The Memorial Tournament Preview

The PGA Tour is in Ohio this week for the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village. A strong field has assembled for Jack Nicklaus’ tournament, England’s Justin Rose defends the title and new World Number 1 Luke Donald is in the field.

Justin Rose defends
Fergus Bisset
By
published

Lowdown: The PGA Tour is in Ohio this week for the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village. A strong field has assembled for Jack Nicklaus' tournament, England's Justin Rose defends the title and new World Number 1 Luke Donald is in the field. With just two weeks to the US Open at Congressional, a number of the top-ranked players are looking towards that event by competing in Ohio. In fact, six players in the top-10 on the Official World Golf Ranking will tee it up this week. Joining new World Number 1 Luke Donald are, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy, Matt Kuchar, Steve Stricker and Charl Schwartzel. In last season's tournament, Justin Rose produced a fantastic final round of 66 to overtake young American Rickie Fowler and secure his first PGA Tour victory. Rose is looking forward to making his title defence. "Yeah, obviously it's really nice to come back to a tournament that I have had great memories from last year," he said. "It's one of my favorite weeks of the year, even before I won it last year. It's always been one of my favorite stops." The 220 acres on which Muirfield Village GC sits was acquired in 1966 though the course was not officially opened until 1974. Built in the outskirts of Jack Nicklaus' hometown of Columbus, the course and the Memorial Tournament were the work and dream of the Golden Bear. Muirfield Village has played host to the Memorial since 1976 and the course was also used for the 1987 Ryder Cup matches, the 1992 US Amateur and the 1998 Solheim Cup. Although it should remain dry for the tournament, poor weather across this area over recent weeks has left the course wet and the rough has grown up as a result.

Venue: Muirfield Village Golf Club, Dublin, Ohio Date: Jun 2-5 Course stats: par 72, 7,265 yards Purse: $6,200,000 Winner: $1,116,000 Defending Champion: Justin Rose (-18) TV Coverage: Thursday 2 - Live on Sky Sports 3 from 8pm Friday 3 - Live on Sky Sports 3 from 8pm Saturday 4 - Live on Sky Sports 3 from 5pm Sunday 5 - Live on Sky Sports 3 from 5pm

Player Watch: Luke Donald - It's hard to look past the Englishman at the moment, he's the best player in the world after all. He has 15 top-10 finishes in his last 17 starts and has a reasonable record in this event.

Charl Schwartzel - The Masters Champion missed the cut at Wentworth but showed good form in the Volvo Match Play. He'll be looking to shine here with the year's second Major just two weeks away.

Bubba Watson - Already twice a winner in 2011, the left-hander leads the FedEx Cup standings. He has the ability to win every event he starts if his mind is in the right gear and he gets the rub of the green.

Key hole: 17th. A long, 478-yard par 4 that generally plays as one of the most challenging holes on this layout. Trees down the right side can hamper the approach from a tee shot that's leaked in that direction. The green is small and well guarded and the ball must carry all the way to the surface across a rough-filled valley.

Where next? European Tour - Saab Wales Open preview

Fergus Bisset
Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here.

He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

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