The PGA Tour goes from one limited-field invitational to another this week as players head to “Jack’s Place” for The Memorial Tournament. Annually, we see one common theme reign supreme when it comes to the top of the leaderboard at Muirfield Village: ballstrikers. You can’t fake your way around this course as the rough is thick and the areas around the greens are tough to get up and down from. Historically, we see an abundance of approach shots from 150 to 200 yards (45% compared to Tour average of 38%). So if you are looking to target certain players, focus on ballstriking, with a strong emphasis on short and mid irons. Let’s take a look at three players who fit that description.

Rickie Fowler $8,500

Fowler will be a very popular play at this cheap price tag this week. In his last nine non-major starts, he has finished top 15 seven times and no worse than 31st. In his last six Memorial appearances, Rickie has finished top 15 four times, some of which came when he wasn’t in great form. Fowler ranks top 10 in approach from 150 to 200 yards, while landing above average in every other key metric. All signs lead to another top-15 finish this week and that will more than pay off his $8,500 salary.

Si Woo Kim $8,000

Is this price a joke? Do people not realize how good Si Woo Kim is? He is a four-time winner on the PGA Tour who already has one win in 2023 (Sony Open) and one runner-up finish at the Byron Nelson. This course suits him perfectly as it rewards elite short and mid iron players. Kim ranks first in approach from 150 to 200 yards. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that he has finished top 18 in each of his last three appearances at The Memorial.

Gary Woodland $7,700

If I asked you to name the four players who rank top-12 on Tour in both approach and off the tee, most people would be able to guess only three (Scheffler, Rahm, and Rory). Most people would not guess the fourth player: Gary Woodland. He ranks second in approach from 150 to 200 yards, so we can’t be surprised that he has two top-five finishes in his last eight starts at this course. I know Woodland struggles with his short game, but at $7,700, all we really need him to do is make the cut in order to pay off his cheap salary. If we get a field average short game performance, he could contend.