Welcome to our weekly PGA Tour gambling-tips column, featuring picks from GOLF.com’s expert prognosticator, Brady Kannon. A seasoned golf bettor and commentator, Kannon is a host and regular guest on SportsGrid, a syndicated audio network devoted to sports and sports betting, and is a golf betting analyst for CBS Sportsline. You can follow Brady on X at @LasVegasGolfer, and you can read his picks below for the 2026 Memorial Tournament, which gets underway Thursday in Ohio.
The PGA Tour’s “Legend Swing” finishes with a bang this week in Dublin, Ohio. It was three weeks ago that we got started with Byron Nelson’s event at TPC Craig Ranch. That was followed by a trip to Ben Hogan’s home, Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. And now we land at Jack’s Place, Muirfield Village, for Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament, the seventh Signature Event of the golf season.
As the legendary status has increased, so has the tournament difficulty. Wyndham Clark blistered the Byron Nelson with a winning score of 30 under par. Russell Henley beat Eric Cole in a playoff last week after both finished in regulation at 12 under. This week at Muirfield, even with what looks to be a fairly calm weather forecast, the winning score proposition bet at Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook is Under/Over 278.5, meaning 9.5 under par. And if that isn’t tough enough, next week is the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.
Temperatures are heating up and so is the golf. Along with the Genesis Invitational at storied Riviera Country Club, I feel that the Memorial at Muirfield Village is the best PGA Tour event on the schedule outside of the four major championships.
Nicklaus built the golf course in 1974 and it debuted on Tour 50 years ago in 1976. He named it after his favorite Open Championship venue, Muirfield, and much of the design is inspired by his love for Augusta National, where Jack won the Masters six times. It is a traditional par 72 that now stretches to nearly 7,600 yards after the last major overhaul was performed on the course after the 2020 edition of the tournament.
The fairways are not especially narrow but a miss will have one punching out of very thick and penal rough. The Bentgrass greens are relatively small. They are Augusta-like: fast, undulated, and firm. There are 68 sand bunkers on the golf course and it is interesting to note that the proximity to the hole is one of the worst (hardest) on Tour for shots attempted from the sand. Yes, the test Mr. Nicklaus has put forth is a complete one that will make a player do a little bit of everything at a high level.
I leaned heavily on Strokes Gained: Approach and Scrambling this week. Iron play must be really sharp and a deft touch around the greens is certainly a requirement. I also looked at Strokes Gained: Off The Tee, Par 5 Scoring, Bogey Avoidance, and Hole Proximity from 175-200+ yards.
As for the correlated courses, I looked at other Nicklaus designs. The Concession (2021 Workday Championship), Sherwood Country Club (2020 Zozo Championship), Montreaux (Reno-Tahoe Open), and Valhalla (2024 PGA Championship). I also looked at TPC Deere Run, Augusta National, and the Country Club (2022 U.S. Open).
Jordan Spieth (53-1)
I was not completely aware, prior to doing my research this week, that Spieth has been quite good at this tournament in the past. Before the latest overhaul in 2020, Spieth recorded two 13th-place finishes at the Memorial, a seventh and a third. Since the 2020 changes, he’s been 18th twice, seventh and fifth. We know what he’s done at Augusta and he’s won the John Deere Classic twice. Spieth has played in 14 tournaments so far this season. In half of those tournaments, he’s finished between 11th and 19th. All of the tools are firing in 2026, they just need to do so for four consecutive days. If and when they do, he will win.
Chris Gotterup (60-1)
The young gun already has two wins this season and is coming off a top-10 finish at the PGA Championship. He is the total package, being one of the best in the game off the tee and he ranks 53rd on Tour for SG: Approach, 68th in Scrambling, 31st in Sand Saves, and 40th for SG: Putting. In his Masters debut earlier this season, Gotterup finished 24th. He was fourth at the John Deere Classic in 2022.
Adam Scott (70-1)
The Australian sage has made his way around these parts successfully many times over the years. This will be his 17th time playing the Memorial and Scott has finished top 10 five times. There are not many better in the game right now with the irons as he is second on Tour in SG: Approach and also second in Hole Proximity from 175-200 yards. Scott ranks 60th in Scrambling, 25th in Bogey Avoidance, and is 20th in Par 5 Scoring.
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Nicolai Hojgaard (75-1)
Much like Gotterup, Hojgaard is another young star on the rise who is long off the tee and couples it with an excellent short game. He was third to Gotterup in Phoenix earlier this season and then sixth at the Cognizant Classic, another Nicklaus design. He was runner-up in Houston and then again last month at Quail Hollow. Hojgaard was runner-up at Torrey Pines back in 2024, further proof that he can handle big-boy golf courses, and then was 16th in his Masters debut in that same season.
Gary Woodland (80-1)
Let the trend continue of big hitters who can also get it done around the greens. Woodland was one better than Hojgaard earlier this season in Houston where he won. He finished sixth last week at Colonial where in that field, he ranked fifth for SG: Off the Tee and was third for SG: Putting. He’s been top 10 here at Memorial twice and top 25 four times. Woodland won the Reno-Tahoe Open at Montreaux in 2013 and finished 10th at the 2022 U.S. Open at the Country Club.
Nick Taylor (90-1)
Like Gotterup, Taylor has also won the Sony Open and the WM Phoenix Open. He has only missed one cut all season and has finished 9-14-26 in his last three starts, two Signature Events and the PGA Championship. He is not the biggest of hitters like the rest of the card this week but he’s proven he’s up to the task, having finished fourth here last year, where he ranked first in Sand Saves, second in Greens in Regulation, and 10th in Scrambling. He ranks 31st on Tour for SG: Approach, 19th in Hole Proximity from 175-200, and is 14th in Scrambling.
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