Bolton: Form is temporary, class is permanent at the Memorial presented by Workday

Congratulations, you made it! Or is it ... sigh, finally.

Either way, Segment 2 of PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by PGA TOUR Superstore concludes with this week’s the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday. With all golfers resetting to three starts for all gamers for Segment 3, the only advice is to continue committing to every shot. Well, that and be sure to take a deep breath and make a little time to prep for the final phase.

Muirfield Village Golf Club is a par 72 with the full boat of four par 5s, but it was the hardest par 72 among all non-majors last season, the second-toughest in 2022-23 and so on. This means that round-by-round scoring will be low, just as it was at Colonial Country Club for last week’s Charles Schwab Challenge.

Colonial was the most challenging par 70 of all non-majors in each of the last two completed seasons, so don’t anticipate much movement in the ranks until the final round in central Ohio, either. Even though Colonial has only two par 5s, it outpaced Muirfield Village last year in birdies or better on par 5s, 34.49% to 32.50%. It’s not a rule but it files as an exception.

As you’re chasing the final leaderboard for the beefier FedExCup bonus points at the Memorial – 70 to the winner in the Signature Event – remember that there is a 36-hole cut. Therefore, although roster management doesn’t apply in the long-term, you don’t need to get cute and reach for longer shots to contend. More details on this below.

Amid this transition of the fantasy season on the website, gamers in full-season formats and leagues that allow drop-adds and keepers are licking their chops at the shiny, new toys about to drop. As much as it’s a rite of passage for the recent collegians turning pro, it’s our midseason opportunity to add value at a time when we could use it most.

PGA TOUR University concluded at the NCAA Championship on Monday. University of North Carolina’s David Ford didn’t compete, but he held on as the valedictorian of the latest class of outgoing senior securing levels of status on the PGA TOUR, Korn Ferry Tour and PGA TOUR Americas.

Ludvig Åberg (2023) and Michael Thorbjornsen (2024) preceded Ford with the honor, and both predictably capitalized on their playing opportunities as the newest member of the PGA TOUR when they joined. Both stayed busy in the second half of their calendar years as PGA TOUR rookies, and there’s zero reason to think that Ford won’t follow their model.

While Ford can chase a spot in the top 70 for the FedExCup Playoffs and the top-100 bubble for fully exempt status in a higher category in 2026, he’s guaranteed to open next season no lower than in his dedicated category via 2025 PGA TOUR University. It’s where you find Thorbjornsen in Category 24 currently. In other words, while the lefty isn’t lacking for motivation and valuable targets, there’s also no rush for him to play for his job.

Ford is scheduled to make his membership debut at next week’s RBC Canadian Open with fellow freshly turned professionals Luke Clanton and Gordon Sargent, both of whom scaling to the PGA TOUR via PGA TOUR University Accelerated.

As they splash altogether, Clanton is the top of his class in terms of potential impact out of the box. He’s the world’s top-ranked amateur for a reason. Meanwhile, Sargent has scuffled for the better part of a year, so his value has cooled considerably since when he qualified for PGA TOUR membership. (Remember, he deferred his jump to return to Vanderbilt for his senior season.) Perhaps the inevitable change in his lifestyle to that of a touring professional will be the catalyst he requires to reignite, so if you’re chasing in long-term formats, he’s worth the plunge just as much as Ford.

Captain

Xander Schauffele … He’s No. 8 in my Power Rankings, but I’m gonna keep ridin’ this hoss because his class is permanent. That he’s been off just enough causes pause among front-runners, which is exactly the angle that I desire in my position as a chaser.

Other considerations

Scottie Scheffler … This is his eighth start of Segment 2, and I’ve been dry for a while. If you’re among the 11.3% of the gamers who have him rostered, this is a reminder to designate him as your captain to double the fun.

Collin Morikawa ... He and Schauffele are interchangeable at the moment, so it makes for a good head-to-head with your closest competition. While Schauffele looks to find lightning with his putter, Morikawa is seeking to find sparks with his new caddie, Joe Greiner. Since the partnership was forged, Morikawa has finished T17 (Truist Championship) and T50 (PGA Championship).

Rounding out the roster

Although the 36-hole cut of low 50 plus ties and all within 10 strokes of the lead is friendly, we still need to respect it. So, I’m blending seemingly safe choices with Matt Fitzpatrick and Justin Thomas, each of whom presents some intrigue relative to the timing.

Fitzpatrick is No. 7 in my Power Rankings on the strength of his converging trends, so I’m sold on the upside after a long lull. Thomas has been a monster in 2025, but it’s Muirfield Village that’s terrorized him in recent years. So, I’m choosing to lean on his form upon arrival to pay off plenty of experience on the course. Worst case, I’ll get four to the weekend and watch what happens.

My starters

• Matt Fitzpatrick
• Collin Morikawa
• Xander Schauffele (C)
• Sepp Straka

My bench

• Corey Conners (1)
• Justin Thomas (2)

Careful

For almost every tournament, a usually impressive subset of the field warrants avoiding, and it might be represented in my Power Rankings, which is not written in the context of any fantasy golf format. In this section, I single out who demands pause and why.

Ben Griffin ... Spots in the Power Rankings never are ceremonial, and that includes his at No. 15, but it’s more of a nod of his red-hot form than it is his fit for Muirfield Village where he’s 0-for-2 with a scoring average of 74.25. Simply put, you don’t need to go this deep, but I’m surprised that he’s rostered by 7.6% of the gamers at last check. That’s greater than Sungjae Im (6.8%) and Sam Burns (5.3%) to name another pair in the Power Rankings but who have fared very well on the course.

Viktor Hovland ... Seventh-most rostered at 34.7%. That makes sense given he won here two years ago and again two months ago at the Valspar Championship. En route to his 2023 title at Muirfield Village, he proved how smaller greens benefit ball-strikers, but he’s still searching for longer-range consistency on approach. Without it, he’s relegated to leaning too much on his weakness around greens to recover.

Ludvig Åberg ... Based on his current inconsistency quantified with only one top 50 in his last six starts, he’s in the same lane as Schauffele, Fitzpatrick and even Thomas, but the Swede hasn’t been at it for anywhere as long. This slots him as speculative despite a T5 in his tournament debut last year.

Tommy Fleetwood ... I liked him considerably in the context of last week’s competition at Colonial, where he paid off the faith with a season-best-tying T4, but it’s time to lay off again. After a six-year hiatus, he returned to Muirfield Village for a T20 last year, but his game plays higher when finding fairways is more challenging.

Returning to competition

Sahith Theegala ... There was no cut at the Truist Championship, but he shortened his stay to three rounds due to a sore neck. He was last of 70 after an 8-over 78 in the third round, anyway. It was the first mid-tournament withdrawal of his career. Muirfield Village has yielded a T5 (2022) and a T12 (2024), so he’ll present as attractive to course-history buffs, but the rest of us need to give him time to reconnect with confidence physically.

Notable W/Ds

Rory McIlroy ... This is his first DNP (did not play) at the Memorial since 2017 when he rested a sore back triggered by an injured rib. Also sat out The Sentry and the RBC Heritage among the Signature Events this season. Second in the FedExCup.

Jason Day ... It’s unusual for the native Aussie who lives in Ohio to skip the Memorial – this is just the third edition that he’s missed since debuting as a rookie in 2008; he’s eligible for all Signature Events in 2025 – but he hasn’t necessarily exceled at Muirfield Village, either, so we won’t miss him. He also sat out the Truist Championship but played the PGA Championship in the interim and missed its cut. Ranks 40th in the FedExCup.

Will Zalatoris ... Alerted his followers on Instagram on Monday that he underwent another back surgery on Friday, May 23. He’s hoping to return to competition in the fall, but if he doesn’t, he’ll be in position for a Major Medical Extension in 2026. Currently 99th in the FedExCup.

Billy Horschel ... Announced on May 6 that he’s out several months after having planned surgery on his right hip the following week, which is now two weeks ago.

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