Steve Palmer's Memorial Tournament preview, best bets, free golf tips

Golf tips, best bets and player analysis for the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village on the PGA Tour.

Where to watch

Live on Sky Sports Golf from 12.15pm Thursday

Best bets

Patrick Cantlay
4pts each-way 14-1 Betfair, Hills, Power, Sky Bet
Viktor Hovland
2pts each-way 22-1 Hills
Sepp Straka
1pt each-way 150-1 Sky Bet

The second leg of the PGA Tour's fortnight stay at Muirfield Village is the main event – the Memorial Tournament hosted by Jack Nicklaus – but the Golden Bear knows that last week's Workday Charity Open is a tough act to follow.

The one-off WCO will live long in the memory for a remarkable final round in which Justin Thomas quickly went from two shots ahead to four behind, then fought back to three ahead with three holes to play, only to end up losing to Collin Morikawa at the third playoff hole.

Tortured Thomas backers who saw their selection go from 11-1 to 1-33 and lose must decide whether to enter the fray again at the same price this week. JT is well suited to Muirfield Village, but the scars from Sunday, where he holed a birdie putt from 50 feet at the first extra hole before seeing Morikawa survive with a 24-footer of his own, may need longer to heal.

This week's field is much stronger and Tiger Woods makes his first PGA Tour appearance since the Genesis Invitational in the middle of February. Woods seems likely to be rusty, but he is a five-time Memorial champion and he played superbly in an exhibition match against Phil Mickelson at the end of May.

Steve Palmer's top tip

Patrick Cantlay 14-1

There are 133 runners in the Memorial field and 89 of them competed in the Workday Charity Open last week – those tackling the same course for the second week running are surely the main focus for punters.

The rough will be slightly longer than last week and the greens will be faster, but fully adjusting to the layout in the WCO has to be advantageous. Nicklaus has narrowed some fairways and added a few bunkers since last year's Memorial, so those who could dial in their sight lines in the WCO have an early edge.

Defending Memorial champion Patrick Cantlay was delighted with how his WCO warm-up went and the cocksure Californian is by far the most appealing option this week. Cantlay boasts a scoring average of 68.33 from his last 12 rounds at Muirfield Village, a venue which he adores.

Cantlay's Memorial form figures are 35-4-1 and his Sunday 64 to complete a two-shot victory last year was one of the best rounds of the PGA Tour season. Last week, he admitted to still shaking off some lockdown rust over the first three days of the WCO, but a closing 65 was the second-best score in the field and evidence that his A-game has returned.

A share of 11th in the Travelers Championship was a decent comeback from Cantlay in his first appearance after the Tour's coronavirus suspension and seventh place in the WCO banked another healthy cheque. The 28-year-old seems primed for a stout Memorial title defence.

Cantlay gets unfairly criticised for an apparent paucity of victories but it is often forgotten that so much of his career has been lost to injury. He has played a total of 104 events on the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour, winning once on the former and twice on the latter. The former world number one amateur has never been healthier and happier. He started contending for Majors last year and should develop into a prolific champion given time.

Next best bet

Viktor Hovland 22-1

If Viktor Hovland ever finds a putting stroke which allows him to hole his fair share on the greens, the Norwegian will become a rapid contender for the world-number-one ranking. His compatriots, not used to seeing a world-class golfer from their country, have been getting excited about Hovland making the top 50 in the rankings, but the sky is the limit for this immense talent if he can make some short-game improvements.

Hovland has topped the strokes-gained tee-to-green rankings for three consecutive weeks – his ball-striking was better than anyone's in the Travelers Championship, Rocket Mortgage Classic and Workday Charity Open. He is the only player who has made the cut in every post-lockdown PGA Tour event and form figures of 23-21-11-12-3 are testament to his long-game class. He led the WCO after a barnstorming start to round four, before Thomas and Morikawa found top gear. Third place, though, was a magnificent effort on his Muirfield Village debut.

The juicier rough this week will not worry Hovland – he was fourth for driving accuracy in the WCO – and this could be the week he actually has enough energy to sustain a winning 72-hole performance. His schedule has been gruelling as he has driven himself from tournament to tournament.

Hovland has gone from his Oklahoma home to Texas to South Carolina to Connecticut to Michigan to Ohio, wearing out his Lexus and hammering Red Bull to stay awake. Disappointing Sunday 71s in the RMC and the WCO may have been down to mental fatigue. This week, though, he has had the luxury of staying put at Muirfield Village, resting for the Memorial, and a second PGA Tour title may be the result.

Other selection

Sepp Straka 150-1

Cantlay and Hovland deserve most attention from the betting community this week but there is some each-way value to be gained from Sepp Straka. The Austrian, who has lived in Georgia from his early teens, has established himself as one of the best maidens on the PGA Tour.

It would be a tremendous effort from Straka to overcome a field as strong as this one for his Tour breakthrough but there must be every chance he gets in position to give himself a winning opportunity on Sunday. Like Hovland, he made a superb Muirfield Village debut last week.

Straka carded four under-par rounds for 14th place in the WCO, following eighth spot in the RMC the previous week. This strong ball-striker has won on the Korn Ferry Tour, has posted three top-fours on the PGA Tour, and the 27-year-old is looking increasingly ready to challenge for trophies.

Players to note

Dustin Johnson
The Travelers champion should hit his stride after falling over the line at River Highlands to end a 16-month victory drought. DJ is arguably the best value of those who did not compete in the WCO.

Rory McIlroy
The world number one left the Travelers Championship dejected with how his post-lockdown campaign has gone, but Muirfield Village is a course which suits and the two-week break could easily have revived the Northern Irishman.

Daniel Berger
The Floridian has become the PGA Tour's Mr Consistent, boasting form figures of 9-5-4-1-3 from his last five starts. Expect a major improvement on Memorial results of MC-67.

Bryson DeChambeau
The Rocket Mortgage Classic champion was Memorial victor in 2018 and 22nd in his title defence. He will do for many, but the RMC field was weak and all the big guns are out this week. An apparent spat with Brooks Koepka does not help the cause.

Muirfield Village course guide

Course Muirfield Village, Dublin, Ohio
Prize money $9.3m ($1.638m to the winner)
Length 7,456 yards
Par 72
Field 133
Course records- 72 holes 268 Tom Lehman (1994) 18 holes 61 John Huston (1996)

Course winners taking part Tom Lehman, Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods (five times), Jim Furyk, Ernie Els, Carl Pettersson, KJ Choi, Justin Rose, Steve Stricker, Matt Kuchar, Hideki Matsuyama, David Lingmerth, William McGirt, Jason Dufner, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Cantlay, Collin Morikawa

When to bet By noon on Thursday

When to watch Live on Sky Sports Golf from 12.15pm Thursday

Time difference Ohio is five hours behind the UK and Ireland

Last week - Workday Charity Open 1 C Morikawa (33-1), 2 J Thomas (11-1), 3 V Hovland (25-1), 4 C Seiffert (400-1), T5 G Woodland (50-1), I Poulter (100-1), T7 P Cantlay (14-1), B Horschel (90-1), J Day (70-1), C Hoffman (200-1), R Henley (90-1), S Ryder (200-1), K Streelman (70-1)

Course type Parkland

Course overview This Jack Nicklaus design, which has hosted the Memorial since 1976, has always proved a great challenge for the PGA Tour’s finest. The 2013 Presidents Cup was staged there too. Nicklaus likes to create generous fairways but the bunkers at Muirfield Village are punishing. The greens are usually in majestic condition. They were running much slower than normal last week for the inaugural Workday Charity Open – a one-off PGA Tour event which meant the circuit is having a fortnight stay at Muirfield Village – but will be sped up for the Memorial. The rough will be slightly longer than for last week. It is more of a ‘second-shot course’ with hardly any margin for error on approach shots. The four par-fives (the fifth, seventh, 11th and 15th) are great chances for birdies, as are the short par-fours of three and 14. The 16th, 17th and 18th are seriously tough, usually averaging well over par, so the possibility of a late crumble is huge, as Justin Thomas found to his cost in the Workday Charity Open on Sunday

Story of last year Patrick Cantlay produced a Sunday masterclass – a final-round 64 – to win the title by two shots from Adam Scott

Weather forecast Sunny with light breezes for the most part, but there is a thunderstorm threat for Thursday and Saturday

Type of player suited to the challenge Accurate iron-play is the key to slaying Muirfield Village. Recent victories, including Collin Morikawa's on Sunday, have gone to those carrying laserlike irons on a track where the second shot is usually considerably more difficult than the first

Key attribute Accuracy

Follow us on Twitter

Like us on Facebook