“Between Bets” is an article series revealing our staff’s best wagers across the NFL, NASCAR and PGA Tour. This edition’s bets feature our favorite wagers for the Memorial Tournament.
(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
Memorial Tournament 2024 Betting Picks
Rory McIlroy (+900)
Rory McIlroy comes into this week rating out No. 2 in strokes gained tee-to-green over the last 24 rounds, and that metric is the most closely tied to success at Muirfield Village Country Club. McIlroy has been having a great season and just notched a win a few weeks ago at the Wells Fargo Championship and followed it up with a 12th-place finish at the PGA Championship and a fourth at the RBC Canadian Open last week.
Over the last 24 rounds, McIlroy is No. 3 in approach, No. 3 in bogey avoidance and No. 4 in strokes gained putting on bentgrass. He has been playing insanely good golf, but as is always true with McIlroy, if he isn’t winning every week, he is quickly forgotten about. McIlory is my favorite to get it done at the Memorial Tournament this week!
Justin Thomas (+3000)
Justin Thomas was my big bet coming into the season to be PGA Player of the Year. I’m not sure anyone would have predicted the otherworldly golf that Scottie Scheffler has been playing, and it certainly doesn’t help my cause that “JT” really hasn’t done much at all. Yet that is.
You have to look at the last 12 rounds to really see the trajectory that Thomas is on, and if he keeps it up, he may be able to get in the win column at the Memorial Tournament. He is gaining strokes to go green at an average of 7.2 per start in his last three starts. The only category he has lost strokes in is putting over that stretch, which is somewhat abnormal for Thomas. Not that he ever really gains strokes historically; he’s typically pretty flat. Still, the putter single-handedly cost him the PGA Championship at Valhalla, where he lost 3.5 strokes on the greens. Everything else has been on fire lately for Thomas, and his approach and creativity around the greens is a weapon this week.
Putting is not nearly as strongly correlated with winning at Muirfield, so this may prove to be a near-perfect fit for his current form.
Si Woo Kim (+5000)
I have thoroughly enjoyed Si Woo Kim Season! He has been playing great golf all season. Kim has only missed one cut in his last 15 starts. He has been gaining a ridiculous 5.1 strokes tee to green over his last 10 tournaments. Kim is another player who just needs a flat week on the greens.
We can get past it to some extent, but he has to be dialed in and not give it back with the putter. He has the tools to win here. All of his approach stats are in the top 10 over the last 24 rounds, and he is ninth in this field for driving accuracy, trending at 69.8% of fairways in regulation. I’m leaning on Tee-to-green this week, and Kim is one of the best in the business this season.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout (+9000)
Christiaan Bezuidenhout has had a solid year and continues to hang around the top 20 in most tournaments. He has had some issues off the tee lately, which is somewhat concerning. Still, he has been better at avoiding big numbers than most of the field.
He also rates out No. 8 for me in course fit this week and has the short-game tools to keep himself in contention. “Bez” is No. 11 in my model for strokes gained around the green and No. 1 in sand save percentage. These greens are much smaller than Tour average, and when players miss, they will be met with difficult rough and tricky bunkers. He has the tools to get up and down, and they are accentuated by his putter, which rates out fifth in the field. He has a solid short game and is top 10 in the two key proximity ranges on approach. I like the overall game for Muirfield Village Country Club.
Other Outright Bets That are on My Card for the Memorial Tournament 2024:
- Scottie Scheffler (+350) – A good candidate to live bet if he starts a little slow.
- Xander Schauffele (+900)
- Sam Burns (+4500)
- Alex Noren (+5000)
- Tom Hoge (+8000)
- Eric Cole (+25000)
Check out all of our content for the Memorial Tournament 2024:
- PGA DFS: Memorial Tournament 2024
- PropKings: Memorial Tournament 2024
- Between Bets: Memorial Tournament 2024 Outrights
Thanks for reading my best bets for the Memorial Tournament 2024, and be sure to catch us live every Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m. EST on the 19th Hole! Good luck this week!
*Photo Credit: Jim Dedmon – USA TODAY Sports*