Daily Fantasy Golf FanDuel Picks (PGA DFS): The Memorial

Joe Nicely breaks down the FanDuel slate, providing information of not only who will come into the week under-owned but also who should be avoided for your lineups.

Hello RotoBaller PGA family! The Workday Charity Open was a new event played on a familiar course and it was perhaps the best Sunday we've seen since golf's return. A ridiculously-talented final group of Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, and Viktor Hovland battled throughout the day, with Morikawa eventually prevailing over JT in a playoff. Great stuff!

We have another great tournament on deck this week as the PGA Tour stays at Muirfield Village for the second of back to back tournaments at Jack Nicklaus' place! In this article, we'll discuss some of the standout PGA DFS plays available on FanDuel for the Memorial. While it's impossible to hit on every player, we'll touch on some different plays across all price ranges.

Like always, the purpose of this piece is to help you put together your optimal daily fantasy golf lineups for FanDuel, whether that be from a GPP perspective or a cash-game mentality. Be sure to also read all of our other top-notch weekly PGA DFS and betting articles to help you win big!

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The Memorial - PGA DFS Overview

Muirfield Village

7,456 Yards - Par 72 - Greens: Bentgrass w/ Poa  

We can always count on a Nicklaus-designed course to force the players into strategic thinking and Muirfield Village doesn't disappoint. 'The Golden Bear' built this course from the ground up in the 1970's and he continually updates it as needed. It's lengthy, but isn't a 'bomber's track'. Difficult, but not impossible to score on. In other words, Muirfield is a very high-quality golf course. The emphasis this week will be on accuracy and ballstriking, with players being required to hit both tree-lined fairways and undulating greens. Water is in play on 11 holes, with bunkers also causing trouble for the players. The closing stretch is one of the toughest in golf, with 16, 17, and 18 presenting players with a challenging close to their rounds. We'll also see slightly thicker rough and noticeably faster greens than we saw last week at the Workday. I'll be heavily weighting Strokes Gained: Approach, SG: OTT and bogey avoidance/scrambling this week at Muirfield.

Let's Look At The Stats

Muirfield's fairly generous fairways are rather easy to hit, but you'll notice that the GIR % on this layout is below the Tour average due to the comparatively small size of these greens and the (normally) thick rough. Players that are great scramblers and bunker players will have a leg up on the field, as will those that thrive on long Par-4s. Of course, the best way to score is to hit the greens on approach, which makes sharp iron players the targets on this "second-shot golf course" this week.

Key Stats

• Strokes Gained: Approach
• Par 4 Efficiency (450-500 yards)
• Greens In Regulation Gained
• Strokes Gained: Tee To Green
• Bogey Avoidance
• Sand Saves Gained

Fantasy Golf Lineup Picks for FanDuel (PGA DFS)

We have tons of great weekly PGA articles, DFS analysis, tools and DFS advice. Be sure to read our other fantastic articles regarding this week's event including DFS lineup picks for DraftKings/FanDuel, betting advice and DFS prop picks.

High-Priced FanDuel DFS Players 

Bryson DeChambeau ($12,000)

"Bryson's Blistering Bombs Tour" (maybe I should trademark that?) took a week off for the Workday, but DeChambeau will be back in action this week at the Memorial, a tournament that he won two years ago.

We all know that what Bryson is doing off the tee is unbelievable, but there are two legitimate questions that haven't been answered: 1) Is it sustainable? and 2) Will this style translate to every golf course?

The sustainability issue is one that only time can answer, but I think the question of Bryson's new-found style working at Muirfield Village is an interesting one. There's plenty of room off the tee on this layout - and certainly some holes where DeChambeau's length will be a big advantage - but we know that this is a second-shot golf course. Bryson has had some amazing approach numbers in a couple of the events since the restart, but his iron game (really wedge for him) was pedestrian in his last two starts at the Travelers and the Rocket Mortgage, with his results being aided by fabulous putting weeks.

Saying all that is perhaps the wordy way of saying: DeChambeau's length will give him an advantage on every golf course - including this one - and he will always be in contention when leading the field in putting like he did at Detroit, but this layout will test his approach game like no other has since the restart. I continue to say that he's a "scary fade" and that is once again this case this week, even at this price tag.

Patrick Cantlay ($11,600)

The Workday proved to be a rather sluggish week for Cantlay, until he finally woke up on Sunday with a final-round 65 that shot him up the leaderboard. His light schedule is always a bit frustrating for me as a DFS player, but I always like him on the second week of a back-to-back, as it gives him a chance to find his groove. This is especially true on this Muirfield Village layout where he's been borderline dominant over the last couple of years. Cantlay gained strokes in every major category last week and I look for him to be even sharper in this spot.

Dustin Johnson ($11,500) 

Dustin Johnson reminded us just how good he can be when he won the Travelers a few weeks ago. DJ has also been known to win in bunches, which puts him smack-dab in the middle of my DFS radar this week. We can't expect or predict when Johnson will gain six strokes putting liking he did at the Travelers, but I'm more encouraged by his hot iron play. He gained six shots on approach in Connecticut - and 3.1 with his irons the week before that at Hilton Head - and that's where this event will be won or lost...on approach shots. If we do want to take a look at putting, we can see that bent/poa is historically DJ's best surface and it's translated into a T8 and solo-third finishes over his last three starts at the Memorial.

Collin Morikawa & Viktor Hovland ($11,300 & $11,100) 

Two unbelievable young players that showed us just what they are made of last week. I've said multiple times in articles here at RotoBaller that I believe Morikawa has a chance to be the best iron player that we've seen on the PGA Tour since Tiger Woods, and he certainly lived up to that last week, as he gained a massive 9.2 strokes on approach shots en route to winning the Workday Open. Hovland is perhaps a good comp to the aforementioned Dustin Johnson, as his ball striking is already elite, but he's still finding his way with the short game. He lost strokes putting at the Workday - it was the fourth week in a row - though he was right in the thick of things until the last few holes. This Muirfield layout obviously sets up perfectly for both these guys, my only reluctance is the hangover factor. Can Morikawa stay up after a win? Can Hovland overcome the mental letdown of a near miss? If their short time on the PGA Tour is any indication, they will both answer the bell this week.

Tiger Woods ($10,600)

I could spend this entire article talking about all the players in the "elite" price range this week, but I'm wrapping up the "high-priced plays" with Mr. Woods. Tiger has won this event five times in his career and this layout is tailor made for his game. He's perhaps the greatest course tactitian that we've ever seen and he's able to put his unbelievable golf IQ to work on this Muirfield layout. Obviously, the concern is his long layoff - Tiger hasn't teed it up in a PGA Tour event since February - and the rust factor. It's a legit worry when considering whether or not to roster him, but I stopped doubting Tiger a long time ago.

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Mid-Priced FanDuel DFS Players

Daniel Berger ($10,200)

Hey remember this guy? Daniel Berger has been chillin' for the last couple of weeks, but he's earned that right with his amazing 2020 output, as he's went T9/T5/T4/Win/T3 over his last five starts. Berger leads this week's elite field in Strokes Gained: Total over his last 12 measured rounds (yes that even includes Bryson) and his game is firing in all areas right now. He doesn't strike me as a "rest on his laurels" type of guy and I imagine he's used the last couple of weeks to maintain his health and recharge for a very important upcoming stretch of tournaments. His iron play has been crisp and his short game very reliable. Strangely, Berger hasn't performed great in his two Memorial starts since 2015, though on paper this should be a great course for him. My interest lies in the fact that he might go overlooked this week, so I'll be keeping a close eye on ownership projections as the week progresses and won't hesitate to pull the trigger on Berger if it appears he's going to be underowned.

Abraham Ancer ($9,900)

Iron play is important this week? How about our guy Abraham Ancer, who just a few short weeks ago hit 18 of 18 greens in the final round of the RBC Heritage?

Ancer leads this elite field in SG: Approach over his last 12 measured rounds and has finished no worse that T14 in three starts since play on the PGA Tour resumed. His Memorial history is fairly pedestrian and his ability both on and around the greens (the weakest part of his game) will be put to the test this week at Muirfield. For me though, I always side with ball striking, and Ancer has been as consistently good, or perhaps better, than anyone with his irons since the restart.

Tony Finau ($9,800)

I'm sorry guys, but as Tony Finau's DFS price continues to drop, I continue to fall for it. We all know the type of quality player that Finau is, but - admittedly - something has been a little bit off with his game as of late. That said, Tony's had a week off to figure things out - and I noticed on Twitter that he shot a 59 at a local course during his break - so hopefully we'll see a re-energized Finau this week. He's played well on this course, with three finishes inside the top-13 in five Memorial starts since 2015. This is more of a gut-call/price-based play than a statistical one, but it feels like he's gonna come around at some point and pop for a top-five outing.

Joaquin Niemann ($9,700)

You can throw Joaquin Niemann in that Morikawa/Hovland bucket of young, rising stars. Just 21-years-old, Niemann is a top-flight ball striker with a short game that comes and goes. He failed to get untracked last week at the Workday, despite gaining just over four strokes with his irons, but it was another solid performance from him on this Muirfield layout (a T27 and a T6 in two previous Memorial starts) and, despite his relative volatility, he's the type of player that brings some serious upside to the table when he gets things clicking.

Kevin Streelman ($9,300)

A seasoned veteran that brings a unique combination of strong course history and hot current form with him this week. Streelman logged a T7 last week, on the heels of a runner-up finish a couple of weeks ago at the Travelers Championship. He scored a solo-fourth in last year's Memorial and has finished inside the top-18 in four of his last five Memorial starts. Streelman's been running hot with the putter, but he's also backing it up with very good ball striking, as he's gained 7.3 (Travelers) and 4.7 (Workday) strokes T2G in his last two starts.

Low-Priced FanDuel DFS Players

Corey Conners ($9,000)

The Canadian is another example of a superb ball striker that struggles with the short game. Conners has been extremely sharp with his irons since the restart, averaging just over 3.6 SG: Approach in his four post-layoff starts, including a +5 tally last week on this golf course. There's always a bit of "hit and hope" that comes with rostering Conners, as we're confident that the ball striking will be there, but hoping for a decent week on and around the greens. I'm leaning heavily on iron play this week (even more than usual), so I'll be happy to take a chance on his upside in large-field GPPs at this price.

Keegan Bradley ($8,500)

This one's for all you sickos out there that don't mind the swings that come with rostering Keegan Bradley. Our hero led last week's Workday field in SG: Approach, gaining a MASSIVE 10.7 strokes with his irons! Unfortunately (and predictably), Keegs was scraping the bottom of the field in putting, losing a comically-bad 6.9 strokes on the greens. So, for all you Ricky Bobby "if you ain't first you're last" types, he's a boom-or-bust GPP play that, literally, could finish first or last this week.

Talor Gooch ($7,800)

Gooch is a salary saver that I was rostering with regularity (and nice results) before play was halted on the PGA Tour. Unfortunately, he's been sluggish since the restart and has missed the cut in two of his four post-layoff starts. He did pop last week on this course, gaining an impressive 6.2 strokes on approach en route to a T17. Gooch is streaky, so I want to try to catch him while he's hot...and cheap.

Tyler Duncan ($7,600)

We meet again Mr. Duncan...I've somehow, randomly, turned into a Tyler Duncan truther over the past month or so. I've rostered him every week he's teed it up since the restart and T-Dunks has came through by going 4/4 in made cuts. He's gained strokes around the greens in all four of those starts and has been competent T2G. Duncan doesn't stick out in any one area, but is instead solid in all facets. Even though this field is strong and deep, I'll roll with him again in GPPs at this bargain-basement price tag.

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