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Steve Palmer's Memorial Tournament Golf Tips

Steve Palmer Published: 31 May 23 12:40

The PGA Tour stages another mouthwatering 'designated' event this week, featuring almost all of the elite, and Racing Post golf guru Steve Palmer is on hand with his verdict.

Steve Palmer's Memorial Tournament Tips

Jon Rahm To Win Outright @ 7/1
Collin Morikawa To Win Outright @ 25/1
Rickie Fowler To Win Outright @ 35/1
Adam Scott Top Rest Of World @ 10/1
Rory McIlroy Top GB & Ireland @ 9/5

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What	Memorial Tournament
Where	Muirfield Village, Dublin, Ohio
When	12:00, Thursday 1st June - Sunday 4th June
How to watch	bet365 Live Golf Tracker & Sky Sports Golf
Odds	Scottie Scheffler 13/2, Jon Rahm 7/1, Patrick Cantlay 10/1, Xander Schauffele 14/1, Rory McIlroy 14/1, Viktor Hovland 18/1, Justin Thomas 25/1

The PGA Tour's 'designated' events bring the best players together more often – and the Memorial Tournament is the latest top-class gathering boasting a $20m prize fund.

The Memorial champion will earn $3.6m this year and all the world's top five players are in attendance at Muirfield Village. Max Homa, who is going to his sister's wedding this weekend, is skipping the event this week, along with Tony Finau.

The field of 120 will be cut to the top 65 and ties on Saturday morning. Scottie Scheffler, the world number one, will expect to be in contention by then.

Scheffler, who is 13/2 for Memorial glory, has not finished worse than 12th place in any of his tournaments this year and he is competing for a fourth consecutive week, having finished fifth in the AT&T Byron Nelson, second in the US PGA Championship and third in the Charles Schwab Challenge.

Patrick Cantlay is 10/1 to win the Memorial and will attract plenty of backers. He is a two-time champion here and has been driving his ball superbly in recent weeks. He is in consistently good form and will probably be in the thick of things on Sunday afternoon.

Each-way terms of a quarter the odds, the first five places are available for the Memorial, as well as alternative options, like a fifth the odds, the first eight places, in the Each Way Extra section.

Memorial Tournament course details

Muirfield Village, Dublin, Ohio, is 7,571 yards, having been extended slightly in the lead-up to this event. The par 72 has four par-fives, 10 par-fours and four par-threes. The course-record holder is John Huston, who carded an incredible round of 61 in 1996.

Muirfield is a Jack Nicklaus design and the Golden Bear acts as the official tournament host. The Memorial has been staged since 1976. The 2013 Presidents Cup was at Muirfield Village too, as well as the 2020 Workday Charity Open, which was a one-off PGA Tour event.

The fairways are generous, but approach shots are difficult. Accurate iron-play is the key to slaying Muirfield. Precise approaches to well-guarded greens are essential for success. Sunny, warm and calm conditions are forecast.

Expect another Memorial Rahm raid

Jon Rahm won the Memorial by three shots in 2020, then looked almost certain to successfully defend his title when forging a six-shot lead through three rounds of the 2021 edition. He was forced to pull out ahead of the final round, ending his chances of retaining the title, but it is clear that Muirfield Village is a dreamy layout for him.

The 7/1 about Rahm winning his fifth PGA Tour title of the year looks juicy.

Morikawa's iron-play a huge asset

Accurate iron-play is the key to unlocking Muirfield Village and Collin Morikawa is the best in the world in that department. Expect the Californian to be peppering pins throughout and making a mockery of the 25/1 quote next to his name.

The two-time Major champion won at Muirfield Village in the 2020 Workday Charity Open and was runner-up in this event in 2021.

Fowler looking serious threat again

The 35/1 about Rickie Fowler seems worth an each-way investment given how consistent he has been this year. The former world number four has posted eight top-20 finishes and was sixth in the Charles Schwab Challenge last week. The two-time Memorial runner-up can make an impact again.

Aussie to lead international challenge

The top Rest of the World market may go the way of Adam Scott, who was Memorial runner-up in 2019 and has been in rock-solid form of late. It is more than a year since the Australian last missed a cut.

McIlroy may have got his mojo back

Rory McIlroy looked happy and relaxed again when finishing seventh in the US PGA last time out and he can be trusted at 9/5 in the top Great Britain and Ireland market.