Golf bets: Longshot picks, best bets for the Memorial

The Memorial's $20M purse draws elite field

PGA TOUR

LAST TOURNAMENT: Charles Schwab Challenge (Emiliano Grillo)

THIS WEEK: the Memorial Tournament, Dublin, Ohio, June 1-4

Course: Muirfield Village Golf Club (Par 72, 7,571 yards)

Purse: $20M (Winner: $3.6M)

Defending Champion: Billy Horschel

FedEx Cup leader: Jon Rahm

HOW TO FOLLOW

TV: Thursday-Friday, 2-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 12:30-2:30 p.m. (GC), 2:30-6 p.m. (CBS)

Streaming on ESPN+: Thursday-Friday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m.

Twitter: @MemorialGolf

BEST BETS

Scottie Scheffler (+600 at BetMGM) leads the tour with 11 top-10s season and has finished no worse than T12 in his past 14 starts on tour. He finished third at the Memorial two years ago.

Jon Rahm (+750) won the event in 2020 and held a six-shot lead after 54 holes in 2021 when he was forced to withdraw due to a positive COVID-19 test. He is attempting to become the first player to win five times in a season since Justin Thomas in 2016-17. 

Patrick Cantlay (+1000) has two wins at the Memorial and four top-five finishes in six career starts. He also holds the tournament scoring average record of 69.96 among players with at least 10 rounds played since 1983.

Rory McIlroy (+1200) is making his 12th start at the Memorial, with his best finish thus far a T4 in 2016.

NEXT TOURNAMENT: RBC Canadian Open, Toronto, June 8-11

NOTES: This is the 33rd event of the 2022-23 PGA Tour season and the eighth designated event. ... The field includes seven of the top 10 and 38 of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking. ... The only player to successfully defend at the Memorial was Tiger Woods (1999-2001). Horschel, who will attempt to join him, has only two top-10s this season and sits at 108th in the FedEx Cup Standings with 10 weeks remaining before the start of the playoffs. ... Jason Day, who won two weeks ago at the Byron Nelson, lives in Columbus, Ohio, and is a member of Muirfield Village. His best finish in 13 previous starts was a T4 in 2020. ... 2022 Jack Nicklaus Award recipient Chris Gotterup will make his 13th start on tour, with his best finish to date a T4 at the 2022 John Deere Classic. ... Reigning U.S. Amateur winner Sam Bennett will make his professional debut. He finished T16 at the Masters. ... Tom Lehman holds the tournament scoring record of 268 set in 1994. ... Rickie Fowler has five top-10s through 15 starts this season. He had four combined top-10s over the previous three seasons. Fowler qualified for The Open Championship by moving into the top 50 in the world rankings with last week's T6 at the Charles Schwab Challenge.