Memorial Tournament Round 1 3-Ball Bets (Pick Defending Champ to Go Low in Opening Round)
One of my favorite types of bets to place on a golf tournament are 3-ball bets.
They are round-by-round bets on a certain golfer to shoot the best score amongst the group (or partner) that he's playing with that day. For example, if Rory McIlroy is played alongside Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, you can bet on McIlroy to finish the round with the lowest score of the threesome. If it's the weekend of an event and pairings are sent out instead of threesomes, this type of bet is called a "2-ball".
Keep in mind that these bets are just for a single round, instead of an entire tournament. If you want to see my breakdown of this week's Memorial Tournament and my outright picks to win the whole thing, check out my full betting preview here.
All odds listed below are consensus odds.
Best Round 1 3-Ball Bets for the Memorial Tournament
- Patrick Cantlay +150 vs. Collin Morikawa/Max Homa
- Aaron Wise +160 vs. Mito Pereira/Doug Ghim
- Sungjae Im +135 vs. Corey Conners/Lanto Griffin
Patrick Cantlay +150 vs. Collin Morikawa/Max Homa
Betting on the defending champion of an event is always a decent strategy. Before missing the cut at the PGA Championship, Cantlay finished 2nd at the RBC Heritage and then went on to win the Zurich Classic alongside Xander Schauffele.
There's a reason he always does well at Muirfield Village. Not only is he a fantastic ball striker, but his play around the greens is amongst the best on the Tour, which comes in handy at this golf course. That's also my main issue with Morikawa, and why I'm fading him in this spot. He ranks 160th in strokes gained: around-the-green.
Morikawa has also hit a bit of a rough patch recent, not finishing inside the top 25 of a tournament in four straight starts. I love the defending champ getting off to a hot start in Round 1.
Cantlay also ranks 5th on Tour in Round 1 scoring average, which is a good thing to keep in mind.
Aaron Wise +160 vs. Mito Pereira/Doug Ghim
Mito Pereira burst into the public eye at the PGA Championship, but now as a result, he's being a bit overvalued from a betting standpoint. Let's not forget that he ranks 100th in strokes gained: around-the-green, while will cost him at Muirfield.
Meanwhile, Aaron Wise is just as good of a ball striker, but his chipping is significantly better than Pereira's. He also finished in 9th place at this event last year, so he knows how to get around this track.
Finally, I don't have much to say about Doug Ghim. He finished tied for last at the Charles Schwab Challenge last week, shooting 11-over par through two rounds. We don't need to worry much about him in this threesome.
Sungjae Im +135 vs. Corey Conners/Lanto Griffin
I have a bet on Sungjae Im to finish in the top 5, so I obviously already love him this week. You can see why I think he's a good fit for this course in my full betting preview.
More than anything else, this is a fade of the other two golfers in the group. Corey Conners has stumbled as of late, finishing lower down the leaderboard in each event since the Masters, and then missing the cut at the PGA Championship. His short game will cost him at this course, and that's proven by the fact that he's never finished better than 22nd at this event.
Lanto Griffin ranks 172nd in strokes gained: around-the-green, has finished T51 and T60 in his last two starts, and missed the cut at this event last year. Muirfield Village just isn't a good course for him.
You can track Iain's bets on Betstamp here.