Steve Palmer's Workday Charity Open preview, best bets, free golf tips

Golf tips, best bets and player analysis for the Workday Charity Open at Muirfield Village on the PGA Tour.

Where to watch

Live on Sky Sports Golf from 12.30pm Thursday

Best bets

Justin Thomas
4pts each-way 11-1 Hills
Patrick Cantlay
3pts each-way 14-1 Hills
Joaquin Niemann
1pt each-way 45-1Hills
Corey Conners
0.5pt each-way 80-1Hills

Analysis

Bryson DeChambeau is the talk of golf after he powered his way to Rocket Mortgage Classic glory on Sunday, but the Incredible Hulk of the PGA Tour is taking a week off, leaving the stage clear for five other members of the world's top ten to make merry.

The inaugural Workday Charity Open is the first of two PGA Tour events at Muirfield Village, Ohio, over the next fortnight. The prize money is inferior to next week's Memorial Tournament – the annual gathering hosted by Jack Nicklaus – but the WCO should be a fantastic spectacle in its own right at a much-loved venue.

PGA chiefs have planned to keep green speeds slow this week, affording more options for pin positions to provide variety between the back-to-back events, with the dancefloors back at traditional Memorial pace next week. The rough will be slightly longer for the Memorial, too.

Steve Palmer's top tip

Justin Thomas 11-1

An explosive, mercurial talent such as Justin Thomas will inevitably have the odd off-week – as witnessed in the Travelers Championship last time out – but he typically bounces back well from setbacks and deserves top billing for the Workday Charity Open.

Thomas's A-game is arguably the most potent on the planet – his 59 in the Sony Open is one of many rounds where he has absolutely destroyed a golf course – and there are reasons for believing he will be fully firing again at Muirfield Village this week.

Approach play is typically a Thomas strength and it is the key to success at Muirfield Village. He adores the layout and finished fourth in the 2017 Memorial before taking eighth spot the following year. Last season, he tackled the tough track carrying bundles of rust – a wrist injury meant he had not competed since the Masters – and a second-round 80 resulted in a missed cut. He returns fit and hungry this week.

Thomas has won three of his last 14 tournaments, posting ten top-ten finishes in the process, and his post-lockdown form prior to the Travelers was encouraging. Tenth spot at Colonial was followed by a closing 63 for eighth place at Harbour Town – two courses which do not play to his strengths – and this week he tackles a much more suitable assignment.

His lone Web.com Tour victory in the 2014 Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship came in Ohio and a 13th PGA Tour title may arrive in the same state on Sunday. Overlook the Travelers, where his driving was actually excellent amid two flat 71s, and the WCO credentials of Thomas are impeccable.

Next best bet

Patrick Cantlay 14-1

Thomas and Patrick Cantlay finished first and second in the BMW Championship in Illinois last summer, and this dynamic duo could repeat the trick this week. The Presidents Cup colleagues are by far the most appealing options for this event.

Cantlay will be the defending Memorial champion next week, having closed with a masterful 64 to fend off Adam Scott a year ago. The Californian was fourth in the 2018 Memorial and relishes the stiff tee-to-green examination.

A final-round 65 for 11th place in the Travelers was a hugely positive return to PGA Tour action. Cantlay and Thomas are Florida-based pals who practice regularly together – and they could have a late twoball tee-time on Sunday.

Other selections

Joaquin Niemann 45-1

Corey Conners 80-1

Complete a four-pronged attack with Joaquin Niemann and Corey Conners – a pair who should appreciate the slower-than-normal Muirfield Village greens. Both the Chilean youngster and the Canadian greens-in-regulation machine often waste their superb approach play, but they can convert more chances this week.

Niemann has had a week off to work on the putting issues he suffered at the Travelers. Prior to that, he made a superb Heritage debut, finishing fifth. The 2018 Memorial was the scene of another magnificent Niemann course debut – he jostled for the lead throughout before ending up sixth – and the 21-year-old can go close to a second PGA Tour title this week.

Niemann, who won The Greenbrier last year across the Ohio border in West Virginia, has fond memories of this region. And Conners, who went to Kent State University in Ohio, will also feel at home. The Texas Open champion has been generally solid post-lockdown, aside from an opening 73 in the Travelers, and a testing long-game mission like Muirfield Village should bring out the best in this sweet swinger.

Players to note

Hideki Matsuyama
The 2014 champion is by far the most difficult name to scrape from the staking plan. His accurate iron play is made for Muirfield Village and the Rocket Mortgage Classic provided great encouragement, but his last victory came in 2017.

Viktor Hovland
The Norwegian youngster has been in imperious ball-striking form, frustrated by poor putting in finishes of 11th and 12th the previous fortnight. A dangerous Muirfield Village debutant.

Collin Morikawa
The Californian starlet is already one of the best iron players in the world, so Muirfield Village sets up superbly for him, but squandering a great winning chance at Colonial seems to have shaken his confidence.

Brooks Koepka
The former world number one was greatly encouraged by his seventh place in the Heritage, before his caddie fell ill with Covid-19. This event will offer more clues as to whether the old Koepka is re-emerging.

Muirfield Village course guide

Course Muirfield Village, Dublin, Ohio
Prize money $6.2m ($1.080m to the winner)
Length 7,392 yards
Par 72
Field 156
Course records- 72 holes 268 Tom Lehman (1994) 18 holes 61 John Huston (1996)

Course winners taking part Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk, KJ Choi, Justin Rose, Steve Stricker, Matt Kuchar, Hideki Matsuyama, Jason Dufner, Patrick Cantlay

When to bet By 11.45am Thursday

When to watch Live on Sky Sports Golf from 12.30pm Thursday

Time difference Ohio is five hours behind the UK and Ireland

Last week - Rocket Mortgage Classic 1 B DeChambeau (6-1), 2 M Wolff (125-1), 3 K Kisner (80-1), T4 D Willett (150-1) A Hadwin (66-1), T Hatton (16-1), R Armour (160-1)

Course overview A new PGA Tour event has been created to boost numbers in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, meaning the circuit will spend a fortnight at Muirfield Village. The Memorial will take place at the same course next week. The Jack Nicklaus design, which has hosted the Memorial since 1976, has always proved a 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 punish the seriously errant. The greens are usually in majestic condition. It is more of a second-shot course with hardly any margin for error on approach shots. The four par-five holes (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. PGA Tour chiefs are keeping the greens slow, allowing for unusual pin locations, and planning to speed them up for the Memorial next week

Weather forecast Hot and humid with light breezes, and a threat of short thunderstorms throughout

Type of player suited to the challenge Accurate iron play is the key to slaying Muirfield Village. Recent victories have gone to those carrying laser-like irons on a track where the second shot is usually considerably more difficult than the first

Key attribute Accuracy

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