Memorial Tournament: SB Nation staff picks winners for Jack Nicklaus’ event

The penultimate Signature Event of the season is here and the SB Nation staff has submitted their picks on who will win at Jack’s place.

One of the best tournaments of the PGA Tour season has arrived.

Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, will welcome 73 of the best PGA Tour players this week for the Memorial Tournament, which Jack Nicklaus hosts every year.

The course is challenging, requiring accuracy off the tee and into the greens. It also tends to produce thrilling finishes, as two of the last three iterations have ended in playoffs.

That includes last year when Viktor Hovland and Denny McCarthy finished at 7-under after 72 holes, one stroke better than Scottie Scheffler. Hovland then defeated McCarthy in a sudden-death playoff with a par on the 18th hole, a challenging dogleg right par-4 that never fails to entertain.

Undoubtedly, the Memorial—the season's penultimate Signature Event—will delight fans and players alike again this week.

As such, the SB Nation staff has submitted their picks for who will receive a congratulatory handshake from Mr. Nicklaus on Sunday evening.

Jack Milko — Staff Writer, Golf

Since The Players Championship in mid-March, Tommy Fleetwood has shown nothing but consistency. He tied for seventh at the Valero Texas Open and third at Augusta National. Other solid finishes followed at Quail Hollow and Valhalla, and Fleetwood should have fared better last week in Canada. But a double-bogey to open his final round dropped him out of contention, as he ultimately shot a 2-over 72 on Sunday. He tied for 21st.

Nevertheless, Fleetwood’s game suits Muirfield Village perfectly. He is accurate off the tee, putts well, and rarely makes a mistake—Fleetwood ranks eighth on the PGA Tour in bogey avoidance.

But what makes me like Fleetwood even more is that his ball-striking showed improvement in Canada. He currently ranks 137th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained approaching the green and 88th in greens in regulation percentage. Yet, Fleetwood gained 5.28 strokes with his iron play in Hamilton, which ranked fifth among the field.

I believe this will lead Fleetwood into the winner’s circle, as he finally breaks through on the PGA Tour. The Golden Bear will deliver his trophy to a European player for the second consecutive year.

RJ Ochoa — Senior Producer, Blogging the Boys

(Editor’s Note: Like ESPN’s College GameDay, we have decided to invite guest pickers from around the SB Nation network for our Staff Picks series. RJ kindly accepted our invitation to be the first to participate in the Memorial Tournament.)

Conventional wisdom suggests that picking Scottie Scheffler is the safe play for obvious reasons.

But this is not the time for conventional wisdom. It is time to read the room, and I know that the room is going to want me to pick Rory McIlroy next week at the U.S. Open. The thing is, more than recent history has suggested that Rory at majors nowadays is a fool’s errand, but Rory the week before majors is cash money.

Remember what feels like a year ago when Rory won in Charlotte right before the PGA and we all (definitely me) fell for it? The week before and the Sunday when he’s out of contention are the moments where you can most bank on him right now.

Give me Rory at Jack’s Place, and let’s rock.

Savannah Richardson — Staff Writer, Golf

Give me Viktor Hovland.

He won here last year, and I think his game is heading in the right direction, especially after reuniting with his old coach, Joe Mayo. Hovland is coming off a solo third at the PGA Championship, where he looked like one of the best players in the world for the first time this season.

His short game improved at Valhalla, ranking 28th in strokes gained around the green. Considering he is currently 174th on tour in that department this season, Hovland must get up and down successfully to contend.

But if he does just that, Hovland will win again at Muirfield Village.

This golf course suits him well, too, and it will put his season back on track for another hot run like last year.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.