A busy, three-week stretch on the PGA Tour begins this week at Jack’s place
Just one tournament separates players from the third major championship of the season, but it’s one they won’t want to take lightly. The 2024 Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village will once again welcome the best and brightest from the PGA Tour to Dublin, Ohio, to take part in a competition hosted by the legendary Jack Nicklaus.
While the tournament dons signature status, the Memorial will feature a cut at the 36-hole mark similar to those at the Genesis Invitational and Arnold Palmer Invitational. A player who is not likely to need to worry about such a thing is world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler as he eyes his fifth title of the season.
A season ago, Scheffler put up jaw-dropping numbers at Muirfield Village from tee to green only to be let down by his putter. The Masters champion gained more than 20 strokes from tee to green leading in terms of off the tee play, on approach and around the green only to fall one stroke shy of a playoff between eventual champion Viktor Hovland and Denny McCarthy.
Hovland arrives at his title defense riding a wave of form. Reuniting with his old swing coach, the reigning FedEx Cup champion was a major factor at the PGA Championship and settled for a podium finish. He looks to keep a good thing going and experience another summer to remember beginning this week.
Speaking of the PGA Championship, Xander Schauffele makes his first start since raising the Wanamaker Trophy at Valhalla. Now that he has the hardware to match the statistical output, the Olympic gold medalist could only be getting started.
Schauffele’s peers hope to just be getting started as well, as a number of big-time players are still without victories with the FedEx Cup Playoffs quickly approaching. Hovland, Collin Morikawa, Ludvig Åberg, Justin Thomas, Tom Kim, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay, Tony Finau, Tommy Fleetwood and a slew of others hope this is the week they can finally break through and enter the winner’s circle.
2024 Memorial schedule
Dates: June 6-9
Location: Muirfield Village Golf Club — Dublin, Ohio
Par: 72 | Yardage: 7,571
Purse: $20,000,000
2024 Memorial field, odds
Scottie Scheffler (7/2)
Xander Schauffele (9-1): Scheffler may be the best player in the world, but the case could be made that Schauffele is the most well-rounded. He ranks just behind the world No. 1 in terms of total strokes gained and strokes gained tee to green since the start of 2024 but checks in 12th in strokes gained putting. He arrives at Muirfield Village with added length at his disposal, which could be exactly what he needs to shoot into contention as he has notched five straight top 25s here but none of which doubled as top 10s.
Rory McIlroy (9-1): Post-Masters McIlroy is continuing to surge, and he will aim to accomplish a rare first this week: winning the Memorial. He possesses a mixed bag of sorts at Jack’s place but has found a string of consistency in recent years with three straight top 20s including a T7 a season ago. He’s got the entirety of his game cooperating at the moment but will need to avoid the occasional lull like last week’s 72 in Round 2 if he is to break through.
Collin Morikawa (14-1)
Viktor Hovland (18-1): The Memorial sparked Hovland’s memorable summer a year ago as he raced through the FedEx Cup Playoffs, won the season-long crown and starred on the European Ryder Cup team. It could serve the same purpose again as his play at the PGA Championship reinvigorated his confidence with his ball-striking and short game returning to Hovland-like levels. Was this just a one-off or will this version of Hovland continue into the latter stages of the season? We’ll find out this week.
Ludvig Åberg (25-1)
Patrick Cantlay (25-1): There may be no player more affected by the extracurriculars outside the golf course than Cantlay. Well in the thick of board room discussions and powerpoint presentations, the former FedEx Cup champion’s game has taken a hit. He ranks outside the top 40 of this limited field in strokes gained approach and strokes gained putting this season, but if there was ever time for him to turn it around, it is this week. Twice a winner at Muirfield Village, Cantlay should take solace in knowing he can get it done here.
Justin Thomas (30-1): Don’t look now, but Thomas is finding his form yet again. A strong start to 2024 gave way to a disappointing spring, but the two-time PGA Championship winner looks to be back on the up and up. Three straight quality outings highlighted by a top 10 at the PGA Championship came courtesy of a nice uptick with the big stick. If he can continue to drive the ball well, Thomas will set his iron play up for success and the rest should follow suit. While he hasn’t done much at the Memorial in recent years, he did lose in a playoff to Morikawa at the Workday Championship during the COVID-19 year.
Tommy Fleetwood (45-1)
Hideki Matsuyama (45-1)
2024 Memorial expert picks
Scottie Scheffler
Winner (7/2): Believe it or not, the strokes-gained numbers posted above are in fact real as Scheffler probably should have won this tournament by five a year ago. He comes in this season as an even better player in large part because of the strides he has made with the putter in hand. The world No. 1 ranks first in just about every statistical category imaginable, hasn’t finished outside the top 10 on a leaderboard since January and has back-to-back podium finishes here. Don’t overthink it.
Collin Morikawa
Contender (14-1): A winner at this golf course but not at this golf tournament, Morikawa has the make up to not only upend Scheffler but make Muirfield Village fall to its knees. The two-time major champion is riding a wave of form ever since the Masters and the best part is the iron play has yet to peak. Significant improvements on and around the green have led to Morikawa rattling off three top-five finishes in his last six starts, including his last two, but his iron play should lead him to a win at the Memorial where he lost in a playoff in 2021.
Tony Finau
Sleeper (65-1): Finau looks close to playing himself into contention, and this may be the best spot for him to do so. The American has four top-20 finishes in his last six starts including his last time out at the Charles Schwab Challenge where he was a factor before falling off the pace over the weekend. His iron play has been exquisite, his short game is beginning to turn a corner and his putter hasn’t been as bad. If that club is good this week then Finau will have a very good result.