The PGA Tour season continues on this week as it heads to Muirfield Village (par 72, 7,571 yards, bentgrass greens) in Dublin, Ohio, for the Memorial Tournament. Last season, Billy Horschel won this event by four strokes. This week’s field consists of 120 golfers, including 22 of the top-25 players in the world, so there is a lot to break down for the top PGA DFS picks. Let’s look at Stokastic’s Top Golfers Tool to find the best leverage plays for GPPs this week.
Leverage scores compare a golfer’s ownership to their salary-weighted odds to finish in the top-6 of the tournament. It is one of many metrics in Stokastic’s tools that use the fantasy point and ownership projections to find the top PGA DFS plays each week.
PGA DFS Picks & Leverage: Memorial Tournament
Jack Nicklaus designed Muirfield Village. It is a tree-lined course that presents wide fairways, small greens and water on 13 of the 18 holes. This par 72 is without a doubt one of the most difficult non-major tracks used at the PGA Tour level. To succeed here, golfers need to be in strong form with the irons and as a short-game player.
Horschel became the fourth straight Memorial champion last season that finished the tournament top-11 in both strokes gained on approach and around the green. Golfers also need to be efficient at avoiding bogeys at Muirfield Village, and efficient on the par 5’s if they want to contend. Over the last four years, three of the golfers to win the Memorial have ranked top-five in both bogey avoidance and par-5 efficiency.
Collin Morikawa
Stokastic PGA Optimizer Leverage Ranks: DraftKings: 2nd, FanDuel: 1st
Collin Morikawa needs to be one of your core PGA DFS GPP plays for the Memorial Tournament, with Stokastic projecting him for single-digit ownership on both DraftKings and FanDuel. He has produced five top-10 finishes in 17 starts this season. Morikawa has collectively gained strokes on approach and around the green in back-to-back starts coming into this week. He also ranks 10th in par-5 efficiency over his last fifty rounds, which bodes well for the trip to Muirfield Village on tap.
Morikawa was the runner-up at the 2021 Memorial, and he also won the 2020 Workday Charity Open at Muirfield Village. His natural fade makes him an excellent fit for this venue, and if Morikawa can find some luck with his putter, he will be in the mix for a win this weekend.
Eric Cole
Stokastic PGA Optimizer Leverage Ranks: DraftKings: 27th, FanDuel: 42nd
Eric Cole is slated to be less than 3% owned on both DraftKings and FanDuel after letting down many PGA DFS players and missing the cut at the Charles Schwab Challenge last week. This makes him a great buy low candidate. Cole may have been sent home early from the Charles Schwab Challenge, but he still gained strokes on approach and around the green at Colonial, marking the fifth straight start he has been positive in both categories. Cole ranks top-20 in strokes gained on approach, strokes gained around the green and bogey avoidance over his last fifty rounds and had recorded three top-25 finishes in his previous four starts before missing the cut at Colonial.
Cole has all the tools to flourish at Muirfield Village and he should get back on track with a quality finish in his Memorial debut this week. The last two times Cole has missed a cut, he has gone on to card a top-25 finish in his next start.
Latest PGA DFS Content
- RBC Heritage Preview: Course Breakdown, PGA DFS Model Plays & Much More
- 2024 RBC Heritage DFS Core Plays: Finding Course Fits for Harbour Town, Including Xander Schauffele
- RBC Heritage First Round Leader Picks, Bets & More (2024)
- PGA DFS Picks: Top Values for the RBC Heritage (2024)
- DraftKings Golf Cheat Sheet: Best PGA DFS Sims Picks for the RBC Heritage | Scottie Scheffler
- Stokastic DFS on Youtube
Ryan Fox
Stokastic PGA Optimizer Leverage Ranks: DraftKings: 22nd, FanDuel: 8th
Ryan Fox is far too cheap on both DraftKings and FanDuel. And not only is Fox a great value, he’s projected to have single-digit ownership on both sites according to Stokastic’s projections, making him one of the best GPP options on the board.
Fox has only missed one cut in seven starts this year, with all six of those finishes being top-30 results. He has gained strokes with his irons and his putter in back-to-back starts. Although Fox did miss the cut in his lone start at Muirfield Village in 2019, he is a much better player this time around and should redeem himself with a quality finish this week. Fox was the 88th ranked player in the world entering the 2019 Memorial, but now sits at No.41 in the world.
Mark Hubbard
Stokastic PGA Optimizer Leverage Ranks: DraftKings: 18th, FanDuel: 44th
Mark Hubbard has made two straight cuts at the Memorial and should extend this streak this week. He arrives in Dublin fresh off a ninth at the Charles Schwab Challenge. The result marked his fifth consecutive made cut and highest finish of the season. Hubbard gained strokes in every major category during this finish, except off the tee, including 7.3 strokes on approach, which ranked third for the event.
Hubbard is now 4-for-4 in made cuts at courses that present bentgrass greens this season, including two top-30 finishes. He has the potential for another top-30 finish this weekend. He’s a superb, cheap target for GPPs, with Stokastic forecasting Hubbard to be less than 5% owned on both DraftKings and FanDuel.
