Memorial Tournament Tournament Preview

If the conclusion of the Workday Charity Open at Muirfield Village was a mere aperitif for what is to come at this weeks Memorial Tournament, we should be in for a mouth-watering event indeed!

Collin Morikawa served up another glimpse at his outrageous talent, and when he learns how to putt properly he will find himself among the sports elite.

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Mind you, there were some outrageous putts landed towards the business end of the Workday, and none more so on the first play-off hole against Thomas the latter drained a 50-footer to put the pressure on Morikawa, who responded with a 24-footer of his own.

In the end, it was Morikawa who held his nerve to clinch a second of what is likely to be many PGA Tour titles to come.

We got a good look at Muirfield Village last week, and all of the rumors suggest that event organizers want to beef up the challenge somewhat this time around.

So were anticipating some changes, such as thicker, tangly rough that will not be trampled down of course, and then were expecting quicker greens and run-off areas shaved to within an inch of their lives.

Of course, the weather may play havoc with that ideal. There is some rain and thunderstorms in the forecast, and so if the rain falls in any great quantity then that will slow the surfaces we could be looking at another iron-and-putt contest if that is the case.

Anyone that saw Jack Nicklaus play this incredible sport knows he was a ball-striking machine, and that skillset has been introduced into his own golf course design too. Hitting the ball in a straight line is key at Muirfield Village!

But again, to confirm, it is the weather that could have a huge bearing on how this track plays this week. Are we looking at a razor-sharp test of all-round golf, or will this be a soft test in which hitting your approaches close to the pin is key?

On Sunday, Patrick Cantlay showed why he is a former champion at Muirfield Village.

He delivered a sublime 65 only Jon Rahm bettered that on the day, and once again showed the sort of suitability for the test that saw him lift this trophy 12 months ago.

Embed from Getty ImagesCantlays top-10 in the Workday was a really nice sighter for the challenge ahead, and continues his fine form that has yielded two top-10s and a pair of T11s within his last five starts.

He has all-round ability with no weaknesses in any department, and that will probably be the order of the day this week over a player who is strong in one area but lacking in others.

A man reborn after changing his driver, Gary Woodland found a bit of something last week.

His top-five at Muirfield was franked by a huge improvement off the tee, with the US Open gaining +0.85 strokes gained in this department with the Wilson driver that took him to that major title.

Woodlands putting stroke looked really smooth too, and all told he looks ready to contend for silverware again.

He got a good look at the layout last week, and hell be looking to improve on that T5 this time around.

With form as our guide, Abraham Ancer is playing the golf of his life right now and is looking good in all areas of his game.

There are doubts about his mettle in contention particularly when he will have some heavyweights chasing him down in this field, and so a top-10 wager is possibly the smart move as far as the Mexican is concerned right now.

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Ancer has been recording some outstanding tee-to-green stats of late, and he is a solid putter on any given day so thats a winning combination that could fly at Muirfield.

Having finished no lower than T14 in his last three starts, Ancer will be looking to really cash in this week.

In the top-20 market we can pin our hopes on tee-to-green specialists who can, very occasionally, get hot with the putter.

Of late, Lucas Glover is a player that has been trending in that direction, and he actually putted well on the Bentgrass/Poa of TPC River Highlands a few weeks ago a rarity indeed!

Glovers game is based on precision off the tee and on approach, and improvements in those areas have led to four consecutive top-25 finishes since the seasons restart bizarrely, hes only banked one wager in the top-20 market, however.

If the rain comes and slows the greens, you would expect Glover to go along very nicely.

Heres a very interesting matchup indeed Bryson DeChambeau taking on Justin Thomas.

Will Bryson throw the kitchen sink off the tee? Remember, he has won at Muirfield before, but back in 2018 he was playing VERY different golf to what he is displaying at the moment.

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We dont expect Justin Thomas to suffer a hangover following his play-off loss last week, and hes experienced enough now to take the knock and learn from it.

Based on course fit with regards to Bryson 2.0 were inclined to suggest JT is the play here.

Unsurprisingly, Tiger Woods is a serial winner at Muirfield Village.

But its been three months since he hit a competitive ball in anger, and while he looked in reasonable touch in The Match against Phil Mickelson, thats a world away from 72 holes against the best players in the world.

Sorry Big Cat; not this week. But well be keeping a close eye on you nonetheless.

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