Welcome to our weekly PGA Tour gambling-tips column, featuring picks from GOLF.com’s expert prognosticator Brady Kannon. A seasoned golf bettor and commentator, Kannon is a regular guest on SportsGrid, a syndicated audio network devoted to sports and sport betting. You can follow on Twitter at @LasVegasGolfer, and you can read his picks below for the weekend rounds of the 2025 Memorial Tournament.
The rain showed up at Muirfield Village Golf Club on Friday but lower scores did not.
Through two rounds, the Memorial Tournament has been one of the more difficult events on the PGA Tour so far this season. In the seventh Signature Event of the year, only 13 players in the limited 72-man field shot under par on Thursday. Only 11 players are in red figures heading into the weekend.
Speaking of the weekend, 57 players will advance after the cut, thanks to Germany’s Matti Schmid. Schmid missed a birdie putt just inside of four feet on the 17th hole to keep the cutline at 5 over for the tournament. Unfortunately for him, Schmid went on to bogey his final hole to miss making the weekend by a shot.
Fresh off his second career PGA Tour victory last week at the Charles Schwab Challenge, Ben Griffin continues to lead the way this week in Dublin, Ohio. Griffin fired an incredible round of 65 to set the pace on Thursday and followed that up with an even par round on Friday. Also atop the leaderboard at seven under is five time Tour winner Nick Taylor, who is the only player in the field to have recorded both rounds this week in the 60s.
Two shots back at five under par is Akshay Bhatia. After shooting two straight rounds of 70, defending champion and pre-tournament favorite (+280) Scottie Scheffler, is at four under. Shane Lowry, Sam Burns, and Jordan Spieth are all tied at three under par. Russell Henley, Xander Schauffele, Tom Hoge, and Collin Morikawa round out the top-10 at two under.
While the moisture did soften up the golf course a bit, it certainly did not make it any easier. The forecast is not calling for any more rain over the weekend but the winds are expected to pick up on Saturday, into the range of 10-20 mph.
Backing
Akshay Bhatia (11-1)
Bhatia is one of the better putters in the world, but so far has been very average through the first two rounds, ranking 36th in this field heading into the weekend. Everything else has been excellent. He’s No. 1 in Driving Accuracy, second in SG: Approach, third in Scrambling, and ranks second in SG: Tee to Green. I have to believe his putting will improve and he will have a great chance to make this his third win on Tour.
Shane Lowry (18-1)
Like Bhatia, Lowry’s ball striking has been top-notch. Through 36 holes of action, Lowry ranks fifth in this field for SG: Approach and is No. 1 for Greens in Regulation. He is third for SG: Tee to Green but ranks 46th for SG: Putting. If the Irishman can just get the putter to lukewarm, he might make this his second big win in the state of Ohio.
Jordan Spieth Top 5 Finish (+170)
We wrote about Spieth earlier this week as one of our pre-tournament selections to win. He may still do that but I like the current price on Lowry to win it outright more than I do on Spieth. Let’s give ourselves a little wiggle room and play him to finish top-5 instead. Spieth’s work off the tee has been outstanding, ranking second in this field for SG: Off the Tee. He’s seventh in Greens in Regulation, and 12th for SG: Approach. He is 33rd however, in SG: Putting and 35th in Scrambling. As I said earlier this week, if the short game shows up for Spieth, he is going to be a serious contender.
Fading
Nick Taylor (+600)
Taylor has been extremely solid for the first two days of this tournament but I worry about the putter holding up. He is currently second in this field for SG: Putting yet barely cracks the top-100 on Tour in the same category. Griffin is riding a very hot putter as well, as his iron play has not been as good as Taylor’s, but with Griffin, I wonder if this guy is just on a heater right now and trying to step in front of him may be a bad idea. In five visits to the Memorial, Taylor has never finished higher than 27th and has only ever shot two rounds in the 60s prior to this week.
