The Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village presents one of the toughest tests on the PGA Tour.
The latest: Tournament host Jack Nicklaus welcomes just north of 70 players to this week's signature event. Scottie Scheffler is the favourite and Viktor Hovland is the defending champion. I'm eating the chalk this week and backing Scheffler alongside Collin Morikawa.
Check out our Memorial Tournament odds and best picks to win the PGA event, which begins June 6.
Memorial Tournament odds
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There's no arguing against Scheffler being the favourite.
He hasn't finished outside the top 10 since February, securing four wins and two runner-ups in his last seven starts. Even getting arrested before the second round of the PGA Championship in May couldn't stop Scheffler from carding a T8 at the major.
Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele are the only other golfers with odds shorter than 10-to-1.
Schauffele, a freshly minted major champion, has five straight top-25 finishes here. McIlroy has two wins and a T4 in his last four starts.
Morikawa, Hovland, and Ludvig Aberg round out the group under +2,000.
Hovland used this event as the launching pad for a monster 2023 season. He beat Denny McCarthy in a playoff and didn't slow down after that en route to winning the Tour Championship.
Morikawa won at Muirfield when it hosted the Workday Charity Open in 2020 and was runner-up at the Memorial Tournament in 2021.
Aberg has never played here but has excelled at long and difficult courses.
Corey Conners holds the shortest odds of any Canadian playing at +3,300.
Picks to win
Scheffler to win (+350): It's honestly a shock Scheffler didn't win this tournament last year.
The No. 1-ranked golfer gained over 20 strokes tee-to-green at Muirfield Village but lost around 8.5 putting, per DataGolf. He still finished just one shot back of Hovland and McCarthy for a playoff.
Scheffler's putter is now fixed and his off-course issues are put behind him — I wouldn't be surprised if he won this event by five-plus strokes.
He paces the PGA Tour in strokes gained: total (+2.842), birdie average (5.30) and bogey avoidance (92.25%).
Muirfield is one of the five longest courses on tour and also ranks top-five for smallest greens. Elite tee-to-green play is a necessity here and no one is better than Scheffler.
Morikawa to win (+1,200): Morikawa's course history at Muirfield is sublime, but it could be even better.
He was two shots off the lead heading into Sunday last year but was forced to withdraw due to a back injury. Morikawa ranks third in average adjusted strokes gained at this course (+2.83), behind only Scheffler and Patrick Cantlay.
The two-time major champion hasn't won lately but he's been really close. Morikawa has carded back-to-back top-four finishes and has become one of the best drivers on tour.
He ranks 16th in strokes gained: off-the-tee (+0.494) and second in fairways hit (78.0%).
Golf picks made at 4:27 p.m. on 06/03/2024.
