Steve Palmer's Memorial Tournament final-round advice, tips, when to watch

Sky Sports Golf, 5pm Sunday

The story so far
Martin Kaymer started this week ranked 186th in the world and a 175-1 chance for the Memorial Tournament, but the steely German has forged a two-shot lead through three rounds at Muirfield Village.

Kaymer has putted superbly in Ohio, carding rounds of 67, 68 and 66 to reach 15 under par, shortening to 15-8 favourite with 18 holes to play.

The 2014 US Open, almost exactly five years ago, is the last time Kaymer won a tournament. He is a three-time US Tour champion and they have all been hugely prestigious titles – the US PGA and the Players Championship being his other two successes.

Adam Scott, winless since the 2016 Cadillac Championship, is alone in second place, while there is a high-class trio sharing third place. Hideki Matsuyama, who fired a magnificent third-round 64, is tied with Patrick Cantlay and Jordan Spieth.

Leaderboard
-15 Martin Kaymer
-13 Adam Scott
-11 Hideki Matsuyama, Patrick Cantlay, Jordan Spieth
-9 Marc Leishman, Bud Cauley, Kyoung-Hoon Lee
-8 Emiliano Grillo

Best prices
15-8 M Kaymer, 11-4 A Scott, 6 P Cantlay, 7 J Spieth, 15-2 H Matsuyama, 40 M Leishman, 60 B Cauley, 80 bar

Final-day advice
Martin Kaymer and Adam Scott get on well and will enjoy the company of one another in the final Memorial pairing, but they are both on long winless streaks and could drag each other down under the extreme pressure of attempting to fend off a high-class chasing pack.

Kaymer has won three of the biggest tournaments on the US Tour, and likewise Scott, who can boast victories in the Players Championship, Tour Championship and Masters. But at 34 and 38 respectively, the careers of Kaymer and Scott have stalled, and they both desperately want Muirfield Village glory.

Kaymer has found some putting form out of the blue, having started the week ranked 128th on the US Tour putting stats and 154th on the European Tour putting stats. The improvement could obviously disappear as quickly as it came.

Scott has employed various different putting methods over the last year or so, getting better results, but the Aussie remains one of the most fragile dancefloor dwellers in the business. It is not difficult to imagine the front two treading water in round four.

Hideki Matsuyama served up a clinic of ball-striking at one of his favourite courses in round three. His 64 can be put into further context when you consider he missed birdie putts from 14 feet at the first, from 12 feet at the second, from nine feet at the eighth and from ten feet at the 15th. The Japanese ace is a tee-to-green machine when in possession of his A-game and the 2014 Memorial champion will fancy his chances of hunting down the pacesetting pair ahead of him.

Given Jordan Spieth has been lacking long-game consistency and quickly faded from contention when in with a similar chance at Colonial last Sunday, and that Patrick Cantlay has won only one US Tour title, it is a surprise to find Matsuyama is the biggest price of the trio tied for third.

Cantlay has been in tremendous form and is well suited to this layout, so deserves plenty of respect, but his mantelpiece lacks the silverware of the others. Matsuyama was a 22-1 Racing Post Sport ante-post selection – and Cantlay at 6-1 is arguably the best cover-shot for punters with a decent stake on Matsuyama – but anyone who is yet to get involved should consider the 15-2 about hotshot Hideki.

The rest have probably given themselves too much to do. A Matsuyama versus Cantlay duel could develop down the closing stretch – they are in the same twoball – with Kaymer, Scott and Spieth ending up just behind them.

Final-round twoball punters are pointed towards former Masters champion Danny Willett, who appears to be getting his act together nicely and should not be an outsider against Joaquin Niemann for the 5.30pm (UK and Ireland time) contest.

The final twoball of Kaymer and Scott is due on the tee at 6.50pm. A clear day with light breezes is forecast.

Twoballs recommendation
D Willett
1pt 5-4 Betfair, Paddy Power

Today's top sports betting stories

Follow us on Twitter @racingpostsport

Like us on Facebook RacingPostSport