Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry Worth Targeting

It was another exciting finish and playoff on the PGA TOUR as the course at Colonial Country Club showed its teeth through tough winds on Sunday. Scottie Scheffler got the tough end of that draw as he tried to make his way into the clubhouse after Sam Burns had posted 9-under earlier in the day. Scheffler was able to scramble his way home, but would lose to a long putt from off the green in the first playoff.

While much of the attention was on Scheffler chasing his fifth win of the season, it turned into the third win for Burns, who continues to remind people that he is also a budding young star on TOUR and that it won’t be long before he is a factor in bigger events.

Now, the TOUR heads to one of the biggest, non-major, tournaments of the year at The Memorial. This is Jack’s tournament and many of the stars are set to tee it up, though recent major winner Justin Thomas is a notable exception. With the US Open just three weeks away, the schedule has made some players make difficult decisions as they plan out their play ahead of the next major.

This will also mark the return of Jon Rahm to the site of his forced withdrawal in 2021, when he was running away with the event through three rounds before testing positive for COVID-19. As usual, there are many storylines this week in the PGA and it’ll set up for an exciting week from Muirfield Village.

Best Buys

Rory McIlroy

We have seen flashes of brilliance from Rory McIlroy over the past couple of months. He has looked unbeatable at times and in the form of the guy who used to blow away fields early in his career. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to close the door on a win or keep his play together to really be there come Sunday. It seems to be a matter of time before he puts it all together for a win. On a course that can value length and accuracy off the tee like Muirfield Village, I’ll be hoping for some good odds on McIlroy in the morning.

The Irishman has two top 10s from earlier in his career at this event, but it should be one that can suit his game better than the results indicate. I’ll be interested to see how the markets handle him early in the week as many of the other big names have better track records on this course. If he happens to drift out above the others, I’ll have a lot of interest in starting my card with him on Monday.

Shane Lowry

The crux of this article has always been around carrying form into the week and therefore there will be some notable omissions from this write up. It doesn’t mean I am any less interested in the Patrick Cantlays of the world coming into the week, but it’s hard to say good things about a guy who shot 11-over the last time we saw him.

Instead, I will focus on players in form and Lowry has been playing great golf since the start of 2022. He is carrying that into the summer as he posted another top 25 at the PGA, which was actually his first finish outside of the top 13 this year. He struggled a bit on approach, but mainly in the winds on Saturday, which I am willing to forgive. Lowry is someone not only in great form, but coming in with confidence at this track off of his T6 result in 2021. He’ll be on my shortlist of players I am shopping for when odds drop on Monday morning.

Rickie Fowler

I’m not entirely sure I am ready to place my first bet on Rickie Fowler in multiple years, but if the odds are right, I may take a shot. Fowler has been showing enough of late to give him some consideration in the triple digits if he’s listed there Monday.

Fowler has made three consecutive cuts with two top 25s and a T57 this past week at the Charles Schwab. He struggled to close on Sunday as he shot a 5-over 75 in the final round, but that was fairly common around Colonial Country Club. My interest in him is a combination of form and his incredible results at The Memorial. Fowler has four top 15s in his past five trips to this event, much of which came during his lowest points of his game. He seems to be showing signs of his game trending up now and with him headed to one of his favorite tracks, I may have interest in him even in outright markets.