My high school best friend was Tony D. We were a couple of nerdy kids in a really small town who had a lot in common. We watched “The Matrix” trilogy ad nauseam. Acting out skits from “Saturday Night Live” was a normal weekend activity. The two of us were also hopelessly obsessed with the game of golf.
We weren’t just obsessed with playing golf. Even though we were co-captains of the high school team, we would also waste whole summers playing “Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004” on his PlayStation and hacking scuffed-up Slazengers through the weeds at the schoolyard. We “accidentally” broke a lot of windows.
Tony was a better golfer than me back then. I remember when all the rich country club kids were hitting copy-and-paste draws with their daddy’s money Titleist 983K drivers, Tony was launching power fades with a hand-me-down Nike driver. Just like Tiger. Or was it just like the Golden Bear? He emulated both of them so well. Tiger was en vogue, but Jack was the GOAT.
PGA DFS: The Memorial Tournament 2023 Breakdown
The Memorial Tournament is a gem on the PGA Tour. Jack Nicklaus designed Muirfield Village for this event back in his heyday of 1976. Jack’s Place is a daunting but fair test of championship golf. The golfers know there’s only one way to win at Jack’s Place: Play four days of your best golf.
Winning at PGA DFS carries plenty of caveats. Naturally, all six golfers on your roster should make the cut. The Memorial requires a bit more risk-taking with bated breath.
You’ll hear me say the word ‘leverage’ a lot when speaking about PGA DFS. Leverage is about positioning. It isn’t so much who you play but rather who you don’t. Rostering a golfer who is also rostered heavily by opposing lineups is risky. There’s almost no reward when that player succeeds, par at best, to use a golf analogy. To make money playing DFS, it requires taking chances and making birdies when others are settling for par.
A popular player is deemed ‘chalky.’ Good chalk is a popular player who is nearly certain to succeed. Bad chalk is a risky player that too many people have hitched their wagons to. A profitable DFS lineup will have a nice blend of good chalk and successful leverage. A good play that isn’t rostered by many is considered a leverage play… “lifting” it above the field. Here’s how I’m attacking PGA DFS for the Memorial Tournament.
PGA DFS: The Memorial Tournament 2023 Picks
(Prices courtesy of DraftKings)
High-Priced ($9,000 & Higher)*
Good Chalk: Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele
Bad Chalk: Patrick Cantlay, Tyrrell Hatton
Leverage: Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Jason Day
Mid-Priced ($7,600 – $8,900)
Good Chalk: Corey Conners, Wyndham Clark, Adam Scott
Bad Chalk: Tom Kim, Shane Lowry, Sahith Theegala
Leverage: Cameron Young, Sam Burns, Si Woo Kim
Value-Priced ($7,500 & Lower)
Good Chalk: Stephan Jaeger, Nicolai Hojgaard, Akshay Bhatia
Bad Chalk: Matt Kuchar, Seamus Power, Brian Harman
Leverage: Kurt Kitayama, Hayden Buckley, Joseph Bramlett
Thanks for checking out my PGA DFS picks for The Memorial Tournament 2023! Find all my work on Twitter, @Bo_McBigTime, and check out my huge collection of decadence at BigTime FlavorCo.