The host of this week’s Memorial Tournament, the Jack Nicklaus-designed Muirfield Village, is one of the best overall tests on the PGA Tour. Good shots are rewarded and errant shots are punished.
Muirfield Village places a marked emphasis on approach shots, especially those over 150 yards. So it is no surprise to see players such as Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Tiger Woods, Hideki Matsuyama, and Jon Rahm to have historically succeeded here. You can’t fake it. It’s a ballstrikers paradise. If you miss with your approach shot, you either have a difficult two putt on extremely undulating fast greens or have a difficult up-and-down from the thick greenside rough or deep bunkers.
With that test in mind, here are a few players to target for this week’s Memorial Tournament:
Shane Lowry $9,000
Lowry continues to go under the radar as he has finished top 40 in all 10 events for 2022 and narrowly missed out on a few wins. He ranks first in the field in approach overall and third in approach from 150-plus yards. There is a good chance we see Lowry with a similar finish to his 6th place result from a year ago.
Cameron Young $8,800
Young is going to win this year. He already has five top-three finishes, including in each of his last three starts. He ranks second off the tee and second in birdies. He’s no slouch in other categories either, as he is top 30 in approach, around the green, and putting. Look for another high finish this week from one of this season’s tee-to-green aces.
Davis Riley $8,600
To continue the trend of players who have been knocking on victory’s door … look no further than Davis Riley. He had the lead with six holes to play last week at Colonial before struggling down the stretch. He ended up finishing fourth, which was his fourth straight top-13 finish. He has gained a massive 14.1 strokes on approach over the last two weeks. If that continues this week, he will have another chance at victory.