PGA Tour 2010: The Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village

The Latest Odds

Tournament Info and Venue: The Memorial is the pride and joy of one of the game’s all time greats. Muirfield Village was built and designed by Jack Nicklaus in his prime in the 70s and has been played every year at his course since 1976. The list of past winners is impressive and, in the past 15 years, that list includes Norman, Watson, Singh, Couples, Woods (4 times), Furyk, Perry (twice), Els, and Choi. The course is long and demanding and is quite possibly the most difficult non-major course these guys play all year. Not surprisingly, it favors guys who are long and precise off the tee considering who designed the course. Last year’s tournament was a down-to-the-wire nail-biter that was won by Tiger after an unbelievable 183 yard second shot on 18 (Muirfield’s toughest hole) that he put a foot away from the cup to beat Jim Furyk by one stroke. Tiger hit every single fairway on Sunday en route to a 65. Because Muirfield is such a challenge to Tour players, it is normal to see the leader board littered with big names on the weekend and it is one of the few tournaments that no rookie player has ever won. In making picks this week, the key is to look for experienced guys who rank high in total driving and who are playing well recently.

Patrick’s Picks:

K.J. Choi – Finished T-12^th last year at The Memorial and T-13^th last week at Colonial with all four rounds in the 60s. He’s confident right now, is a top 30 player on Tour in total driving and putting, and won this event 3 years ago. All signs point to a great week for K.J.

Kenny Perry – Number 2 on Tour in total driving and a two time winner at The Memorial, most recently two years ago. Three rounds in the 60s last week, including a 64 on Friday. He loves this course and this tournament and is playing pretty well right now.

Jim Furyk – Another former champion (2002) who traditionally plays well at Muirfield, including a one stroke loss last year to Tiger. Not a long hitter but he makes up for it with his accuracy off the tee where he ranks #7 on Tour. The missed cut last week at Colonial scares me a little but he shot 67 on Friday and barely missed.

Ernie Els – 2004 champion (seeing a pattern here?) was on fire earlier in the season and went through a little slump before posting a T-3^rd in his last start at the Valero Texas Open. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him win for the first time since back to back wins in March.

Tiger Woods – How can I leave him out of the top 5? He’s won here 4 times, including last year, but there’s no doubt he’s in a slump. He had to withdraw in his last start due to an inflamed neck joint but he’s had a few weeks of medicine and massages to work that out. If he’s healthy, he’s still probably the favorite.

Others to watch:

Stewart Cink – Good off the tee and is another guy who had 4 rounds in the 60s last week at Colonial. He finished in the top 10 here last year so he is a legitimate threat to win this week.

Bo Van Pelt – The former Oklahoma State Cowboy is playing the best golf of his life with 4 top tens in his last 5 starts. He is 5^th on Tour in total driving, 4^th in birdie percentage and 4^th in GIR percentage. The only thing that makes me a little nervous… he shot 80 in the first round at Muirfield last year. Yikes.

Nick Watney – A 68 on Sunday last year put him into the top 15 at The Memorial and he played well last week with all four rounds in the 60s. He is in the top ten in total driving, second on Tour in GIR percentage and #1 on tour in birdie average.

Geoff Ogilvy – Shot a 63 on Saturday at Muirfield last year to put himself in contention but blew up on Sunday and shot 75 on Sunday to finish 10^th. He also shot 64 on Sunday last week at Colonial to jump up 25 spots to a tie for 12^th. He’s not great off the tee but his all around game makes him a threat.

Phil Mickelson – He doesn’t have an outstanding history at The Memorial and he was pathetic last week missing the cut at Colonial. He ranks 135^th on Tour in driving accuracy so I don’t see him as a big threat this week. He had an opportunity to take over the #1 world ranking last weekend and fell on his face. That being said, I’m not ever surprised at what I see out of him.

Matt Kuchar – Shot 66 on Sunday at Colonial and played well on Thursday and Friday, as well. He finished in the top 5 at the memorial last year and is in the top 20 in total driving this year.

Boo Weekley – 13^th in total driving and 16^th in GIR percentage this season. He finished in the top 10 at Colonial last week with all four rounds in the 60s including a 63 on Friday.

Vijay Singh – Don’t look now but it looks like Vijay is putting it together. He missed the cut by a long shot here last year but shot three 67s last week and may be on the verge of digging himself out of the hole he’s been in for a while.

Sleeper Pick:

Blake Adams – 6^th on Tour in total driving and was the early leader at Colonial last week before fading in round 2. However, he finished with two strong rounds to end in the top 30 and finished 2^nd at the Byron Nelson two weeks ago. He is a Tour rookie having played the last three years on the Nationwide Tour. As I said before, no rookie has ever won at Muirfield Village so this would be a longshot but he’s playing well right now.

Super Sleeper Pick:

Michael Sim – Shot in the 60s all four rounds last week but doesn’t fit the profile of most of the guys above. He is not great off the tee but is a better than average putter. For all intents and purposes, he is a rookie even though he played a few events on the Tour last year. He does have a 2^nd place finish very early this year at the Farmers Insurance Open in January.

Set as favorite

Bookmark

Email this

Comments (0) Add Comment

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Write comment

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites