The 2019 Memorial Tournament will be Rory McIlroy's first start since finishing T-8 at the PGA Championship, and the 15-time PGA Tour winner will enter the Memorial as the odds-on favorite at 8-1. McIlroy, who's finished inside the top 10 in nine of his last 10 starts on the PGA Tour, is looking for his first career victory at this event. The latest 2019 Memorial Tournament odds indicate McIlroy will have serious competition if he wants to earn his first victory at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. Tiger Woods, a five-time Memorial champion, is going off at 12-1, while Justin Rose, the 2010 champion, is going off at 16-1. The first round of the Memorial Tournament 2019 gets underway on Thursday at 7:20 a.m. ET, so before you lock in your 2019 Memorial Tournament picks, or enter a PGA DFS tournament on FanDuel or DraftKings, be sure to check out the projected leaderboard from SportsLine's proven golf prediction model.
SportsLine's prediction model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has nailed five majors entering the weekend, including Brooks Koepka's historic victory at the 2019 PGA Championship. It also called Tiger Woods' deep run in last year's PGA Championship despite being a 25-1 long shot.
The model has been spot-on in the 2018-19 season as well. It was high on champion Rory McIlroy at the Players Championship, projecting him as one of the top two contenders from the start. It also correctly predicted Koepka's (9-1) victory at the CJ Cup earlier this season. Additionally, it correctly called Bryson DeChambeau's (9-1) seven-shot victory at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. Anyone who has followed the model is way up.
Now that the 2019 Memorial Tournament field is locked, SportsLine simulated the event 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. One huge shocker the model is calling for: Woods, a five-time champion and one of the top Vegas favorites, doesn't even crack the top 10.
Woods is coming off a disappointing performance at Bethpage Black after winning his 15th major earlier this season at the Masters. He'll look to bounce back this week at Muirfield Village, a place he has had massive success in his career. In fact, Woods has finished inside the top 10 in eight of his 16 Memorial starts.
However, Woods has struggled at Muirfield Village since his last Memorial Tournament victory in 2012. He finished T-23 at this event last year, which was his first top 25 finish at Muirfield Village since his 2012 triumph. SportsLine's model doesn't think he'll earn his sixth Memorial Tournament victory this weekend and sees far better values in this loaded field than the 12-1 premium he's commanding.
Another surprise: DeChambeau, a 35-1 long shot, makes a strong run at the title. He has a better chance to win than his odds imply, so he's a target for anyone looking for a huge payday.
DeChambeau is the defending champion of this event after holding off Byeong Hun An and Kyle Stanley in a playoff to win last year with a score of 15-under par. The 25-year-old, who enters the 2019 Memorial Tournament as the No. 8 ranked golfer in the Official World Golf Ranking, has seen a meteoric rise since 2017, when he missed the cut in 16 tournaments. Since the end of 2017, DeChambeau has won four PGA Tour events, including the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open earlier this season. He's also finished T-15 or better in four tournaments this season.
DeChambeau's scientific approach to the game has been proven to work. In fact, he currently ranks fifth on tour in birdie average (4.47), having racked up 170 birdies in 38 total rounds. He's a long shot that who could definitely be on top of the 2019 Memorial Tournament leaderboard come Sunday.
Also, the model says five other golfers with massive 2019 Memorial Tournament odds of 18-1 or longer will make a strong run at the title. Anyone who backs these underdogs could hit it big.
So who wins the 2019 Memorial Tournament? And which long shots stun the golfing world? Check out the latest odds below and visit SportsLine now to see the full Memorial Tournament projected leaderboard from the model that nailed the winners of five golf majors, and find out.
Rory McIlroy 8-1
Tiger Woods 12-1
Patrick Cantlay 16-1
Rickie Fowler 16-1
Matt Kuchar 16-1
Justin Rose 16-1
Jason Day 18-1
Hideki Matsuyama 18-1
Justin Thomas 18-1
Jordan Spieth 20-1
Tony Finau 22-1
Adam Scott 25-1
Xander Schauffele 28-1
Gary Woodland 33-1
Bryson DeChambeau 35-1
Phil Mickelson 55-1
Kevin Na 55-1
Henrik Stenson 55-1
