Memorial Tournament 2024: Round 2 Best Bets & AI Caddie Picks
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Muirfield Village may actually be the most difficult course that the PGA Tour visits on a yearly basis. It's seriously up there with Augusta National, and that's why the Memorial Tournament i such a valuable event.
Round 1 was more scoreable than most rounds at Jack Nicklaus' course, but don't expect the sam going forward. There was over an inch of rain on Wednesday, andthe course played very soft. Look for the fairways to firm up a bunch, those tiny 5,000 square foot greens to be a lot tougher to hold the ball on, and the Kentucky Bluegrass rough to become even more punishing than it already is.
After Thursday's round, the usual suspects join first-round leader Adam Hadwin near the top, with Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, and Collin Morikawa all within two shots of the leader.
Following every round, we’ll be going through my favorite AI golf picks for the following round, as well as the Rithmm-backed AI Caddie hole score picks I’m rolling with. Let’s get into Round 2!
All Odds are found on DraftKings Sportsbook unless otherwise noted
Memorial Tournament Round 2 AI Caddie Picks
Rory McIlroy to Birdie or Better Hole 3 (+350)
We're back on the Rory McIlroy train again! We managed to smack a +750 Birdie or Better on McIlroy in Round 4 last week, and are heading back to the well for more this week.
Looking at Rithmm's AI Caddie predictor, McIlroy has a 33% chance to birdie this hole tomorrow, copared to only 23% for the rest of the field. Despite this hole playing as the fourth-toughest hole during Round 1 and forcing plenty of miscues, I have a feeling the hole will play easier in Round 2.
McIlroy parred this hole in Round 1, but in my opinion, Round 1 had the toughest pin location possible for this hole. Set on the right side of the green, sitting basically on a shelf, you had to land this ball two or three paces behind the hole with some spin to get it underneath the hole for a chance at birdie. Most players opted for the safe play of playing to the fat side of the green, and letting the natural left-to-right slope of the green guide the ball to around a 20-30 foot birdie putt.
Well, those players will like the Round 2 pin placement. At 18 paces onto the green and six off the back, this pin sits at a relatively level area of the green. Players can play the ball to that fat left side of the green and have an uphill putt with some slight left-to-right break if they judge it correctly, and players who find the fairway should only have around 140 yards in.
That's a sand wedge at worst for McIlroy, and he should be able to attack this green for Round 2 to give himself a great chance at a birdie.
Memorial Tournament Round 2 Bet
Matchup Play: Sahith Theegala > Russell Henley (+100)
I don't have a single bet on Theegala this week, I confess.
I'm a huge Theegala fan. I think that he's absolutely right there in terms of being one of the several players that should be able to contend at almost any tournament, no matter the skill level, including Muirfield Village. He can definitely be voltaile at times, though.
He showed that volatility today, on both sides of the coin. He was -2 making the turn, but closed with four bogeys on the back nine to finish at +1 for the day. He struggled with the approaches a bit, but his short game, always improving, was great and will come in handy this weekend. I also think his length is a big advantage for him here, and will come in handy when he needs it on these longer holes.
Henley, on the other hand, has a much steadier game. He's an accurate driver off the tee, and excels around the greens. He doesn't offer much in terms of driving distance, though, and his putter can sometimes be a down part of his game. At Muirfield Village, distance can be just as important as accuracy, and that letdown is a big reason for this pick.
While Henley gained over two strokes on approach and Theegala lost a bit, I wonder if hat may not change tomorrow. Theegala has played in 14 events this season, and across those 14 events, ranks fifth on the entire PGA Tour in Round 2 Scoring Average, sitting at 68.36. Henley sits over two shots worse at 70.67, good for 125th.
Theegala likes to make a charge on Fridays, and he has shown a propensity to fire at pins when he needs to and get the ball there. His approach and putting are two of the strongest parts of his game, and I expect him to improve on them in Round 2.
Closing Remarks on Memorial Tournament Round 2 Best Bets
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