Fantasy Golf: Memorial Tournament preview

The Today’s Golfer Fantasy Golf game, in association with Your Golf Travel, hops back across the Atlantic this week for the PGA Tour’s Memorial Tournament.

Muirfield Village GC, Ohio, hosts the 37th edition of the tournament. The 7,352-yard par 72 layout is the perfect example of a Jack Nicklaus design; relatively straightforward off the tee but getting more difficult towards the green.

In fact, of the four times a player has hit every fairway in a PGA Tour event, three have come at Muirfield Village, but that hasn’t always led to success.

A good performance here relies on conquering the four relatively easy par 5s, hitting a fair share of greens in regulation and holing out solidly from inside 10 feet; the course has been inside the top 10 most difficult from this range for the last four years.

With the US Open just two weeks away, 15 of the world’s top 20 have assembled here to begin their preparations, including Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson.

Here is the six-man Today’s Golfer team for the Memorial Tournament:

Luke Donald, $5.5m
The Englishman regained the world number one spot by retaining the BMW PGA Championship last week, his sixth win in 15 months. His last three visits here have yielded top 15s and he’s sixth on the PGA Tour in birdies or better at par 5s.

Justin Rose, $2.8m
Four top 10s in his last five starts, including a T2 at Wentworth, have lifted Rose to a career-high sixth in the world rankings. He won here in 2010 and finished fourth in 2004 and T2 in 2008.

Rickie Fowler, $2.4m
The 23-year-old is in the best form of his professional career, having recorded four top 10s on the spin, including his first PGA Tour victory at the Wells Fargo Championship. He was runner-up here in 2009.

Jim Furyk, $2.4m
He was the only player to shoot four rounds in the 60s at Colonial last week, finishing fourth, and boasts three top 10s and only one missed cut since he won here in 2002.

Jonas Blixt, $0.7m
The Swedish PGA Tour rookie is high on confidence after four top 13s on the bounce that have fired him to 53rd in the FedEx Cup. He ranks 28th in strokes gained – putting and first for total eagles, which should stand him in good stead for the par 5s.

Ben Curtis, $0.6m
His low price and fine form are fast making him a staple in the team for PGA Tour events. His T68 at Wentworth ended his run of four straight top 15s in the US, but he’s eighth on Tour in strokes gained – putting.

> You can see a full list of all the golfers playing this week and their prices by clicking here. You have until 12.30pm on Thursday 31st May to select your team.