Look, predicting a pre-tournament Sportsbook in golf isn’t easy. While it’s true sports bettors can find fantastic value, it’s incredibly frustrating when one of your picks doesn’t even make the cut. That’s why I’m here to help.
Every week I’ll highlight three golfers who have a good chance to win the hardware for the upcoming weekend. This week it’s the Memorial Tournament.
For a full breakdown of the tournament, check out my betting preview.
Odds courtesy of Sportsbook
My favorite pick: Rory McIlroy +1400
The competition is always fierce at the Memorial Tournament, but don’t let that deter you from betting the event before it begins. With that said, McIlroy is easily my favorite pick this weekend for a number of reasons.
The Northern Irishman is coming off a runner-up finish at the BMW PGA Championship on the European Tour and has a win (Arnold Palmer Invitational), T-5 (the Masters) and T-16 (Wells Fargo Championship) under his belt since mid-March. McIlroy has flat-out owned Muirfield over the years, collecting two top-fives and another pair of top-15s in six trips to the Memorial.
Solid value: Tony Finau +5000
Finau has been quietly having a fantastic season, yet his most memorable moment in 2018 is unfortunately briefly dislocating his ankle at Augusta National while celebrating a hole-in-one at the par-3 contest. The 28-year-old doesn’t have a win yet this year but sits a very respectable 11th in the FedExCup standings.
Finau has mastered par 5s (fourth in par-5 scoring on the PGA Tour) and is 16th in adjusted scoring. He’s also placed in the top 15 at Muirfield Village and could be in line to raise some eyebrows in Ohio.
My favorite sleeper pick: Kevin Streelman +15000
Streelman won’t be on the radar of many golf bettors at the Memorial but he should be. Way down the odds list at +15000, the veteran is an extremely appealing sleeper pick in my eyes.
Streelman has gone T-18, T-8 and T-13 at the tournament since 2015, so he’s clearly a fan of the Jack Nicklaus design. Besides, the American has three top-10s in his last 10 tour appearances and ranks fifth in greens in regulation – an extremely important stat at any course.
