Our PGA DFS series continues with The Memorial DFS Core Plays, which includes a look at Collin Morikawa, Andrew Putnam and many others.
This week we head to Ohio for one of the staple events on the PGA Tour calendar – The Memorial. Hosted by Jack Nicklaus at Muirfield Village Golf Club, it’s one of the premier events on tour every season. This will be the 7th out of 8 total elevated events on the 2024 schedule, which means a smaller field stacked with the game’s elite players. A small cut to the top 50 players and ties will take place after round 2, making it a bit different from most other elevated events that are typically no-cut.
Muifield Village is a beast, and regularly plays as one of the toughest golf courses these guys will face all season. The 7,500 yard par 72 layout features thick rough, small greens, numerous hazards, and lightning fast greens. It’s a true and complete test, which typically favors the game’s elite players. Past winners the likes of Rahm, DeChambeau, Cantlay and Hovland prove that very fact.
Due to the difficult nature of the course, I’ll be targeting players who are solid across the entire bag for my core plays. I’ll place a heavier emphasis on elite approach play as I do most weeks, but will be taking into consideration many factors when determining the best plays this week. I’ll put my weekly disclaimer here – Scottie Scheffler is intentionally left off of my core plays. He’s a great play every time he tees it up, and you don’t need me to tell you that. How you handle him is a strategic preference based on risk tolerance and contest size.
Thankfully our sim tools here at Stokastic do a lot of the heavy lifting. Our hole by hole simulation technology allows me to take every golfer in the field’s range of outcomes into consideration, along with what I project the competition’s lineups to look like. By simulating the lineups against each other tens of thousands of times, the best plays on the slate reveal themselves.
The players that appear most in the highest ROI lineups are the ones I want to build my portfolio around. Our sim tool is the core of my weekly DFS process, and something I highly recommend for those looking to take the next step in DFS. For a limited time, get 20% off any of our PGA Sims packages using promo code ‘BERRYMANSIMS‘.
Below are the players I’ll be building around as my core plays for The Memorial DFS. If you’d like to build around these players or your own core plays, another option to consider is our PGA lineup generator, which is the perfect PGA DFS tool. Right now, readers can try it out for a week for just $1 using promo code ‘BERRYMANLG‘.
2024 The Memorial DFS Core Plays
Collin Morikawa – $9,800
Since his resurgent 3rd place finish at the Masters back in April, Morikawa has been on a tear. Subsequent finishes of 9th, 16th, 4th and 4th have made it clear that something has clicked for the two time major champion. His skillset fits Muirfield Village perfectly. Over the last 24 rounds he ranks 1st in fairways gained, 2nd in strokes gained around the green, and top 15 in both birdie or better percentage and bogey avoidance.
This is all in addition to being widely considered one of the best iron players in the world. He finished 2nd place here in 2021, and I believe he’s in a prime position for another top finish this week. Fire up Morikawa with confidence this week.
Russell Henley – $8,000
As one of the most accurate drivers of the ball, and one of the best approach players on TOUR, Muirfield Village should be a perfect fit for Henley’s game. While he likely won’t be the player that wins the amount of golf tournaments he should with this profile, he’s an excellent DFS play on weeks like this where the course is set up to play difficult.
Over his last 17 starts, he’s missed only one cut and has seven finishes inside the top 10. Over the last 24 rounds he ranks inside the top 20 in this field in strokes gained approach, around the green, and putting. He has a complete game that is in good form right now. At just $8,000 on DraftKings, that’s a tremendous value.
Si Woo Kim – $7,700
You’re not going to find a better course fit than Si Woo Kim in the $7k range on DraftKings this week. From tee to green he’s been putting on quite a display this season – gaining 47 strokes on the field in just his last 8 tracked events. That ranks 5th in this field over that stretch behind only Scheffler, Rory, Xander and Hideki. He’s been THAT good. The problem has been his dreadful putter, which ranks dead last in this field, and has robbed him of some high finishes. However, there are plenty of reasons for optimism that he may be able to turn it around this week.
He’s played in this event seven total times, and has gained strokes putting in five of them. He’s also made the cut in all seven appearances, notching four finishes inside the top 18 in each of the last four years including a 4th place finish last year. He clearly likes this course, and is set up well to compete again this year. I’ll be rolling with Kim in hopes that his familiarity with the greens at Muirfield gives him a boost of confidence.
GPP Flier: Andrew Putnam – 6,500
This one is a bit of a leap of faith, but that’s why I call this section the GPP flier! Through March, April, and the beginning part of May, Putnam was playing some nice golf. A stretch that saw him gain strokes on approach in five out of six events that included three finishes inside the top 18. However, his last two starts have been a bit sobering. A 53rd place finish at the PGA Championship and a missed cut at Colonial now have the field completely off of Putnam.
However, he does have some nice familiarity with Muirfield Village. In the five times he’s tee’d it up in this event, he has two top 17 finishes including a 5th place just last season. He’s not long off the tee but he is very accurate, which will be paramount given the reports of the thick rough. I’m still willing to take a shot here at low projected ownership, and hope the field is over reacting to a couple of bad weeks.
These are a few of the key players who will make up my player pool for my 2024 The Memorial DFS lineups. I’ll favor them significantly when I build lineups using the PGA Sims. In addition, don’t forget to take advantage of the odds boosts sportsbooks are offering.
