 Yards
Course Ranks (#1 is Most Difficult)
- 2019: 13/49, played 0.081 Strokes OVER Par
- 2018: 30/51, played 0.604 Strokes UNDER Par
- 2017: 13/50, played 0.797 Strokes OVER Par
- 2016: 36/50, played 1.013 Strokes UNDER Par
WEDNESDAY UPDATE
Weather
Thursday looks to be something to look at. The National Weather Service has heavy winds Thursday afternoon around 15 mph, with 20-25 mph gusts. Windfinder has heavy gusts all day Thursday, with 10 mph winds all day. If I had just looked at Windfinder, I would see no tee time advantage. If I just look at the National Weather Service, the Thursday morning golfers would have an advantage. I will be looking at this later Wednesday night to see if there is anything more definitive. If there is, I will do another update. For now, I'm not going to make any significant changes to my player pool due to weather; but, I may change that if Wednesday night forecast suggests it.
Ownership
It is pretty spread out this week, with maybe one or two of the following getting to 20%+: Patrick Cantlay, Abraham Ancer, Daniel Berger, and Viktor Hovland. There may always be a surprise addition to the list as well, but these 4 are in the Top 5 projected highest owned golfers on both FanShare Sports and Fantasy National. As for others who may get above 15%: Tiger Woods, Jon Rahm, Joaquin Niemann, and Gary Woodland.
Player Withdrawals
Bill Haas (Undisclosed) and Brandt Snedeker (Back) have withdrawn since the Monday Podcast. Luke List takes Haas' spot, while no replacement was made for Snedeker.
Other Notes
- I am playing two lineups this week (Rahm and Berger are in both), and due to either more research or price constraints, I have added two players that I don't think I talked about in the podcast. The first is Shane Lowry (7,200). He does play well on tough courses and has steadily been improving in approach. If wind is going to be a factor, he has played very well in the wind in the past. Finally, Lowry does rate Top 10 in Bogey Avoidance over the past 50 rounds, something I think will be key this week. The other golfer is Steve Stricker (6,000). I needed a min salary person, and decided to go with Stricker, as he has made every cut at Muirfield Village that he has played in going back to his win in 2011. He will find fairways and greens, and has a good enough short game to compete. At minimum salary, not only does he give me some salary flexibility, but I don't need much from him to compete, if the other 5 golfers in that lineup play well.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Opening Thoughts
For the first time that many can remember, if ever, the tour will play an event at the same course it did the previous week. A few things will be different for the Memorial: It's a 120-man field, versus 157 last week. While the scorecard yardage remains the same, the pin placements will be different than last week. The rough will not be mown at all, so it will be higher and thicker than last week. Finally, the greens will run faster than last week. With all of that being said, we see a field that resembles a major this week. The big question mark will be how do those who played last week, do this week. Will that recent experience help them or will the thicker rough and faster greens hinder their performances. Statistically, I may look at Tee-to-Green, with an emphasis on Approach and Around the Green a little more than last week.
