Molinari survives wild day to win The Open Championship

Alex Noren (+275 for a Top 20) … Golf fans in the United States can be spoiled by international talent, specifically among the contingent that pulls double duty on the DP WORLD Tour. For every household name from Europe, there are many more who have tried once and haven’t returned. It’s even more challenging without picking off a PGA TOUR victory at some point, but the Swede has cracked the code. Now in his fifth consecutive season on this circuit, he’s all but desisted from jetting to his home continent for playing opportunities. It’s in part due to drifting outside the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking as the 2019-20 season began, but he’s also connected with consistently strong form. In a phrase, less is more. The 39-year-old now is creeping up on the top 50 once more (at 56th) thanks most recently five top 20s in his last 10 starts. He’s also cashed twice in three tries at Muirfield Village with a personal-best T13 last year. Lanto Griffin (+500 for a Top 20) … When you associate his surname to these parts, he’s not the Griffin who rushes to mind. In fact, he’d have to prevail probably in at least three consecutive editions of the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday to begin to share even a fraction of a breath with the default reference to Archie Griffin. The former running back at Ohio State remains the only two-time winner of the Heisman Trophy (1974, 1975). But hey, Lanto didn’t pick that fight, and he’d be elated with even one title at Muirfield Village where he’s making his third straight appearance. He’s gathered momentum of late with a four-bagger that was sparked by a T15 in Mexico and a T6 in the testing conditions at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm. His skill set of improved play closer to the cup is in direct correlation to this week’s challenge. Pat Perez (+400 for a Top 20) … At 104th in the FedExCup, the 46-year-old is poised to qualify for the Playoffs for the 14th time in 15 opportunities. The only time he’s missed is when he sat out the last two-thirds of the 2015-16 season to recover from surgery on his left shoulder. He set up his latest chance with consecutive top 10s on the West Coast Swing where he’s always done damage, but he’s missed only two of 10 cuts since. Now he’s fresh off a stretch-best T12 at Colonial where he led the field in total distance of putts converted. Since 2008, he’s 10-for-10 with four top 25s at Muirfield Village. Stretching for a top 20 now is aggressive, so consider a complementary consideration for a top 40. C.T. Pan (+333 for a Top 20) … Although it can stretch beyond 7,500 yards, Muirfield Village is equal opportunity for all performers. One does not need to send it off the tee to contend, or even prevail, but the 30-year-old holds his own with the driver despite ranging to just 5’6”. He hasn’t sniffed the leaderboard in three prior appearances, but he hasn’t slammed his trunk – sorry, it’s 2022 – depressed the button on the key fob to lower the liftgate, either. Now, he’d have his hands full with the monster pair of par 4s to close out a final round for victory, but reduce your expectation for a top 40, anyway. Since finishing ninth at Riviera three months ago, he’s 8-for-9 with four top 40s and three others for which he was exactly one shot too many to finish inside that bubble. Danny Willett (+650 for a Top 20) … His membership exemption for winning the 2016 Masters expires in just two months, and he’s currently 155th in the FedExCup, so we’re going to learn, as will he, what the 34-year-old Englishman is made of with the clock ticking. Muirfield Village is positioned to help as he’s perfect in three trips with a scoring average of exactly 72 (that includes an 82 among the 12 rounds). He’s not quite simmering upon arrival but he’s cashed in eight of his last 10 starts worldwide, including a T12 at the Masters and a T16 at the British Masters that he hosted four weeks ago. Odds were sourced on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. For live odds, visit BetMGM.

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Kang wins KPMG Champ. for 1st LPGA title

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The Houston Open is back after an 18-month hiatus – and don’t be surprised if Sunday’s final round is a tight finish. Since 2009, eight of the last 10 winners have either been decided in a playoff or by just one stroke, including the most recent winner, Ian Poulter, who beat Beau Hossler in a playoff in 2018. Russell Henley, Cameron Champ and Henrik Stenson are in the field, and Stenson is making his PGA TOUR debut at a tournament he’s played well at in the past. The Golf Club of Houston – the host course for the last time before the tournament moves to Memorial Park — is a par 72, measures a long 7,441 yards and will offer Bermuda greens this week as opposed to overseeded rye in the spring. The Houston Open played as the 10th easiest course in scoring relative to par last season but played as the 24th most difficult course the year before. What changed? The wind. The weekend rounds recorded extremely winding conditions and scores averaged 73.4 on Saturday and a few strokes better on Sunday at 70.2. Playing in Texas always means potentially playing in the wind; since 2015, the Houston Open has had 25% of their rounds played with significant windy conditions. Other than Vijay Singh, who has won this tournament three times dating back to the early 2000s, Australian golfers have done extremely well, winning this tournament five times since 1999. Check the weather report for wind conditions as this is an important piece of information we can leverage when building lineups. Other than playing the weather conditions, golfers will need to again be strong with their approach. In 2018, the top-5 gained an average just under three strokes with their irons (2.92). A lot of those iron shots were hit from 200-plus yards out, once again being the approach distance with the highest shot distribution. This is the first time we’ll experience the course in its new scheduling slot and we don’t know how it will play differently, but the strokes gained category to correlate the highest here is Strokes Gained: Putting. Winners here have gained 34% more strokes on the greens than off-the-tee. Putting has the highest variance day-to-day making it difficult to predict but should still be important on these Bermuda greens this week. Other key statistics will be par-5 scoring average and birdie or better percentage on this Rees Jones course design. TOP VALUES SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER ($9,900) He’s been my favorite play even though he shot 7 over last weekend in Las Vegas, which has been Scheffler’s Achilles heel of recent. His scoring average in the opening two rounds this season is 65.8, while his weekend scores increase to an average of 71.75. Scheffler, who grew up and played his college golf (University of Texas), also ranks first in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green over his last two tournaments. HARRIS ENGLISH ($8,900) English is hitting the ball fantastic and playing impeccable golf, gaining an average of three strokes tee-to-green over his last five tournaments. English ranks 15th in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green, first in par-4 scoring average, and first in birdie or better percentage over his last six tournaments. English is also a great putter, ranking eighth in Strokes Gained: Putting on Bermuda greens over his last 50 rounds. If he’s able to hit these fairways with regularity this week, he should be in contention. SHAWN STEFANI ($6,800) Stefani played decently in his first start of the season with a top-30 a couple weeks ago and should have another solid performance this week heading back to his home state of Texas, where he also played his college golf. It’s not only his home ties, which make him a potential play this week, he also ranks 21st in birdie or better percentage, eighth in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green and inside the top-50 in Strokes Gained: Putting on Bermuda greens over his last 50 rounds. CAMERON DAVIS ($7,000) Davis is a cheaper option who has upside with his ability to score ranking sixth in birdie or better percentage over his last three tournaments. He’s been struggling with his driving accuracy of recent, but these wide Bermuda fairways should help Davis find the short grass even though he ranks 192nd in hit fairway percentage this season. He’s also struggled on Bermuda greens last season ranking 147th but gained 4.5 strokes putting over his last two tournaments on Bermuda. His experience growing up and playing in Australia should give him an advantage over the field this week hopefully mitigating his inconsistency over his short career. 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