Like seemingly every tournament out there, The Memorial at Muirfield Village just doesn’t seem the same without Tiger Woods, a five-time winner.
But like every other tournament that Woods has missed since opting for surgery to repair a pinched nerve, the show will go on and great golf will be seen.
It’s been 38 years since the tournament was founded by Jack Nickalus, who designed the course in Dublin, Ohio, a suburb of his hometown of Columbus. It also has one of the smallest fields on the tour, just 75 players – the top 75 on last year’s money list – are granted an invitation.
It was a year ago here that Woods had the worst back nine score of his career, a 44. But the tournament has also had some of the most memorable moments in PGA history – the first-ever three-hole playoff format; a three-time defending champion in Woods; and a staggering 20-under fired by champion Tom Lehman in 1994.
Masters champion Bubba Watson will take the course at 8:15 a.m., paired with Jim Furyk and Keegan Bradley. Defending Memorial winner Matt Kuchar is up at 8:26 a.m. along with Justin Rose and Steve Stricker.
There’s two truly impressive trios taking the course within 11 minutes of one another early in the afternoon session. At 1:05 p.m., Phil Mickelson, Bill Haas and Jordan Spieth tee off, followed at 1:16 p.m. by current world No. 1 Adam Scott, fellow Aussie Jason Day and BMW Championship winner Rory McIlroy.
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