Breaking down our Memorial Tournament DraftKings picks with our top plays, top fades and then building a winning PGA DFS lineup.
Though there might be attention paid elsewhere in golf right now, it should, more importantly, be on the Memorial Tournament this week with a trip to the iconic Muirfield Village Golf Club, more colloquially known as Jack’s Place with Jack Nicklaus being the host.
As is always the case for the Memorial, the field is stacked with past champions such as Jon Rahm and Patrick Cantlay helping to headline it but there are also many of the other top players in the world set to tee it up. That gives us a wide selection to dig through as we navigate the DraftKings PGA DFS slate for this week.
We’re coming off of two good weeks as our lineup cashed and all of our top plays made the cut and finished relatively well at the Charles Schwab Challenge. Let’s stay hot as we go into our top plays and fades for each DraftKings golf pricing tier before building our PGA DFS lineup for the week.
DraftKings picks for the Memorial Tournament PGA DFS lineups: Top Plays
$10,000: Jon Rahm ($11,100) – While I understand that Rahm hasn’t been himself outside of the win in Mexico for much of this year, you can’t argue with talent and course history. He’s a sneaky horse-for-course guy and Muirfield is one of those as he should be a back-to-back winner here if not for a positive COVID test. He’s the most expensive player on the slate, which is a bit annoying but also correct. Even then, if you go in this range, he’s who I’m playing. Also Consider: Rory McIlroy ($10,900), Xander Schauffele ($10,200)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F77bsFiG_PA?feature=oembed
$9,000: Shane Lowry ($9,000) – Lowry has been one of the most underrated players in the world this year, probably because he hasn’t won. Yet, he has three Top 3 finishes and hasn’t finished worse than T23 since The Honda Classic in late February — and that was at the PGA Championship, his only finish outside the Top 13 in that span. He’s my pick to win this week and getting him at the bottom of this range feels too good to be true — hopefully, it’s not. Also Consider: Will Zalatoris ($9,400), Viktor Hovland ($9,300), Matt Fitzpatrick ($9,100)
$8,000: Davis Riley ($8,600) – I’m currently the conductor of the Davis Riley hype train and we’re picking up steam. The guy is white-hot right now with four straight Top 13 finishes and two Top 5 showings in his last four regular stroke play events. He was also Top 5 at the Zurich with Zalatoris in the team event. His ball-striking is fully in form right now, which gives him a complete overall game to compete anywhere with. And that fits perfectly for the Memorial and I love him to keep his hot run alive. Also Consider: Sungjae Im ($8,900), Max Homa ($8,700), Joaquin Niemann ($8,300), Mito Pereira ($8,000)
$7,000: Rickie Fowler ($7,200) – I almost went with Chris Kirk here to keep playing the hits and, while I love him, the value for Fowler is entirely too enticing. He’s been quietly rounding into form lately with two Top 25 finishes and what could’ve been a third in a row if not for a Sunday blowup last week. With that coupled with four Top 15 finishes at the Memorial in the last five years, I love for him to keep on the upward trajectory and play well this week. Also Consider: Chris Kirk ($7,700), Si Woo Kim ($7,600), Alex Noren ($7,500), Cameron Tringale ($7,400), C.T. Pan ($7,200), Luke List ($7,100)
$6,000: Patrick Rodgers ($6,800) – Rodgers is one of my dark horses this week and, while I don’t plan to dip into the $6K range this week, he’d be my play if he did. He has two Top 20 finishes at Muirfield Village in the past three years, all while losing on approach. He’s actually gaining on approach this year and has been in good form by his standards with four straight Top 35 showings. Also Consider: Ryan Palmer ($6,900), Brendan Steele ($6,600), Lucas Glover ($6,500), Danny Willett ($6,200), Justin Lower ($6,200)
DraftKings picks for the Memorial Tournament PGA DFS lineups: Top Fades
$10,000: Collin Morikawa ($10,400) – Morikawa does have a win at Muirfield at the Workday championship played here but not at the Memorial where conditions have been more difficult by design. His ball-striking should fit well here but I’m terrified of how bad he’s been with the flat stick lately. Putting isn’t the most crucial aspect of the game here by any means, but if he putts how he has been, he’s not going to pay off this price on DraftKings.
$9,000: Cameron Smith ($9,900) – This is one that could also come back to bite me and I’m actually going against my Green on the Greens co-host Iain MacMillan here as Smith is one of his picks to win. But at a course where you simply won’t succeed if you drive it into the rough, his accuracy off the tee is jarring for this setup and helps to explain his bad course history here with three missed cuts in the last four years. I can’t pay this price with the concerns about him but there is risk with how well he’s been playing on approach and with his short game prowess.
$8,000: Corey Conners ($8,400) – Based on pedigree and methods of success, Conners should be a decent fit here as he’s a ball-striker by trade. However, his approach game has fallen off a bit of late, which is wildly concerning given that’s how he makes his bread. With that and his suspect short game, I’m dubious of Conners’ form right now and, at a place where he’s finished outside the Top 50 in two of three tries, I’m fading him big time this week.
$7,000: Bryson DeChambeau ($7,800) – Full disclosure, I’m excited to see DeChambeau back because he’s fun to see on the golf course. However, I don’t expect it to go more than two rounds. He wasn’t playing well hurt and, while he’s had surgery and time to get a bit healthier, the rust factor for a player who plays in the manner he does is quite curious and enough to scare me completely away from him.
Memorial Tournament: Best DraftKings golf lineup
- Shane Lowry ($9,000)
- Sungjae Im ($8,900)
- Max Homa ($8,700)
- Davis Riley ($8,600)
- Alex Noren ($7,500)
- Rickie Fowler ($7,200)
We’re skipping the $10K range and almost all of the $9K range as well but I’m okay with that given the value in the $8K range we can load up on. Lowry has been talked about, as has Riley. As for Homa, he was T6 at Muirfield Village last year and is playing the best golf of his career lately. Im, on the other hand, has been sneaky good when healthy this year and his game should fit this course. He’s also one of Iain MacMillan’s winner picks and this is why.
Sungjae Im missed over a month due to playing in Korea and contracting COVID-19, but he looked like he hadn’t skipped a beat when he returned at the Charles Schwab Challenge last week, finishing T15, which is now is fourth straight start of 21st place or better.
His biggest asset this week is his play around the greens, where he ranks fourth on Tour. He’s also a wizard on long approach shots, of which there are many at Muirfield Village. He’s a sneaky good pick that not many people are talking about this week.
Fowler has also been discussed but we also have Noren, who has been sneaky gaining strokes across the board this year and finished Top 15 at the Memorial last year. This is an unconventional overall lineup that I love to pop up and make noise.