The Memorial Tournament betting: Who will be golden at Jack's Place?

Jon Rahm was in the process of running away with a second straight Memorial Tournament last year until he was derailed by a positive COVID test. He pulled out of the event on the 18th hole after the third round before what would have been a comfortable Sunday cruise around Jack's Place - a term you can bet the over on hearing this week.

Rahm won the U.S. Open weeks later, and while that upcoming major is already on the minds of the top players, a win at Muirfield Village is special, with a congratulatory handshake from Mr. Nicklaus waiting for the winner green-side.

With a loaded field befitting a top-tier event, we'll hope to stay hot after we sussed out an off-week from Justin Thomas (+550) and with Chris Kirk (+220) hanging on for a top-20 result.

Power draws

Jordan Spieth (+2000)

Rahm's the favorite this week at 10-1, so a bet there is all or nothing. However, there are a handful of players between him and Spieth - who's listed at double the odds. Rahm might be the only one with a better resume in Dublin, Ohio, than Spieth.

Spieth hasn't won at the course the Golden Bear (re)built, but he's got six top-20 finishes since 2014. Last year's opening-round 76 was salvaged by a 67 on Friday on the way to an 18th-place finish, so even a slow start might be OK.

Spieth didn't have much success at the PGA Championship but snuck his way back into the top 10 last week at Colonial - his third in four events. At better than even money (+105) to finish in the top 20, Spieth's the small underdog to back amongst the top tier.

Xander Schauffele (+2200)

If you're thinking "this is exactly the type of event Schauffele contends in," you'd be right. It's been a quiet season for Xander since his win came as part of a pair at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, but he's followed that up with a T5 and T13 at the PGA Championship.

Whether it was the days of Tiger Woods winning this event every year, Muirfield Village has been largely a "horse for course" track. Including the bonus event in 2020 - the Workday Charity Open - here are Schauffele's four results in the last three years: 14, 14, 13, 11. He's also available at better than even money (+105) to finish top 20 this week.

Patrick Reed (+5000)

With all the recent tumult in the men's professional golf world, Reed's dropped down the villain rankings but has quietly moved up leaderboards recently. Reed's finally back in form with four-round consistency in his last two outings. At +210, there's good value on Reed to get in the top 20, as he finished T7 last week at Colonial and has top-10 finishes in his last two appearances during Muirfield's tough Memorial setup.

Soft fades

Bryson DeChambeau

He's back after hand surgery, and one of golf's most enigmatic characters is ripe for another missed-cut bet - something we've profited on before his surgery. DeChambeau has a Memorial win on his resume, but he hasn't played enough tournament golf for his high variance style to be rewarded on what should be a tough track.

Cameron Smith

This feels like a tournament Smith is playing just for something to do before the U.S. Open in two weeks' time. Smith is hunting majors and could have won the PGA if he hadn't lipped out seemingly every chip and putt on the weekend. However, this is not a major, and while Smith is a dog, he's not a horse for this course. He's shot rounds in the 60s as many times as I have at Jack's Place, going 0 for 16 and missing the cut in four of six starts. He's good enough to turn that record around, but a +450 payout is too good to pass up given the history.

Billy Horschel

Not the type to hang around just for the legendary milkshakes, Horschel missed the cut in 2017 and 2018, and while he's made the cut the last three years at The Memorial, two of those came after opening-round 76s. He bounced back to play the weekend but that's a troubling trend, and at +240, he's worth a look to miss the weekend.

Matt Russell is a betting writer for theScore. If there's a bad beat to be had, Matt will find it. Find him on Twitter @mrussauthentic.