// THE_MEMORIAL_TOURNAMENT · JUNE_4–7 · 2026

MUIRFIELD.

Perfect weather. Winds will start calm, under 5mph, and gradually climb to 5–10mph in the afternoon. Ideal scoring conditions to open the week.

Winds start creeping up. 5–10mph winds early, climbing to 15mph by the afternoon with stronger gusts. Slim chance for some rain late, but likely dry.

Winds start around 10mph with gusts of 20mph early. Sustained winds will reach 15mph for most of the afternoon, stronger gusts possible. Best chance of seeing rain — a shower or storm possible at any point, especially the afternoon.

Drying out with just a slim chance of morning rain. Winds easing up — calm to start, 5–10mph by the afternoon. Clean closing conditions for the leaders.

// CADDIE_READ

Thursday is the low-scoring window — calm winds on small greens at Stimp 13 open scoring for elite iron players. Friday's afternoon gusts will begin separating the field. Saturday is the differentiator— 15mph sustained with 20mph gusts on Muirfield's narrow corridors will compress the leaderboard and expose anyone relying on distance without accuracy. Prioritize ball-strikers with wind experience. Sunday calms down for the leaders — the closing stretch at 16–17–18 will play fair but firm. No meaningful wave-split advantage is visible; play the players, not the draw.

Two-time defending Memorial champion. Ranks first in strokes gained per round at Muirfield Village at 2.87 — no one else in the field is close. Won by four shots at -10 last year with +3.20 SG: Tee-to-Green and +3.24 SG: Approach. Top-5 finisher in 8 of 11 starts this season. At a course where CADDIE weights SG: Approach at 36%, the most dominant approach player on Tour is the structural anchor regardless of salary. The statistical case is unambiguous.

> FLOORNo. 1 in SG per round at Muirfield (2.87). 8 top-5s in 11 starts this season. Two consecutive Memorial wins. At a course that rewards his exact skill set, this is the highest-floor play on the board.

> RISK+265 is the shortest number on the board by a wide margin. Cash exposure at 35%+ projected ownership means he is not a differentiation play — he is a correctness play. If the field shoots 18-under on a soft Saturday, his floor compresses relative to the salary premium.

Gaining an average of 8.5 strokes to the field over his last eight starts — more than a full stroke per round ahead of anyone else. Gained over 5.0 strokes on approach in his top-5 finish at the PGA Championship. Has Muirfield Village form: T5 in 2024, T16 in 2025. At $10,100 with ~24% projected ownership, Åberg is the highest-ceiling premium pair with Scheffler. His iron play is the second-best in this field and Muirfield is explicitly a second-shot course. The math works in both cash and GPP.

> FLOOR8.5 SG to the field over last 8 starts. T5 and T16 in his two Memorial appearances. At $10,100 his approach profile fits the course's primary demand — the premium price reflects the premium skill.

> RISKPutting has been slightly negative this season. Muirfield's Stimp-13 bentgrass greens punish the putter when proximity doesn't generate short birdie looks. If the irons are off by even 5%, the salary premium hurts.

Ranks second in SG: Approach this season — behind only Scheffler among players in this field. Only missed one cut in 11 starts. Runner-up at Muirfield Village in 2019. At $8,100 and ~9% projected ownership, Scott is the most underpriced approach player on the board. Colonial demanded irons; Muirfield demands them even more. His ball-striking floor over 72 holes is higher than his salary implies. The 2019 runner-up finish isn't ancient history — it's the same course and the same skill set producing the same output.

> FLOOR2nd in SG:APP this season. 10 of 11 cuts made. Runner-up here in 2019. At $8,100 and ~9% ownership, the value-per-dollar ratio is elite — no other player in this salary range matches his approach profile.

> RISKAge-related length decline means he's fighting distance-dependent holes harder than younger players. If Muirfield's par-5s play long in Saturday wind, his scoring ceiling compresses on the holes where the field makes up ground.

Ranks 10th in SG: Approach season-wide and 3rd among this field in strokes gained per round at Nicklaus courses. T23 in his Muirfield Village debut last year. At $6,900 he is the highest-ceiling sub-$7,000 play on the board — and the approach data is real, not narrative. This salary unlocks the entire premium tier: Scheffler ($13,500) + Åberg ($10,100) + Scott ($8,100) + Gerard ($6,900) = $38,600, leaving $11,400 for two remaining slots. That construction is impossible without a floor-safe enabler at this price point.

> FLOOR10th in SG:APP season-wide. 3rd in field SG at Nicklaus courses. At $6,900 with ~7% ownership, any made-weekend finish from this salary is cash-positive.

> RISKLimited course history — one start at Muirfield. The sample is thin. If the specific angles and green contours at Muirfield don't fit his approach tendencies, the season-wide data won't translate.

Two Memorial wins (2019 at -19, 2021 at -13) and four additional top-5 finishes. The deepest course history of any non-Scheffler player in this field. Currently 6th in SG: Tee-to-Green over the last three months — the approach play and course management that built those two wins are trending in the right direction again. At +2450 and ~19% projected ownership, Cantlay's win-to-ownership ratio still favors the projection. The market is pricing him as mid-range chalk at a course where he has won twice. That is a mispricing. His calm, patient, positional game — especially through the closing stretch — is exactly what Muirfield selects for on Sunday.

> FLOORTwo wins and four top-5s at Muirfield. 6th in SG:T2G over 3 months. At $9,200 with ~19% ownership, the course history alone justifies the floor — the current form trend makes it actionable.

> RISKWin probability at 5.5% is real but requires four clean rounds. If the Saturday wind (15mph sustained, gusts to 20) exposes any off-tee inaccuracy, the patient game plan gets disrupted before the closing stretch where he's historically dominant.

Won the Memorial in 2014 and has posted top-10 finishes in 2015, 2019, and 2024 — four top-10s at a venue that repeats winners. Coming off a T13 at the Charles Schwab Challenge where he gained +1.42 strokes on the field. His iron play ranks among the best in the world when dialed, and his short game is elite — those are the two most important skills at Muirfield Village (CADDIE weights SG:APP at 36% and SG:ARG at 18%). At +5100 and ~13% projected ownership, this is a course-horse play at fair chalk. Matsuyama's Muirfield record is real even though his 2026 results have been inconsistent — but the course doesn't care about narrative. It cares about irons and scrambling, and he has both.

> FLOOR2014 winner. Four top-10s at Muirfield. +1.42 SG at Schwab. At $8,700 and ~13% ownership, the course history provides a real floor — this is mid-range chalk that earns its price.

> RISKPutting has been negative this season and Muirfield's Stimp-13 greens won't bail him out. If iron proximity doesn't generate short birdie looks, the short game saves pars but can't manufacture the birdies needed to climb the leaderboard.

Way underpriced at $8,400. T4 at the PGA Championship at Aronimink, T13 at the Truist Championship, T13 at the Charles Schwab Challenge — three consecutive high-quality finishes at difficult courses. Ranks 11th in strokes gained per round at Nicklaus courses. The narrative around Thomas is decline, but the data tells a different story: consistent iron play, steady cutting of strokes, and a positional driving game that maps directly to Muirfield's tight corridors. At $8,400 with ~18% projected ownership, the price-to-skill ratio is attractive despite the chalk — the field is correctly identifying the form trend but the salary hasn't caught up. Colonial demanded the patient positional game. Muirfield demands it even more — and Thomas has historically been one of the best positional drivers on Tour.

> FLOORThree straight top-13 finishes at difficult venues. 11th in SG at Nicklaus courses. At $8,400 with ~18% ownership, the value-per-dollar ratio is strong for this form trend.

> RISKNo recent Muirfield form to anchor the projection. If the specific closing-stretch pressure at holes 16–18 exposes the same late-round wobbles that have cost him before, the floor drops quickly on Sunday.

If you built a player in a lab for Muirfield Village, he would look like Corey Conners. Ranks 5th in driving accuracy this season — at a course where finding the fairway preserves approach control and missing it removes the ability to attack small greens. Made 6 of 7 cuts at Muirfield. Iron play is his defining skill — approach accuracy from 150–200 yards is the exact range Muirfield tests hardest. At $7,100 and ~8% projected ownership, Conners is a structural play at low chalk. He won't win the tournament. But a top-20 finish at this salary is GPP-winning leverage, and the course-fit data says that outcome is more likely than the field realizes.

> FLOOR5th in driving accuracy. 6/7 cuts at Muirfield. Iron-first profile at an iron-first course. At $7,100 and ~8% ownership, the leverage is built into the salary — any made-weekend with a clean Sunday is cash-positive.

> RISKPutting is a liability. Conners ranks near the bottom of this field in SG: Putting, and Muirfield's bentgrass greens at Stimp 13 don't forgive a cold flat stick. The iron play has to generate enough proximity to compensate — if it doesn't, the floor drops fast.