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New York Post
6 days ago
- Sport
- New York Post
The Memorial picks, odds: Three best bets at Muirfield Village
Gambling content 21+. The New York Post may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up through our links. Read our editorial standards for more information. The PGA Tour makes its annual stop to Muirfield Village, aka 'Jack's Place,' this week for the Memorial. Along with The Players and the Waste Management Phoenix Open, the Memorial has the feel of a tournament one tier below a major championship. That means you can expect a tough course, an elite field and a lot of good prices on the betting board. Scottie Scheffler, the defending champion, is the clear favorite to win the 2025 Memorial Tournament. He's +280 this week and in a league of his own on the oddsboard. With no Rory McIlroy in the field, there is a wide gap between Scheffler and the chasing pack. Collin Morikawa, a two-time runner-up at the Memorial and the winner of the 2020 Workday (which was held here to replace a Covid-canceled event in July of that year), and Xander Schauffele are next up at 16/1 odds, just ahead of Justin Thomas at 18/1. As with any tournament with this kind of setup, there are some tempting prices out there on some big names, but it must be said that this event has been dominated by the superstars in recent years. Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Cantlay (twice), Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland and Scheffler all have wins here since 2018, while the only real surprise in that span was Billy Horschel in 2023. However, that run of chalk ended a ridiculous three-year stretch of long-shot winners. First was Willie McGirt in 2015, then came David Lingmerth in 2016 and Jason Dufner shocked everyone in 2017. Tony Finau has endured an up-and-down 2025 season so far. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect Best bets for the Memorial Shane Lowry (40/1, DraftKings) He doesn't have any hardware to show for it, but 2025 has been a terrific year for Shane Lowry. The Irishman has two runner-ups and four top-10 finishes in 11 outings (not including team events) this season, and he's just a couple of weeks removed from a T2 at the Truist Championship. So, why is Lowry sitting at 40/1? Recency bias. Lowry missed the cut as a trendy sleeper pick at the PGA Championship, causing plenty of punters to abandon ship and his price to drift. We'll buy the dip and hope that the former Open Champion can make some noise in Ohio this week. Get the lowdown on the Best USA Sports Betting Sites and Apps Tony Finau (50/1, FanDuel) It looks like Tony Finau is starting to turn things around. After a Jekyll-and-Hyde start to 2025, Finau has posted back-to-back top-20 finishes at the Truist and PGA Championship, putting him back on the radar for this week's event. Finau has five top-15 finishes at the Memorial, including two top-10s in his last three trips to Jack's Place. It's the right time and place to get back in on Finau. Nick Taylor is a five-time winner on the PGA Tour. Getty Images Nick Taylor (170/1, FanDuel) We'll channel Dufner, Lingmerth and McGirt with one dart for this week's trip to Muirfield Village. Nick Taylor is the type of golfer you always want to consider backing when his price drifts this far out. The Canadian is a five-time winner on the PGA Tour and already has taken a trip to the winner's circle in 2025 (Sony Open). What's more is that Taylor has proven he loves the big moment. Not only does the Winnipeg native have three wins via playoff, but he's won some big titles including the 2023 Canadian Open and 2024 Waste Management Phoenix Open. Taylor missed the cut at the PGA Championship, but he posted a T17 at the Truist a few weeks back. Why Trust New York Post Betting Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
NBC Sports
19-05-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
With emphasis at PGA, Scottie Scheffler reminds golf world who's No. 1
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Striding down the 15th fairway Sunday at Quail Hollow, Scottie Scheffler couldn't help but glance over his left shoulder, across the pond, as the only man standing between him and the Wanamaker Trophy was shrinking from the moment. Scheffler knew what Jon Rahm was capable of; it wasn't long ago that he was measuring himself against Rahmbo. But things are different now, the stakes higher, their trajectories reversed. That was before Scheffler's mind-bending consistency has kept him atop the world rankings for 140 weeks, third-most all time. That was before Rahm bolted for LIV, stunting their budding rivalry by limiting their on-course battles. And that was before Scheffler put up numbers not seen since peak Tiger Woods. Because with another display of surgical execution and steady nerve on the back nine of a major, it's clear they're all no match for Scheffler right now. Not just Rahm. The rest of 'em too. Scheffler took another step toward becoming a player for the ages by stabilizing himself after a few early wobbles, executing to near-perfection down the stretch and, ultimately, leaving little doubt. He won this PGA Championship by five shots – and that, he said modestly, was with nowhere near his best stuff. 'I felt like this was as hard as I battled for a tournament in my career,' he said. In his increasingly legendary career, Scheffler has won with stirring comebacks at the Olympics and The Players. He has won with commanding coronations at the Masters and recent Byron Nelson. But this major runaway will be remembered for his grittiness and his tenacity, for his chilling effectiveness in crunch time. It's why he raised his arms as the crowd chanted his name. It's why he spiked his hat and screamed. It's why, as he approached his family, his father Scott told him: 'Words cannot describe what we just witnessed. You are so tough.' With a three-shot advantage at the start of the final round, Scheffler found just two fairways and four greens on the opening side to drop into a share of the lead with the hard-charging Rahm. Battling a left miss, Scheffler asked caddie Ted Scott if he noticed anything askew in his setup. Trying to lighten the mood, Scott quipped, 'Aim further right,' but he actually may have been onto something. On the 10th tee, Scheffler closed his shoulders slightly, made a fuller turn and laced a 312-yard tee shot down the left side of the fairway. 'There he is,' Scott said. From there, Scheffler didn't miss a shot. He peppered the fairways and hit approaches pin-high and experienced not even the slightest bit of stress on the greens. He birdied the drivable 14th with a slick bunker shot and added a deft, two-putt birdie from the back edge on the reachable par-5 15th. He played the fearsome 'Green Mile' stretch with a six-shot lead as Rahm, forced to get aggressive, imploded. 'Most people throw in the towel, and he just has a way to dig deep,' Scott said later. 'He has an ability to be like, Oh, no – you're not coming after me, bud. Sometimes you have the game, sometimes you don't. But when he's feeling it, he's so tough.' Scheffler's major triumph had weighty historical significance, as it nudged him ahead of not just Rahm, his former rival, in the two-major club but the rest of those in his age division, too, from Xander Schauffele to Justin Thomas to Collin Morikawa. For the 28-year-old Scheffler, Brooks Koepka (five majors), Rory McIlroy (five) and Phil Mickelson (six) are also squarely in his crosshairs over the next few years. Golf Channel Staff, Of course, Scheffler doesn't view his career achievements through that comparative lens. He wasn't a grand goal-setter, didn't plaster posters on his bedroom wall, never made any bold declarations about what he could become. When he ascended to No. 1 in the world for the first time in spring 2022, he said, earnestly: 'I never got this far in my dreams.' When he admitted to sobbing before the final round of the Masters that year, it was because he had no earthly idea how, or why, life was coming at him so fast. And so even now, with a simple home life and extravagant career, he finds comfort in his inner circle and calm in the monotony of his simplistic routine. 'When I can be by myself and I can just practice, it's one of the most fun things for me,' he said. 'It's so peaceful, and I love the pursuit of trying to figure something out. You're always battling yourself, and you're never going to perfect it. There's always something you can do better.' Of course, just when it seemed like he was running out of areas of improvement following a nine-win season, Scheffler suffered a freak hand injury over the holidays that required surgery. As he crammed for a return to competition without his usual practice, preparation and gym time, Scheffler battled the occasional wild miss off the tee, wasn't as sharp with his scoring clubs and looked streaky on the greens. His frustration grew. He slammed clubs. He looked and sounded grumpy. Temporarily indisposed, only able to rack up five top-10s, other players filled the void. For them, at least, it was a welcome respite from his suffocating dominance. 'A little fire in the belly doesn't bother me in the least bit. Sometimes you have to let that out,' said Scheffler's longtime swing coach, Randy Smith. 'You can sit there and you can take jabs, and you can jab yourself. You'll be all right. Just don't throw any uppercuts into your own jaw, that's all.' McIlroy was the story of the first half of the year, nabbing three significant titles and etching his name in history, but it may have been a brief diversion. The remember-me? reminder came three weeks after McIlroy's Masters moment, when Scheffler shot 31 under par at the Nelson and romped to an eight-shot win in his hometown. Here at Quail Hollow, he became the second player since 1985 to win consecutive events by at least five shots. Just like that, his early-season fits have already been forgotten, his stats normalized, his mood lightened. 'He never left in the first place,' Smith smiled. No, statistically, Scheffler is as good, if not better, than he's ever been. Not since Woods two decades ago has a player possessed this rare combination of precision, touch and poise. Scheffler is the most accurate driver among the elite players. He is – by far – the most lethal iron player. He's turned into an elite putter. He routinely ranks among the top scramblers. He records the fewest bogeys and, on the off-chance he does drop a shot, has nearly the highest bounce-back birdie percentage. 'He's maturing as a player,' Smith said, 'and when you add good decision-making with good golf, he's putting together some nice work. And it'll get better and better.' His best work at Quail Hollow came in spurts. During a scratchy opening round, he overcame a mud-ball double bogey and played 2 under the rest of the way to get into red figures for the day. Needing to separate from a crowded leaderboard on Saturday, Scheffler hit eight perfect shots on Quail's stout closing holes and gained more than five shots on the field in a five-hole stretch to snag a three-shot lead. Cameras captured Si Woo Kim and Max Homa's dazed expressions in the scoring room after Scheffler vaporized them on his way to a 65 that marked the first time in his major career that he fired the lowest round of the day. 'If I can hit it just as well and make every putt I look at, I'll have a chance,' Matt Fitzpatrick snarked later. 'But I don't see Scottie bobbling it.' Actually, Scheffler did – three bogeys, uncertainty with his swing, a blown lead – and yet it still didn't matter. Beginning with his striped tee shot down 10, he played six perfect holes to seize control of the tournament while everyone else around him folded. 'The greatest gift that he has,' Scott said, 'is his mental thought process and his ability to do what he did today, to not have his game, hang in there, stay tough, stay resilient, and then all of a sudden you find a little something, start hitting it good – and now you're winning by a lot.' That's happening more and more often these days. All three of Scheffler's major victories have been by three or more shots, becoming the first to do that since Seve Ballesteros. He also joined Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only players to win 15 times (including three majors) before the age of 29. The consistency, the dominance, the completeness of his résumé – it gives the impression that he's not battling this current crop of players as much as he is the legends of the sport. 'He's got that fire, and there's been no signs of dimming,' Smith said. 'In fact, I think that fire is just going up a little bit.' Isn't that a terrifying prospect? 'Nope, not for me,' Smith said. 'And not for him, either.' Scottie Scheffler joins the set on Live From the PGA Championship, reflecting on the nerves he still feels before major Sundays, walking through some of his best shots and sharing what he'll remember most about the win.
Boston Globe
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
David Dorfman Dance looks for peace with ‘truce songs,' at the ICA
The dancers stroll on from various offstage points, help one another remove their backpacks (the baggage we bring), stretch and warm up. Eventually a voiceover announces 'The Battles.' The live score from Sam Crawford and Lizzy de Lise pounds and pulses, throbs and blips, suggests raindrops and falling water. The core group of six dancers hop on the balls of their feet, ready for action. As de Lise wails 'You can't hurt me,' Lily Gelfand and Claudia-Lynn Rightmire push and shove, wrestle and hug, circle each other in a show of intimacy and intimidation. David Dorfman leads the David Dorfman Dance company during their performance of 'truce songs' at the ICA. JOSH REYNOLDS FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE The piled-up fabric is unfolded into a long narrow swath and stretched across the stage like a border, on either side of which Advertisement She's still supine when the voiceover announces part two, 'The Players.' Everyone is exaggeratedly polite: 'You'll be most welcome over here.' 'No, over here.' Gelfand gets up and tells us, 'My name is the wind. Tonight I'll be playing the role of . . . the wind.' Rightmire agonizes about memory and time. The dancers are frozen at the back as if they were in a police line-up; then they fall down. Dorfman breaks into a loose-jointed, indefatigable solo much like his threatening one from 'The Battles,' but comic this time. He kicks, shadowboxes, lip-synchs to his own song ' David Dorfman Dance performs 'truce songs' at the ICA, presented by Global Arts Live. JOSH REYNOLDS FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE Told that it's 'time to get together and surrender any and all grudges,' everyone lines up to address the audience. Corinne Lohner has the part of 'Surrender'; a giddy Nik Owens plays 'the waiter . . . the one who waits'; Melissa Ellingson is 'the kisser . . . and the kissee.' Jack Blackmon as 'the interrupted' is interrupted by the voiceover announcing part three, 'The Fantasy.' Advertisement It's hardly a fantasy of peace to start. The backpacks are retrieved and everyone's in 'Battle' mode, doing martial exercises. Race and Dorfman reprise their headstand pose, which again collapses. Holding hands, the group flings 'You can't hurt me' back at de Lise, who sings 'You can't escape me' in response. The lighting turns white; the score grinds into a deafening hum. The core of six primp and gush in front of mobile TV cameras, then fall out with one another; Race and Dorfman come to the rescue. Trust and support moves fail; Lohner and Ellingson square off the way Gelfand and Rightmire did earlier. At length that overhead white sheet—the flag of truce?—descends. Squeezed flat on the floor, the dancers crawl out from under as the sheet touches down. They sit on its edge and attach their backpacks to the metal structure, then watch as it slowly rises. All eight dancers stand, walk past one another without taking notice, and exit going their separate ways. The little white square in my hand looks gauzier than ever. 'truce songs' Conceived and directed by David Dorfman. Choreography and text by David Dorfman Dance. Music composed and performed by Sam Crawford and Lizzy de Lise. Performed by David Dorfman Dance. Presented by Global Arts Live. At: Institute of Contemporary Art, Barbara Lee Family Foundation Theater, Friday May 16. Remaining performance: May 17. Tickets $51-$55. 617-876-4275, Jeffrey Gantz can be reached at
TimesLIVE
17-05-2025
- Sport
- TimesLIVE
Vegas defying odds at Quail Hollow with jackpot in sight
By Leading a major may be unchartered territory for Jhonattan Vegas but the Venezuelan is not intimidated by the prospect of heading into the weekend in search of what would be a career-defining victory. Vegas is a four-times winner on the PGA Tour but the world number 70 has a dismal history in the majors and was not at all in the conversation in the build-up to the PGA Championship. "This is kind of what we put all those hours for. You put all those hours to give yourself chances like this," Vegas said after one-under-par 70 left him with a two-shot lead at the midway point of the year's second major. "Unfortunately I haven't been able to do it throughout my career, but like I said, you never know. You got to keep the pedal down, keep your head down and keep working hard. You never know when things are going to turn your way," Vegas added. Vegas is just the fourth player ranked 50 or higher in the world to hold the outright lead at the end of each of the first two rounds of a major championship. With rounds of 64-70 this week, Vegas also has consecutive under-par rounds for first time in his 17 major championship starts. Coming into this week, Vegas had missed the cut in 10 of his 16 career major appearances, including at last month's Masters where the 40-year-old was making his first start in one of golf's blue-ribbon events since 2022. "It's definitely been annoying. It's been very, very annoying, especially knowing I have the game to compete in these big events. I feel like my game is very complete, but I just haven't been able to put it all together in a major," Vegas said. "I've been patient enough to not really get too down on myself for not playing well at majors. I've played good at The Players. I've played good at some good, big tournaments, but never a major, right?" Vegas added. "It's just kind of one of those things that you've just got to keep learning about yourself and what it takes to play good here. ... Unfortunately, it's taking me a little bit longer than usual, but I'm glad that I'm in this position right now," Vegas said. After sleeping on a two-shot lead following the first round, Vegas returned to Quail Hollow early on Friday and overcame a shaky start before grabbing control of all aspects of his game and reaching the closing par-four 18th hole four shots clear. But Vegas, from the middle of the last fairway, sent his approach shot into a greenside bunker, watched helplessly as his third shot rolled off the green from where he chipped it close and then missed a pair of short putts for a double-bogey. Vegas opted to focus on the good, of which there was plenty in his second round. "It's easy to hang your head on that, but there were way too many things to keep fresh in the mind," Vegas said. "Even though it's never easy to give two shots away right at the end, a lot of golf left, so got to keep remembering the good stuff."
Newsweek
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Newsweek
2025 PGA Championship: Justin Thomas, Biggest Names to Miss the Cut
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Justin Thomas has made a name for himself for being a PGA Championship specialist. But the two-time winner of this tourney is one of many big names who'll be at home watching current leader Jhonattan Vegas try to capture his first major this weekend. Thomas' four birdies and four bogeys going into 18 would have been enough to keep him around another couple days, but a crushing bogey on the final hole made sure he'd be going home early for only the second time in 10 attempts at the PGA Championship. A litany of other stars also had bad weeks at the office in Charlotte, with an endless list of major champions having a tough time with a muddy Quail Hollow track that endured up to five inches of rain in the days prior to first tee. So, here are the biggest names to miss the cut alongside Thomas. CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - MAY 15: Justin Thomas of the United States hits his third shot on the 18th hole during the first round of the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Country Club on May... CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - MAY 15: Justin Thomas of the United States hits his third shot on the 18th hole during the first round of the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Country Club on May 15, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. MoreBiggest Names to Miss PGA Championship Cut Jordan Spieth Unlike the Masters, there will be no career grand slam won this week for Spieth. Spieth is this week's tough-luck elimination, finishing one shot off the cut in his efforts to match Rory McIlroy's efforts at Augusta. The cut moved from +1 to +2 a couple times during Friday's round, but ultimately landed on +1, bouncing Spieth, Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka, former PGA champion Padraig Harringon and six others at the death. A tough way to go, but the way he was playing, it certainly didn't seem like Jordan was going to be contending for the title this week. Ludvig Aberg Aberg came into the week as one of the favorites to win his first major, but honestly we all should have seen this coming. The Swede was coming off back-to-back ugly efforts his last two tournaments, with a tie for 60th last week and a 54th at Hilton Head. And before his seventh place finish at the Masters, he'd missed two straight cuts in Dallas and at The Players. So that made his double-double close on 17 and 18 all the more understandable. But it was still crushing to watch in real time. Brooks Koepka The five-time major champ had a brutal trip to North Carolina this week. Koepka started Thursday's round by going double-bogey-bogey to put himself in a hole before he even knew what was happening. And it never got any better, finishing 76-75, which tied him with 54-year-old Phil Mickelson and one shot worse than 56-year-old Shaun Micheel. He's now missed the cut at both majors this season, having also been eliminated early from the Masters back in April. Phil Mickelson Speaking of Lefty, the oldest man to ever win a major when he lifted the Wanamaker back in 2021 at the age of 50, he will not be winning another one this week. 🚨😲🏌️ #WATCH — LIV Golf star Phil Mickelson takes 4 strokes to get out of a bunker in round 2 of the PGA Championship — NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) May 16, 2025 Mickelson was actually three-under on Friday's round through 11 holes, then disaster struck when a snowman on 12 put any hope of the back nine run to an end. Mickelson's now missed the cut in six of the last nine majors, with his best finished during that time being a tie for 43rd in the 2024 Masters. Justin Rose Rose was a playoff loss to Rory McIlroy away from winning the Masters just one month ago. Alas, he was not on his game this week at the PGA Championship. And that's not like him at this tournament, either. He'd finished in the Top 13 in each of his last five trips to the PGA, with seven Top 10s overall. That's not a good omen for his chances at the upcoming US Open, where he's missed the cut six of the last nine times. Dustin Johnson It would be hard to find anyone playing worse than Dustin Johnson right now. His four double bogeys against just three birdies this week are the least of his problems. He's now missed the cut at five of his last seven majors and hasn't finished better than 43rd at the PGA since back-to-back seconds in 2019 and 2020. After coming in 143rd place this week, down where the club pros typically end up during this tournament, it's not a stretch to wonder whether his days of competing at the highest level are behind him. Russell Henley Currently ranked eighth in the latest Official World Golf Rankings, Henley has seemingly fallen off a cliff over the past month. He started the season with five Top 10s in his first eight tourneys, including a win at Bay Hill. But when the lights have been the brightest, he's played his worst, missing the cut at both the Masters and now the PGA Championship. Prior to that, he was fifth at The Open and seventh at the US Open, so predicting where he'll place in any upcoming major is anyone's guess. But this performance will surely hurt his chance of earning an auto-bid into the 2025 Ryder Cup. MORE GOLF: Phil Mickelson Short Game Meltdown Makes PGA Championship First
