- The 2020 Memorial Tournament, which features the return of Tiger Woods will be held July 16 – 19 at the Muirfield Village Golf Club.
- The current favorites are Bryson DeChambeau +1000, Justin Thomas +1103, Patrick, Cantlay +1400, Rory McIlroy +1403. Tiger Woods’ trails with odds +2609.
- Course: Muirfield Village Golf Club – 7,456 yards, Par 72
- TV Coverage: Golf Channel, CBS
The 2020 Memorial Tournament features the return of Tiger Woods for the first time since February and that means all eyes will be on Muirfield Village Golf Club starting with Thursday’s first round. Having Woods in the field is a boost to the Tour and to online sportsbooks with the Big Cat going for his sixth win at this event. Woods may be a popular choice but Bryson DeChambeau, who won the Rocket Mortgage Classic and placed among the top-8 in all four post-COVID starts, opened as the betting favorite. The top five and nine of the top-10 in the OWGR are in the field led by No. 1 Rory McIlroy and defending champ Patrick Cantlay. After last week’s win at Muirfield, Collin Morikawa moved up the odds board.
Odds to Win 2020 Memorial Tournament
Bryson DeChambeau +1000
Justin Thomas +1103
Patrick Cantlay +1400
Rory McIlroy +1403
Dustin Johnson +1603
Collin Morikawa +2006
Jon Rahm +2206
Viktor Hovland +2406
Webb Simpson +2609
Tiger Woods +2609
Hideki Matsuyama +2609
Brooks Koepka +2609
Xander Schauffele +3015
Rickie Fowler +4000
Daniel Berger +4000
Gary Woodland +4400
Justin Rose +5000
Abraham Ancer +5000
Jason Day +5000
Patrick Reed +6000
Tony Finau +6000
Sung Jae Im +6729
Billy Horschel +6729
Jordan Spieth +7000
Marc Leishman +7000
Joaquin Niemann +7000
Sergio Garcia +7000
Paul Casey +7000
Kevin Streelman +7000
Matt Kuchar +7678
Matthew Fitzpatrick +8000
Byeong Hun An +8000
(Odds provided by BookMaker.eu)
Player Odds Analysis
Tiger Woods +2609
Whenever Tiger plays the event gets ratcheted up a notch, and there will be plenty of interest in him. He hasn’t played since the restart and his last Tour event was at the Genesis in February, when he finished last among players making the cut. The price is nice since Woods won the Memorial five times, and he’s not going to play a tournament unless he has a chance to win. The stacked field with players getting reps after the restart leads me to believe there are better value picks out there. But can you pass on Tiger?
Bryson DeChambeau +1000
With such an impressive restart DeChambeau is likely to be the favorite in any event he plays. Guess what? He sits atop the odds chart in this one. It’s hard to argue with the success he’s had since the reboot. He won the Rocket Mortgage Classic before taking last week off. He placed among the top-8 in each of the first four events and was top-5 in three completed tournaments prior to the shutdown. Muirfield presents a new set of challenges for DeChambeau’s game since he’s never been known to have a soft touch around the greens. A win here two years ago dispelled those concerns, though.
Rory McIlroy +1403
Without a win at the Memorial and three uncharacteristic showings since the restart, McIlroy should have plenty of motivation. His decision making admittedly played a role in his sluggish restart with a T32 at the Schwab, T41 at RBC Heritage and T11 at Travelers. I trust Rory worked on his game and thought process while taking last week off. And he’d like nothing better than to show DeChambeau why he’s ranked No. 1 in the world. McIlroy missed the cut at last year’s Memorial, but he has four top-10s in his seven other starts.
Jason Day +5000
It hasn’t been the best season for Day, who struggled following his fourth-place showing at Pebble Beach in February. So, why is he on this list you ask? Well, he showed signs of breaking out at last week’s Workday with a solid overall game and strong putting. He’ll put those to the test on the same track that yielded him a T7 last week. Results at the Memorial have been sketchy with a MC last year, but Day needs to string some positive results to climb up the rankings. Last week was a start.
Kevin Streelman +7000
Another dive down the odds board brings us to Streelman, who has tremendous potential when he finishes a tournament. He’s made the cut eight times this season with two runner-up showings among his four top-10s in those events. He’s been inconsistent, but he is riding a wave of form with a solo second at the Travelers and T7 on this layout last week. He also finished fourth at last year’s Memorial carding a 13-under.
Memorial Tournament Matchup Odds
Bubba Watson -110 vs. Danny Willett -110
Phil Mickelson +150 vs. Rory Sabbatini -170
Adam Hadwin -120 vs. Ian Poulter +100
Matthew Wolff -105 vs. Cameron Champ -115
Matthew Fitzpatrick -135 vs. Joaquin Niemann +115
Shane Lowry +110 vs. Corey Conners -130
Sungjae Im -110 vs. Billy Horschel -110
Tony Finau -160 vs. Jordan Spieth +140
Kevin Streelman -120 vs. Marc Leishman +100
Abraham Ancer -130 vs. Patrick Reed +110
Jason Day +105 vs. Sergio Garcia -125
Rickie Fowler -115 vs. Daniel Berger -105
Matt Kuchar -130 vs. Kevin Kisner +110
Xander Schauffele -150 vs. Tiger Woods +130
Gary Woodland -135 vs. Justin Rose +115
Brooks Koepka +135 vs. Hideki Matsuyama -155
Webb Simpson -140 vs. Tiger Woods +120
Xander Schauffele +100 vs. Webb Simpson -120
Viktor Hovland -135 vs. Brooks Koepka +115
Sepp Straka +120 vs. Kevin Na -140
Dustin Johnson +100 vs. Collin Morikawa -120
Rory McIlroy -130 vs. Patrick Cantlay +110
Viktor Hovland +110 vs. Hideki Matsuyama -130
Justin Thomas -115 vs. Rory McIlroy -105
Jon Rahm -135 vs. Collin Morikawa +115
Bryson DeChambeau +100 vs. Rory McIlroy -120
Dustin Johnson +105 vs. Jon Rahm -125
Justin Thomas -135 vs. Patrick Cantlay +115
Bryson DeChambeau -125 vs. Patrick Cantlay +105
Bryson DeChambeau -105 vs. Justin Thomas -115
(Odds provided by BookMaker.eu)
Memorial Tournament Matchup Picks
Tiger Woods +130 vs. Xander Schauffele
I’ve gone against Tiger in the past and he made me pay for my lack of loyalty. I was thinking about staying away from him this week since he hasn’t played competitively since the Genesis in February when he finished last among players that made the cut. Turns out he was taking a wait and see approach with the Tour’s handling of COVID. And you know Woods only plays when he thinks he has a chance. Oh, and those five Memorial wins and his current price are convincing reasons to stick with the Big Cat.
Bryson DeChambeau -105 vs. Justin Thomas
The hottest golfer spanning the shutdown, DeChambeau has positioned himself as one of the best if not the best on Tour. Just take a look at his recent results. He won the Rocket Mortgage Classic a few weeks back, the only thing he hadn’t done in a stretch of seven straight top-10s that included five top-5s. DeChambeau is a better golfer now than he was in 2018 when toppled the field at the Memorial. He intimidates other golfers with his majestic drives and does enough around the green to make him a threat every time.
Jon Rahm -135 vs. Collin Morikawa
Rahm is too good and too consistent to struggle for long. We saw a sign that things were flipping for him last week with a final round 64, which was the low score of the day. He finished T27, his best since the restart, and he stays on a course that changes more to his liking. His tee blasts will help him gain strokes and he should feel more comfortable after missing the cut at the Memorial in 2017. It’s hard to face Morikawa after his win and plus-odds make him inviting. It’s just too hard to go back-to-back and the field is hungry.
Joaquin Niemann +115 vs. Matthew Fitzpatrick
Given the quality of the field it’s going to be difficult for a longshot to win outright. Chances are much better in a head-to-head matchup. The faster the greens the better Niemann’s chances are of having success. He’s flying under the radar after a T31 on the same track last week. Keep in mind a final round 65 at the Schwab was followed with a T5 at the Heritage. He closed the Workday with a 68 meaning good things are ahead for the Chilean.
Hideki Matsuyama -130 vs. Viktor Hovland
I wrestled with this one going back forth on the matchup winner. I finally concluded that Matsuyama’s expertise driving and reaching greens is too much to overlook. He had problems last week with the flat stick leading to a T22 and with easier conditions I expect those issues to be resolved. Besides, Hovland has to be fatigued after playing every tournament since the restart.
About the Course
Course organizers and grounds crew will do their best to transform Muirfield after hosting last week. We will see changes in pin placements, the length of the rough, tee box setups and green speeds. The track will also play longer than last week extending to 7,456 yards. The hope is that no player who competed last week gets an unfair advantage. There are things that can’t be changed, though. The generous fairways are open to big hitters and bunkers surrounding a number of greens serve as a line of defense. Staying out of the sand will certainly help scores since the save rate is below Tour average. Most golfers agree that Muirfield is a second-shot layout that yields favorable scores with excellent ball striking and proper positioning off the tee.
Round one of #theMemorial is here and we’re as ready as the range! pic.twitter.com/EhOTyIigUT
— #theMemorial (@MemorialGolf) July 16, 2020
While staff will do what it can to alter the course between tournaments there are some things they can’t change. You have to figure those who played last week will have an edge over those that didn’t. Talent will override course experience, and most of the field has played Muirfield before, so maybe it’s not that big a deal. A thicker rough puts an emphasis on hitting fairways. The greens will be faster with not as much slope. It will be tougher to hit the dance floor but easier to make putts. The Jack Nicklaus-designed layout stretches to 7,456 yards at par 72 and will play right into the hands of the top contenders. Like we saw at the Workday, strong iron play is a key to success. For the second week in a row I went 2-2-1 on matchup picks. Just like a number of players I’m also working on getting the rust off my game. Let’s take another stab at it.
