The PGA will be in Dublin, Ohio, this weekend as spectator-less golf continues. The tournament will be held at Muirfield Golf Club.
This weekend was initially supposed to be the John Deere Classic in Illinois, but the coronavirus has changed the schedule. This golf club in Ohio will host the Workday Charity Open this weekend as well as the Memorial next weekend.
This is a very unique situation that many golfers have not seen before. A lot of the field will be playing this course for two weeks in a row.
After a weekend in Detroit, where many of the top names sat out, they are back to compete in Ohio.
The favorite is likely to be the previous FedEx Cup Champion in Justin Thomas. He has been up and down this year, but his best outings are hard to beat.
He will open up around +1000. Thomas has also had impressive performances at this golf course in previous years but has also missed the cut on several occasions. It will all depend on what kind of game he shows up with.
Trying To Bounce Back
Jon Rahm is one of the favorites right behind Thomas. But Rahm has been struggling since the return after the suspension caused by COVID-19. He was hot starting off the year but has since cooled off.
He will look to get back on track while playing the same course for two weeks. This could be an opportunity for guys like him to get in a groove.
PGAtour.com has Hideki Matsuyama on top of their power rankings for this weekend. He played well in Detroit and has great finishes on this course in Ohio.
He won a tournament at Muirfield Village in 2014, two top 10 finishes, and once tied for 13th. With the way he is playing, he probably won’t mind playing this course two weekends in a row.
The featured groups for Thursday are as follows:
- 7:34 a.m., Hole #10: Viktor Hovland, Jon Rahm, Gary Woodland
- 7:45 a.m., Hole #10: Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka, Jason Day
- 12:59 p.m., Hole #1: Patrick Reed, Matthew Wolff, Rickie Fowler
- 1:10 p.m., Hole #1: Patrick Cantlay, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth
Justin Rose might also be a popular bet for the next two weekends. He is second all-time in earnings at Muirfield Village with six top-10 finishes. He won the Memorial in 2010 to go along with two second-place outings.
Patrick Cantlay is the defending champion of the Memorial Tournament. The board will have his odds right alongside Rahm at +1300 for this weekend.
He has also played well as of late, finishing 11th in the Travelers. He led the field with the fewest putts for the tournament.
It will be interesting to see how the odds are affected for the Memorial Tournament after they play the exact course the week before. Surely, playing well on this course for the Workday Charity event will give some of these guys extra confidence going into the Memorial.
