The Memorial Tournament Round 1 3-ball bets (Fade overrated golfers at Muirfield Village)
The Memorial Tournament at Muirfield is set to tee-off on Thursday morning and if you're looking for a few more ways to bet on it, I have you covered.
If you want to look at the betting odds to win the event, as well as my best bets to do exactly that, you can find them in my betting preview here.
In this article, I'm going to give out a few 3-ball bets for the first round. 3-ball bets are a bet on a certain golfer to finish with the lowest score amongst the group that he's playing in that day. For example, if Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, and Jordan Spieth are playing in a group together, you can bet on any of the three to finish the round with the lowest score.
These bets are for the first round only, so you don't have to wait until the end of the tournament to find out if you've won.
Let's dive into my top three 3-ball bets for the opening round.
The Memorial Tournament Round 1 3-ball bets
- Russell Henley +120 vs. Matt Kuchar/Lanto Griffin
- Tyrrell Hatton +188 vs. Rory McIlroy/Jordan Spieth
- Shane Lowry +160 vs. Sungjae Im/Nick Hardy
Russell Henley +120 vs. Matt Kuchar/Lanto Griffin
Russell Henley doesn't get the respect he deserves. I'm already betting on him to finish in the Top 10 at this event, but I'm going to take him in a Round 1 3-ball bet as well.
He has seemingly fixed his putting that plagued him throughout the first half of the season. He has gained strokes with his flat stick in four of his last five starts, including gaining +0.9 strokes in that area at the Charles Schwab Challenge last week, which resulted in a T16 finish.
Meanwhile, Matt Kuchar's game has trended in the opposite direction, finishing further down the leaderboard in four straight starts which culminated with a miss cut at the PGA Championship. Lanto Griffin has also been all out of sorts, missing the cut in two of his last three events.
Tyrrell Hatton +188 vs. Rory McIlroy/Jordan Spieth
I'm going to be fading two of the most overvalued golfers on the PGA Tour in this spot in Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth. Rory has missed the cut twice and finished T47 in three of his last five starts, but yet he continues to get priced like he's in his prime. Meanwhile, Spieth has missed the cut in two of his last three starts and has never found a lot of success at Muirfield Village.
Tyrrell Hatton ranked third in total strokes gained on Tour this season, behind only Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler. His style of play should fit this course as well. My only concern is that he's only competed here once in his career.
Shane Lowry +160 vs. Sungjae Im/Nick Hardy
I don't know what happened to Sungjae Im, but ever since winning a Korean Tour event a few weeks ago, his game has completely fallen off in a dramatic fashion. He has lost at least 1.6 strokes with his approach game in his last two starts which has resulted in two straight cuts.
Nick Hardy also hasn't been great, finishing 68th, missed cut, and T48 since winning the Zurich Classic in April.
Meanwhile, Shane Lowry is coming off a T12 at the PGA Championship and his irons have been as strong as they've been all season. I love him in this 3-ball group at +160.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.