We head to Muirfield Village for the seventh Signature Event of the PGA Tour season — a 72-man field with a unique cut: only players within 10 shots of the lead will play the weekend. This is a true test of complete game control on a major-style course designed by Jack Nicklaus himself. Let’s dive into my PGA DFS picks and core plays for The Memorial Tournament.
Course Preview
Muirfield plays as a 7,569-yard par 72 with firm Bentgrass greens, punishing rough, and four par 5s that offer the only real scoring chances.
That means precise iron play, strong scrambling, and Par-5 scoring are critical — especially with over 50% of approach shots coming from beyond 175 yards.
The course feature wide fairways that tempt aggression, but miss, and you’re hacking out of some of the thickest rough on Tour. Once players make the green, they’ll be met with lightning-fast, heavily undulated Bentgrass greens.
I’m weighting SG: APP, SG: OTT, ARG, Good Drive Percentage, and scoring on long par 5s and mid-length par 4s. Plus, comp course and history will be essential in determining the best entries for this week’s DFS lineups.
I’ve crunched the numbers using Stokastic’s PGA Sims Tool – which simulates every hole and builds thousands of lineups using our projections. It highlights which golfers pop in winning combinations, helping you lock in core plays and uncover sneaky value. If you’re building optimized DFS lineups, this tool is a must.
Let’s dive into The Memorial Tournament picks that I’ll be building my lineups around this week on DraftKings.
PGA DFS Picks: The Memorial Tournament DFS Picks & Core Plays
PGA DFS Picks: The Memorial Tournament DFS Picks & Core Plays: Xander Schauffele – $10,900
There’s a feeling in the air (well, at least for me) that we’re overdue for a Xander Schauffele victory.
And there’s a great tournament happening this weekend that may provide him with his best opportunity yet to do so. At The Memorial, Schauffele has played 30 rounds and has managed a True SG mark of +2.07. In his last five appearances, he’s finished T-8, T-24, T-11, and T-13.
Who’s to say we shouldn’t expect another quality performance from the 31-year-old? In his past 36 rounds, among this crop of contenders, he’s 3rd in Driving Distance, 10th in SG: APP, and 23rd in SG: T2G. This season, he’s also 29th in Par-5 Scoring Average and 36th in Approaches from 175-200 yards.
He comes with a heavy ownership tag, but I believe he’s a player worth eating the chalk for this weekend.
Ludvig Aberg – $9,300
Aberg lacks the course experience, but that didn’t stop him from securing a T-5 finish at Muirfield Village last year. In those four rounds, he posted a True SG mark of +2.92, which is the third-highest in this field.
In our latest PGA Sims run, Aberg boasts the highest-leverage mark (22.5%) and the second-highest exposure (34%). This setup works in his favor, as he’s 4th in SG: OTT and 6th in Driving Distance over his past 36 rounds.
Aberg’s last outing featured a missed cut at the PGA Championship, so expect the young Swede to come in with extra motivation this time around.
PGA DFS Picks; The Memorial Tournament DFS Picks & Core Plays: Taylor Pendrith – $7,300
Our PGA Top Golfers Tool labels Pendrith with a 5.7% leverage mark, along with a 12.5% optimal rate. These are standout stats for a player in Pendrith’s range.
Pendrith is T-5th in Par-5 Scoring and sits 30th in Good Drive Percentage this year. Plus, he’s 2nd in SG: OTT, 30th in SG: T2G, and 32nd in SG: APP. He’s played a total of 8 rounds at this venue, with a T-60 finish in 2023 and a T-33 result last year. His True SG mark is slightly positive (+0.25) and he’s coming off a T-5 finish at the PGA Championship.
Pendrith has produced numerous quality outings this season, and I wouldn’t be shocked to see him do it again in Dublin, Ohio.
GPP Flier: Michael Kim – $6,800
This week’s long shot is Michael Kim – the 31-year-old who has produced six finishes of T16th or better this season, including a T-16 last week at the Charles Schwab Challenge last week.
Kim stands out in our PGA Top Golfers Tool with 4.2% leverage and a 12.5% optimal rate. Statistically, he’s 7th in Bogey Avoidance, 13th in Scrambling, 19th in Par-4 Scoring, and 36th in Par-5 Scoring.
Over his last 36 rounds, he ranks 14th in SG: Around-the-Green, 20th in SG: Tee-to-Green, and 27th in SG: Off-the-Tee — good for 22nd in SG: Total among this week’s field.
While his eight career rounds at Muirfield Village haven’t yielded much success, the recent form suggests he’s capable of flipping the script.
