Another $20,000,000 designated PGA TOUR event! A stacked field. DELUXE DraftKings Reignmakers prize pools. At the home of a PGA TOUR legend, Jack Nicklaus, at Muirfield Village Golf Club. Two weeks ahead of the third major championship, the US OPEN. Summer is here. We’re in the heart of the season. Money is up for grabs. Lineups need to be entered. Contests will be won. Let’s get into it.

Course Info

Muirfield Village Jack’s place and Mr. Nicklaus loves second shot golf courses (and milkshakes). Renovated just about two years ago, the course was lengthened, and the conditions were hardened just enough to test the modern-day tour player not only off the tee, but mostly via their approach and around the green. Small undulating greens make approach shots quite difficult which leads to misses that require savvy around the green play to make par. While the course was lengthened, and distance seemingly always matters, its not the most important stat here. With thick penal rough, its more important to play from the short grass of the fairway than to be closer to the hole. In the two years since the renovations, thirteen under par has won the tournament (Billy Horschel in 2022 and Patrick Cantlay in 2021*). I expect the scores to be around ten under par this year pending what appears to be some possible windy weekend conditions.

*Note – Jon Rahm had to withdraw in 2021 ahead of his final round on Sunday due to testing COVID positive. He had a six-shot lead and would have very likely won.

Golfer Targets

As is always the case, I highlight three golfers I like each week across the odds ranges: Best odds (+2000 or better), mid range (+2000-9000), and long shots (+10000 and up). Last week’s write up stunk. That’s on me. Before last week we were cooking, so let’s get back to that.

Also as is always the case, Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler are at the top of the odds boards. Jam ’em into the captain spot if you own them this week. If you own both (looking at a specific someone) then I’d opt for Rahm over Scottie this week as my captain. Two reasons, Scottie’s putter (hard to win a tour event without a putter) and Rahm’s ability to zero in on the fact that the Memorial was taken from him in 2021 and he wants to win here again.

Best Odds: Patrick Cantlay LOW ASK, CORE $22.99, RARE $94, ELITE $477.77

• Cantlay gets completely overshadowed by Rahm and Scheffler (and rightfully so). His numbers are off the charts, his course history is as good as it gets (T3, 1, T32, T7, 1, 4) and he ranks 1st in Par 5 scoring and 2nd in Total Driving on Tour. Chalk pick at the top of the board, I know, but Cantlay will be in the hunt on Sunday.

Mid Range: Jason Day LOW ASK, CORE $9, RARE $48, ELITE $194.99

• It’s a home game for Jason Day as he is a member at Muirfield Village and his price is a few dollars too low to ignore given where he sits on the odds board and where prices are around him. You can see the pricing disparity here in our Players view: Own the Moment – NFTs, Analytics, Fantasy Sports (otmnft.com). Jason has an elite short game around the green, scrambling, and putting and it should be on full display this week.

Long Shot: Denny McCarthy LOW ASK, CORE $3.29, RARE $16.48, ELITE $75

• There is variance in putting, but McCarthy is one of the best putters on the PGA TOUR and you’ll need to roll in putts this week to play well. He also has rather solid history at this course for someone who’s at +10000 odds to win as he finished T5 last year. Roll the onion this week Denny!

That will do it for this week. Best of luck in the contests as always, and I’ll see you all on the leaderboard!