|
We’ve had the annual pilgrimage to Arnold Palmer’s place and now it is time for the PGA Tour’s celebration of all that Jack Nicklaus has achieved for the game – the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village in Ohio. The greens are super quick, very undulating and in recent years some left-field characters have emerged as the winners (David Lingmerth and William McGirt for example). Tiger Woods is back in action, feeling that his lack of golf between the Masters and PGA Championship didn’t quite work, so this acts as preparation for his competitive assault on the US Open. He has great memories and also one particular sore one to look back on at the course. He’s a five-time winner (three in a row from 1999, then again in 2009 and 2012), but he also carded an 85 in the third round during the 2015 renewal.
Angles to consider 1/ Par 4 Scoring The last five champions have excelled on these holes. Bryson DeChambeau (2018) ranked first for the week, Hideki Matsuyama (2014) second, Jason Dufner (2017) and William McGirt (2016) third and David Lingmerth (2015) eighth. It might be argued that it tallies with a Nicklaus design theory. He believes in providing width from the tee, but of a deceptive kind. In theory, at least, there is always a better side of the fairway to attack the pin from. It’s a fact, then, that the fairways are relatively easy to hit compared to other PGA courses, but the greens are more difficult to land. 2/ Greens in Regulation The last ten winners at Muirfield Village have pounded the putting surfaces in the requisite number of strokes. Jason Dufner (2017), Matt Kuchar (2013) and Tiger Woods (2012) all ranked first. In all eight of those ten ranked top 20 and all ten were top 30. 3/ Scrambling With a couple of exceptions those last ten winners have also been in fine form around the greens. Dufner ranked only 30th, but was of course first for GIR. Woods in 2009 ranked 56th, but he was third for GIR. Of the other eight all were top 20. Bryson DeChambeau last year was first and Steve Stricker in 2011 third. Nine of those ten winners ranked top 30 for both GIR and Scrambling.
Selections The above angles have been used to create a shortlist from which the following players are selected. Patrick Cantlay The 27-year-old has the look of a player about to take the next step. He has seven top tens in his last 12 starts, he briefly led the Masters in the final round (he finished T9th) and he was third last time out at the PGA Championship. The Course Compatibility tables show that he ranks tied first for Par 4 Performance in this field, 11th for Greens in Regulation and sixth for Scrambling. He was T35th on debut at Muirfield Village in 2017 and improved to fourth last year when he was once shot back with 18 holes to play. Matt Kuchar It’s been a rum year for the 40-year-old who has contrived to win twice and also make himself something of a pantomime villain in the process, owing to the initial under-payment of a Mexican caddie. But after the form dried up (related to the bad press perhaps) he has collected five T12th or better finishes in a row and now returns to one of his favourite courses. In 13 visits he has collected ten finishes of T15th or better, seven top tens within that, including victory in 2013. He also ranks tied first for Par 4 Scoring, third for Greens in Regulation and fifth for Scrambling. Lucas Glover Sixteen starts into the 2019 season and Glover continues to mount the top 20 finishes. His T16 last time out at Bethpage Black (seen of his US Open win in 2009) was his 12th of the campaign. Ranking 13th for Par 4 Performance, 24th for Greens in Regulation and second for Scrambling his game look a neat fit for more consistency this week. He was tied eighth on debut at the course and whilst he has never return to the top ten it is not all bad news. He’s made his last five cuts in the tournament and opened both his last two starts with rounds of 67 for T5th on Thursday night.
Tips: 1-2; +22.40pts 1pt e.w. Patrick Cantlay at 22/1 (PaddyPower, Betfair SB 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8) 1st 1pt e.w. Matt Kuchar at 22/1 (PaddyPower, Betfair SB 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8) mc 1pt e.w. Lucas Glover at 66/1 (PaddyPower, Betfair SB 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8) 52nd
|
