2024 Memorial Tournament picks, predictions, field, odds: Proven golf expert fading Patrick Cantlay
Feb 24, 2019; Mexico City, MEX; Dustin Johnson plays his third shot from a bunker on the second hole during the final round of the WGC - Mexico Championship golf tournament at Club de Golf Chapultepec.
The 2024 Memorial Tournament tees off on Thursday, and it boasts a stacked field with 14 of the top 15 ranked golfers in the world. But before gravitating towards big names with any Memorial Tournament 2024 bets, one should also be aware that three of the last six PGA Tour events have been won by first-time winners. Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele have also won over the last six PGA Tour events, and they are among the top three golfers in the 2024 Memorial Tournament odds.
McIlroy is listed at +800, with Schauffele at +900, and they only trail World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (+360) on the PGA odds board. Collin Morikawa comes in at +1400, while defending champion Viktor Hovland is listed at +1800 to repeat. Before locking in any 2024 Memorial Tournament picks, make sure you see the PGA Tour predictions and best bets from golf betting and fantasy expert Sia Nejad.
Nejad specializes in betting and DFS in golf, among other sports. He's had incredible success in the outright and first-round leader markets and in betting head-to-head matchups. He also has been solid with his head-to-head matchups since last year's Charles Schwab Challenge, going 48-30-3 and returning 15.09 units over that span. That's a $1,509 profit for $100 bettors since May 2023.
Nejad also nailed Wyndham Clark, a 75-1 longshot, as the outright winner at the Wells Fargo Championship. In 2023, SportsLine debuted "The Early Wedge," and in the first three months of the show, he hit two first-round leaders and three outright winners.
Now, Nejad has turned his attention to the 2024 Memorial Tournament field and locked in his best bets, top sleepers and favorites to avoid. See who they are at SportsLine.
Top 2024 Memorial Tournament expert picks
One surprise: Nejad is low on the chances of Patrick Cantlay (+2500), even though he has won this event twice in the last five years (2019, 2021). However, Cantlay entered those previous Memorial Tournaments with momentum, coming off a third-place at the 2019 PGA Championship and coming off another top-25 at the major in 2021. This year, he enters off a 53rd-place finish at the PGA Championship and even failed to notch a top 25 the week prior at the Wells Fargo. Cantlay has managed a top-20 finish just once over his last seven starts.
Iron play has been the key to Cantlay's past success at Muirfield, but that play has escaped him this season. He ranked in the top 10 on the PGA Tour in either greens in regulation percentage or strokes gained: approach to green in the two years that he won this tournament, but he's nowhere close to those rankings this season. Cantlay is 122nd in strokes gained: approach the green (-0.153) and 146th in GIR percentage (62.68%). "I don't think he's in the type of form where we can capitalize on an outright given how well some of the other golfers that are +3000 and shorter are playing," Nejad told SportsLine.
Instead, Nejad is high on Corey Conners, who is a +5500 longshot. The Canadian is coming off a sixth-place finish last week in his native country, marking his best finish of the season. His strengths should also play well at the Memorial, with Nejad saying, "he's typically a fantastic ball striker and he's shown a recent ability to spike with the putter gaining an insane 6.42 strokes in last week's RBC Canadian Open (gained ARG as well)."
That showing continued a strong run of play for Conners, who got off to a rough start to the 2024 PGA Tour season. He failed to notch a top 25 in each of his first four events, but he has seven top 25s over his last 11 starts, as well as three top 15s over his last four tournaments. Additionally, the best part of Conners' game is his iron play as he ranks second in both greens in regulation percentage and strokes gained: approach to green, trailing Scheffler in both. See which other players to back at SportsLine.
How to make 2024 Memorial Tournament picks
Nejad has locked in his best bets for the 2024 Memorial Tournament and is backing several longshots, including one that is priced at more than +7000. This player "sets up too well for this course to be at this long of a number" and is a longshot who could surprise. You can see Nejad's PGA Tour picks only at SportsLine.
So which players should you target or avoid for the 2024 Memorial Tournament, and which player in the Memorial Tournament 2024 field could bring a huge payday at more than +7000? Check out the odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Sia Nejad's top picks for the 2024 Memorial Tournament, all from the expert who is 48-30-3 on his last 81 head-to-head picks.
2024 Memorial Tournament odds, field
See Nejad's picks, best bets and predictions here.
Scottie Scheffler +360
Rory McIlroy +800
Xander Schauffele +900
Collin Morikawa +1400
Viktor Hovland +1800
Ludvig Aberg +1800
Patrick Cantlay +2500
Justin Thomas +2500
Wyndham Clark +3500
Tommy Fleetwood +3500
Max Homa +3500
Hideki Matsuyama +3500
Sahith Theegala +4000
Jordan Spieth +4500
Matt Fitzpatrick +5000
Byeong Hun An +5000
Tony Finau +5500
Sungjae Im +5500
Si Woo Kim +5500
Russell Henley +5500
Corey Conners +5500
Cameron Young +5500
Tom Kim +6000
Sam Burns +6000
Jason Day +6000
Sepp Straka +6500
Keegan Bradley +6500
Will Zalatoris +7000
Shane Lowry +7000
Billy Horschel +7000
Denny McCarthy +7500
Brian Harman +7500
Tom Hoge +8000
Harris English +8000
Alex Noren +8000
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +9000
Stephan Jaeger +10000
Robert MacIntyre +10000
Kurt Kitayama +10000
Akshay Bhatia +10000
Mackenzie Hughes +11000
Lucas Glover +11000
Justin Rose +11000
J.T. Poston +11000
Thomas Detry +13000
Taylor Moore +13000
Rickie Fowler +13000
Davis Thompson +13000
Chris Kirk +13000
Ben Griffin +13000
Austin Eckroat +15000
Taylor Pendrith +18000
Patrick Rodgers +18000
Andrew Putnam +18000
Adam Schenk +18000
Adam Hadwin +18000
Lee Hodges +20000
Jake Knapp +20000
Davis Riley +20000
Cam Davis +20000
Adam Svensson +20000
Victor Perez +25000
Seamus Power +25000
Nick Taylor +25000
Nick Dunlap +25000
Mac Meissner +25000
Eric Cole +25000
Matthieu Pavon +30000
Chris Gotterup +30000
Brendon Todd +30000
Emiliano Grillo +35000
Matt Kuchar +40000
Pierceson Coody +60000
Peter Malnati +60000
Jackson Koivun +100000
Brandt Snedeker +200000