Written by Stephen Moloney (www.twitter.com/TheCheeky9)

With a three-shot lead over Kevin Kisner and Matthew Wolff, Bryson DeChambeau was positively cruising towards the Rocket Mortgage Classic trophy on Sunday evening as he marched up the par 5 14th fairway in search of his ball that he’d, once again, unleashed the Kraken on – or, at least, one or two of the tentacles at any rate.

Yet, having underestimated just how speedy the fairways actually were, DeChambeau’s resultant pitch out from the trees to set up a nice, easy wedge into the green wound up scuttling into the water hazard on the opposite side of the fairway and suddenly brought his procession to the clubhouse, like his ball, crashing onto the rocks. After managing to record nothing worse than a six on the hole, however – and with Wolff then failing to get up & down for birdie once he and Troy Merritt had vacated the green – DeChambeau, with his focus very much resharpened after the bogey, proceeded to birdie three of the final four holes (the best of which was a clutch 30+ footer at 16) to get to -23 and finally send the resurgent Wolff to the mat.

Now that Bryson is currently looking for the best possible spot to display his 6th PGA Tour title, though, all eyes turn but a few hours south to Dublin, Ohio for the first tournament in a two-week layover at Muirfield Village in the shape of the Workday Charity Open.

Will I make it four winners in seven tournaments? 

Will I be able to cope not having Bryson to put into the Oracles’ Fourball?

Let’s find out.

Field Report

Below you will find the top 30 players in the world as of this week. If they have a ✅ alongside their name, they’re in the field this week; if they have an 🆇 alongside their name it means they’re not in the field this week:

Rory McIlroy	🆇	Marc Leishman	✅
Jon Rahm	✅	Tony Finau	🆇
Dustin Johnson	🆇	Matt Kuchar	✅
Webb Simpson	🆇	Gary Woodland	✅
Justin Thomas	✅	Abraham Ancer	🆇
Brooks Koepka	✅	Louis Oosthuizen	✅
Bryson DeChambeau	🆇	Sungjae Im	✅
Patrick Cantlay	✅	Hideki Matsuyama	✅
Patrick Reed	✅	Paul Casey	🆇
Adam Scott	🆇	Shane Lowry	✅
Xander Schauffele	✅	Matthew Fitzpatrick	✅
Tommy Fleetwood	🆇	Daniel Berger	🆇
Justin Rose	✅	Bernd Wiesberger	🆇
Tiger Woods	🆇	Collin Morikawa	✅
Tyrrell Hatton	🆇	Francesco Molinari	🆇

Notable additions to the field for the trip to Ohio who weren’t in Detroit last week include:

Byeong Hun An. Corey Conners. Joel Dahmen. Dylan Frittelli. Russell Henley. Charley Hoffman. J.B. Holmes. Max Homa. Billy Horschel. Charles Howell III. Mackenzie Hughes. Zach Johnson. Sung Kang. Chase Koepka. Jason Kokrak. Graeme McDowell. Phil Mickelson. Joaquin Niemann. Ryan Palmer. Jordan Spieth. Brendan Steele. Kevin Streelman. Jhonattan Vegas. Jimmy Walker. Nick Watney.  

The Yardage Book

(i) Below you will find the scorecard for Muirfield Village Golf Club. For each hole I’ve listed its par and what shape best suits it off the tee (for right-handers):

Front 9	Muirfield Village Golf Club	Back 9
#1: Par 4 – Fade	Dublin, Ohio	#10: Par 4 – Draw
#2: Par 4 – Draw	7,392 yards	#11: Par 5 – Draw
#3: Par 4 – Draw		#12: Par 3 – Either
#4: Par 3 – Either		#13: Par 4 – Draw
#5: Par 5 – Fade		#14: Par 4 – Fade
#6: Par 4 – Fade		#15: Par 5 – Fade
#7: Par 5 – Draw		#16: Par 3 – Either
#8: Par 3 – Either		#17: Par 4 – Either
#9: Par 4 – Fade		#18: Par 4 – Fade
Out: 36	Par 72	In: 36

(ii) With this week’s Workday Charity Open serving as the opener to a fortnight of action at Muirfield Village – as next week sees the annual staging of the Memorial – the tournament directors and PGA Tour have made an interesting decision vis-à-vis the course setup we’re likely to see this week. See, to protect the course for ‘Jack’s Tournament’ next week and create a sense of difference between the two tournaments, Muirfield Village this week is going to play a tad easier than what it would for the Memorial. That means we can expect to see rough that is slightly shorter than usual and the speed of the greens slowed down to allow for alternative pin positions that normally couldn’t be utilised during the Memorial. Also, in an effort to keep the course looking as pristine as possible for next week, they’ll also be using a variety of other tee boxes outside of those usually used for whenever the PGA Tour rolls into Ohio, so that should provide some unique new angles that we normally wouldn’t see otherwise.

(iii) In the fall of 2019, Jack Nicklaus and his team began work on a two-year/two-phase project to overhaul the course at Muirfield Village. Though the second phase isn’t due to start until after this year’s Memorial (a phase which involves rebuilding all 18 greens; rebuilding bunkers; leveling tees; creating new fairway widths & converting the par 5 5th into a par 4 – so, you know … about a week’s worth of work, I’d say), with phase one having been completed this year (unless the pandemic put a kibosh on that, of course) to lengthen the par 3 8th, par 5 11th & par 5 15th, that will be a new factor for this week’s players to take into consideration.

(iv) Jack Nicklaus’ philosophy when it comes to building and designing golf courses has always been that a course should test every facet of a golfer’s game and you see this displayed perfectly in Muirfield Village. With many fairways that bottleneck the closer you get to the green and large, quirkily-shaped greens (made up of bentgrass & poa), Muirfield Village is a course that requires you to take a more cerebral approach to how you attack it, as to be out of position for your second shot, even if playing from the short grass, can put you behind the 8-ball and make a two-putt for par suddenly seem like a good result.

(v) As was the case with Detroit, there are four par 5’s to play this week at Muirfield Village (the aforementioned 11th & 15th on the back, along with the 5th & 7th on the way out). Though enticing targets for the longer hitters to try and get home in two on, with creeks, ravines, split-fairways and tricky greens waiting to maul you if you get a bit wayward on any of the four, you’ll be writing down 6’s & 7’s in a heartbeat if you’re not careful. So look for those adept at making the adjustment to cut par 5’s down to size with calculated layups and dialed-in wedges to get the most out of these holes over the week.

(vi) Below you will find the top 10 and ties for the last four years of the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club:

2019	2018	2017	2016
Patrick Cantlay -19	B. DeChambeau -15	Jason Dufner -13	William McGirt -15
Adam Scott -17	Byeong Hun An -15	Rickie Fowler -10	Jon Curran -15
Martin Kaymer -15	Kyle Stanley -15	Anirban Lahiri -10	Dustin Johnson -14
Kevin Streelman -13	Patrick Cantlay -14	Matt Kuchar -9	J.B Holmes -13
Marc Leishman -12	Peter Uihlein -13	Justin Thomas -9	Matt Kuchar -13
Hideki Matsuyama -11	Joaquín Niemann -12	James Hahn -8	Rory McIlroy -13
Jason Dufner -10	Justin Rose -12	Kevin Kisner -8	Gary Woodland -13
Jordan Spieth -10	Rickie Fowler -11	Kyle Stanley -8	Keegan Bradley -12
Bud Cauley -9	Dustin Johnson -11	Bubba Watson -8	Patrick Reed -12
Emiliano Grillo -9	Rory McIlroy -11	Graham DeLaet -7	Kevin Streelman -12
Billy Horschel -9	Patrick Rodgers -11	Jamie Lovemark -7
Tiger Woods -9	Justin Thomas -11	Daniel Summerhays -7

The Oracles’ Fourball

Patrick Cantlay

Since coming back from a near career-ending back injury first sustained in 2013 and trying to deal with the tragic loss of his best friend in a hit-and-run accident in 2016, Patrick Cantlay, over the last three and a bit years, has quickly ascended into the ranks of the world’s best players thanks to his all-round solid game that boasts little to no weaknesses. One of the courses that has featured prominently in this comeback from the brink is, of course, Muirfield Village where, since 2017, Cantlay has posted finishes of T-35, 4th & 1st – though, this record actually pales in comparison to his current one at TPC Summerlin, the site of the annual Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, where he’s finished 1st, 2nd & 2nd since 2018.

So what is it about Patrick’s game that seems to lend itself so nicely to navigating ‘Jack’s Place’? Well, as I mentioned above, from a technical standpoint his all-round game from tee-to-green is just incredibly solid. He drives the ball well, not mind-blowingly long by any means (300.6 yards on average), but long enough and accurately enough (41st in Driving Accuracy with 66.08%) to more than be effective. He hits a lot of greens (4th in GIR % with 73.15%) and tends to make the most of this accuracy with his irons (5th in ‘Strokes Gained: Approach the Green’) even though his ‘Proximity to the Hole’ ranking sees him only in 75th with an average distance of 35’5 feet. And when he pulls the headcover off his putter? He’s generally quite efficient with it as he’s 10th in ‘Putting Average’, 9th in ‘Scoring Average’ & 3rd in ‘Scoring Average’.

Outside of what he actually does with his clubs, however, what I think gives Cantlay an advantage at Muirfield Village, though, is his overall demeanour on the golf course. He’s incredibly patient. He doesn’t get flustered. And he doesn’t beat himself up for mistakes. Instead, he just stealthily plots his way around a course, takes his chances when they’re there, and, come Sunday, generally finds himself up near the business end of the leaderboard. Plus, like many of the top stars, Cantlay has also twigged how to turn up to a tournament after a break and make the most of his week, as seen by the fact that in the seven (yes, only seven) official events he’s played this year he’s racked up finishes of T-40, 2nd, 4th, T-34, T-11, T-17 & T-11. So at a place where he obviously likes playing – coupled with the fact that he seems to have a good relationship with Jack himself – I think Patrick could be a real threat this week given the course will be playing easier than what it would have been when he won the Memorial only last year.

Hideki Matsuyama

After his out-of-sorts performance at the RBC Heritage saw him notch up only his second missed cut of the season, Hideki got back to his usual solid play in Detroit with a red-hot Friday and Saturday – but disappointing Thursday & Sunday – seeing him eventually rack up a T-21 finish. To give an idea of how well the Japanese superstar has been playing this season, though, that finish last weekend actually ranks as his third-worst finish of the season (outdone only by a T-45 at the Farmers & T-56 at Bay Hill), as he’s been a mainstay of the top 20 in every other tournament he’s entered, including particularly impressive finishes of T-3, 2nd, T-5 & T-6 at the CJ Cup, ZOZO Championship, Genesis Invitational & WGC-Mexico respectively.

So, given how well he’s been playing, on the whole, this season, coupled with the fact his record in Ohio is incredibly impressive (since 2014 he’s gone 1st, T-5, CUT, T-45, T-13 & 6th), then if he can bring what he found with his driver and approach game on Saturday at the Rocket Mortgage Classic (driving just over 320 yards on average, with 85.71% accuracy & hitting 77.78% of the greens), he might just be in line to pick up his second win at Muirfield Village because I think the vastly slower greens will suit him down to the ground and see him making a lot more putts – and if Hideki is on with the putter, given how deadly his approach play can be, he could go incredibly low.

Byeong Hun An

It’s not been the most electrifying of returns to action for Byeong Hun An. After posting a T-60 at the Charles Schwab, he followed up that trip to Colonial with a resounding missed cut at Harbour Town before a much-improved performance at the Travelers saw him post in the 60’s all four days and pick up a T-47 finish. Yet, in spite of those less-than-stellar results, it’s been a pretty good season overall for An as five top 10 finishes from before lockdown see him sitting in a reasonably comfortable 30th place in the FedEx Cup rankings – which, given he & his partner had their first child back in February, is pretty good going. 

After skipping the Rocket Mortgage Classic last week, however, I think we could see a refreshed Byeong Hun An heading to Muirfield Village – a course that he’s performed consistently well at since 2016 (posting finishes of T-11, T-25, T-2 & T-17) – and contending for his first PGA Tour title. Because when his game is “on”? He has the length off the tee (just over 307 yards on average) and iron play to match any of the players placed far higher than his 57th spot in the World Rankings.

Jason Day

From 2015 to 2016, Jason Day was, undoubtedly, one of the best golfers on the planet. With eight wins in that two-year spell, including the PGA Championship in ‘15, the Australian seemed all-but-destined to push on and secure his place amongst the pantheon of all-time greats. Well, despite going on to secure two more wins at the Farmers Insurance Open and Wells Fargo in 2018, as we all know, life hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing for Day as several seasons blighted by injury have pushed him out of the spotlight and left him as something of the “forgotten man” amongst the wave of bright, new talent that’s burst onto the scene over the last few years.

Yet, despite these issues, Jason has continued to fight to try and recapture that other-worldly form he possessed five years ago, and with his body, seemingly, in as good a place as it can be, he’s managed to get much-needed reps in competition this season to try and play his way back to the top table. Of course, this is far easier said than done and one look at his results this year will attest to that. From the eleven official events he’s played in this season, Day has but a single top 10 (T-4 at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am), the one top 20 (T-16 at the Farmers Insurance Open), 5 missed cuts and a withdrawal – so not exactly the most heartening of records.

So why then do I suddenly think that Jason might pull something special out of the bag this week? At a venue in Muirfield Village that, even though it’s his “home” course, he’s never managed a finish no higher than T-15 in competition? Well, for as much as every year’s Memorial is a home game for Jason, the condition and setup of the course in that particular week is very unique to that specific event. But with the Workday Charity Open requiring the tournament directors to slow the greens down and use alternative pin positions and tee boxes to protect the course for the Memorial, then the test Jason will face this week is probably going to be very similar to what he would face throughout the year when he pops out for a quick 18, and, as a result, I think this could give him a distinct advantage. 

So if he can reproduce the glimpses of his old self that he’s shown this season and stitch it together over four days, then with his undoubted talent, Jason Day could very quickly put to rest the annoyance he’s felt at not performing in competition at Muirfield Village, and finally give Jack and the rest of the ‘home fans’ the win they’ve probably been waiting for since he first handed his membership application into the pro-shop all those years ago.

Title Photo Credit: Keyur Khamar/PGATOUR.COM