Welcome to our weekly PGA Tour gambling tips column, featuring picks from GOLF.com expert prognosticator Brady Kannon. A seasoned golf bettor and commentator, Kannon is a host and regular guest on SportsGrid, a syndicated audio network dedicated to sports and sports betting, and is a golf betting analyst for CBS Sportsline. You can follow Brady on X at @LasVegasGolferand you can read his picks below for the 2026 Memorial Tournament, which begins Thursday in Ohio.
The PGA Tour’s “Legend Swing” ends with a bang this week in Dublin, Ohio. It was three weeks ago that we started with the Byron Nelson event at TPC Craig Ranch. This was followed by a trip to Ben Hogan’s house, Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. And now we land at Jack’s Place, Muirfield Villagefor the Nicklaus Memorial Tour, the seventh Signature Event of the golf season.
As legendary status has increased, so has the difficulty of the tournament. Wyndham Clark set up Byron Nelson with a winning score of 30 under par. Russell Henley beat Eric Cole in a playoff last week after both finished at 12 under in regulation. This week at Muirfield, even with what appears to be a fairly calm weather forecast, the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook winning score proposition is Under/Over 278.5, which is 9.5 under par. And if that’s not hard enough, next week is the US Open at Shinnecock Hills.
The temperatures are heating up and so is golf. Along with the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club, I think the Memorial at Muirfield Village is the best PGA Tour event on the schedule outside of the four majors.
Nicklaus built the golf course in 1974 and made his Tour debut 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 of Augusta National, where Jack won the Masters six times. It’s a traditional par 72 that now stretches to nearly 7,600 yards after the course underwent its last major overhaul following the 2020 edition of the tournament.
The fairways aren’t particularly tight, but a mistake will get you a shot from the thick and rough. Bentgrass greens are relatively small. They are similar to Augusta: fast, wavy and strong. There are 68 sand bunkers on the golf course and it is interesting to note that the approach to the hole is one of the worst (most difficult) on the Tour for shots attempted from the sand. Yes, the test that Mr. Nicklaus has given is a complete test 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. The iron game needs to 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.
I wasn’t fully aware, before doing my research this week, that Spieth has been pretty good on this tour in the past. Prior to the latest overhaul in 2020, Spieth recorded two 13th-place finishes at the Memorial, a seventh and a third. Since the 2020 changes, he has 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 has finished 11th and 19th. All tools will turn on in 2026, they just have to do it for four days in a row. 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 in the 2022 John Deere Classic.
Adam Scott (70-1)
The Australian sage has made his way through these parts with success many times over the years. This will be his 17th time playing the Memorial and Scott has five top 10 finishes. There isn’t much 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 Rating.
Adam Scott at the 2025 US Open.
Getty Images
Nicolai Hojgaard (75-1)
Like Gotterup, Hojgaard is another rising young star who has been long gone and pairs it with an excellent short game. He was third to Gotterup at 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 in 2024, further proof that he can handle big-boy golf courses, and then was 16th in his Masters debut that same season.
Gary Woodland (80-1)
Let the trend of big players who can also get it around the greens continue. 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 has been in the top 10 here at the Memorial twice and in the top 25 four times. Woodland won the Reno-Tahoe Open in Montreaux in 2013 and finished 10th in the 2022 US 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 missed just one cut all season and has finished 9-14-26 in his last three starts, two Signature Events and the PGA Championship. He’s not the top scorer 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 placed 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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