Woods clear favorite at Memorial Tournament

5/30/2013

DUBLIN, Ohio — Blade sports columnist Dave Hackenberg offers up a baker’s dozen of dandy favorites for Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament, which begins today at Muirfield Village Golf Club:

1. Tiger Woods, 2-1. C’mon, does anybody really think he won’t win?

2. Brandt Snedeker, 4-1. He hits three types of shots — straight, straighter, and straightest.

3. Justin Rose, 5-1. Past champ knows Memorial weather can be a grind, and he grinds.

4. Rory McIlroy, 8-1. Made some new fans Wednesday while decked out in scarlet and gray.

5. Lee Westwood, 10-1. Believe it or not, he’s making just his second Memorial start ever.

6. Matt Kuchar, 14-1. He has four straight top-10 finishes at Muirfield Village.

7. Adam Scott, 18-1. Masters champ should feel right at home at Jack’s version of Augusta.

8. Bubba Watson, 20-1. Big stick leads to hitting a lot of greens in regulation.

9. Ernie Els, 24-1. Making his 20th Memorial appearance; he won it in 2004.

10. Luke Donald, 26-1. He has been just one round away here so many times.

11. Keegan Bradley, 30-1. Recent PGA champ long with both the driver and that putter.

12. Zach Johnson, 35-1. Simply a gut feeling after he scored four rounds in 60s last week.

13. Billy Horschel, 40-1. Who, you ask? He’s the best putter on tour, better even than Tiger.