Here’s some Pick ‘Em plays our team is looking at for Thursday’s round one action!

ThriveFantasy

Tournament Plays

Collin Morikawa UNDER 69.5 Strokes

This course certainly sets up as an ideal fit for Morikawa’s game. Accuracy off the tee and precision with iron play are his two biggest strengths. It also helps that we have seen some not-so-great putters (Justin Thomas, Will Zalatoris, Daniel Berger 2X) claim victories in Memphis. While it has been up and down of late for Collin, I am going to trust his elite iron play to get him off to a good start with a round under par Thursday.

Jon Rahm UNDER 67.5 Strokes

After a scorching start to the year (4 wins which culminated in a Masters victory), Rahm had tapered off a little. However, we have not seen Rahm since his 2^nd place finish at The Open last month and I believe he is rested and ready to continue his dominant play. Rahm has had two top 7 finishes in three appearances on this course, so he is obviously comfortable here and Rahm ranks 1^st in the field in birdies or better, while also ranking inside the top 10 of bogey avoidance.

Xander Schauffele OVER 4.5 Birdies

Xander is another great course fit in my eyes and has a top end finish with a 6^th at this event in 2020. The long running joke about Xander is that he is at his best in smaller field, no cut events, which we have this week with a 70-player field. Schauffele also ranks 7^th in the field in birdies or better gained and get absolutely torrid hot with the putter when he is on. 5 birdies is a big ask, but Xander is the type of player that can fulfill those loft aspirations (see his 62 in the opening round of the U.S. Open this year).

Viktor Hovland OVER 2.5 Bogeys

Something about Memphis just seems to not fit the eye of Viktor Hovland. With his prowess off the tee and incredible iron play, you would think he would have had better results here, but that hasn’t been the case. What worries me this week is how small the greens in Memphis, which could lead to a lot of around the green opportunities for Hovland. Hovland ranks 65^th (in a 70-man field) over the last 50 rounds in around the green play. Hovland also loses strokes on Bermuda greens with the putter, which is not a great combination to go with his poor around the green play.

ThriveFantasy YTD Record: 9-5