Value Report: Memorial Tournament

Colonial Country Club continues to test modern golfers in such a unique way, and it was a treat to watch a leaderboard mainly full of shorter hitters duke it out on Sunday. There are enough birdie looks available with good drives, but it still needs to be rewarded with long enough iron plays to really emphasize separating via ball striking. Russell Henley closing like he did, especially with sputtering since The Masters, is a great lesson once again on how a player like him will be able to rise back to his near-elite play at a course like Colonial. I’d definitely enjoy a few more of those styles of courses each week, especially as our data continues to be really strong on these setups!

After poor back-to-back weeks in big spots, the Value Report cashed back in for a strong week at Colonial. Of course, it’s disappointing not to pick up the third Value Report victory in 2026 with Eric Cole losing out in the playoff, but he clearly did more than enough to pay off at his ownership and salary. Cole did get steamy a bit in small-field contests, but the one who held strong at almost zero ownership was Steven Fisk, who is proving that his putter improvement is legit. Once the ball striking comes back to its level, I really think he grabs a win in a weaker field this year. Zach Bauchou once again was steady with a T22, where he never really left that spot on the leaderboard after a slow start. The other half of the list, though, was more on the disappointing side, with Luke Clanton and Tom Hoge not keeping up the same approach numbers as their lead-in form. But made cuts from 5/6 golfers isn’t anything to fight about, with our lone soldier, Paul Peterson, failing to make the weekend. It was a stretch as is, with his play being up and down from KFT to PGA Tour, and even with a massive course-fit boost, he still didn’t sniff it.

Now we roll over to the second-to-last Signature Event of the calendar year, but it’s one where we get the unexpected Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy combination at the top. It’s historically been an event that Rory skips, so to add both of those guys at the top of the pricing structure always makes a slate way more interesting. There’s a cut as well for us traditionalists, so the emphasis on getting out of the gates quickly is important, especially when factoring in the conditions. I love Muirfield Village, as it has danger looming around every corner of the course while also rewarding elite ball striking and touch around the green. It’s as good a non-major test that we get and should give us a lot of signal on who sets up well for the U.S. Open in two weeks. Contests are back to their big sizing, too, for the strong field, so it’s time to cash in at the Memorial!