BlogMemorial Tournament Preview and Picks

The Buzz:

So it’s back to Muirfield, and a lot has changed since they last played this event back in July.  The biggest change is fans will be able to return, this event is one of those big-time events in which the whole town gets in the back of.  Other than maybe the Ohio State Michigan game, the Memorial is the second most significant event in Columbus. For this week, they can sell about 35% capacity or about 8,000 fans daily.  Things are getting back to normal, and that is the good news for us all.

But things in golf are making this event not as good as it usually is.  Usually, this week is an extensive prep for the U.S. Open, which is just two weeks away.  The only problem, the field is very weak compared to past fields.  15 of the top-35 of the world rankings isn’t at Memorial.  Some of the past regulars at Memorial like Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Abraham Ancer, Phil Mickelson, Jason Kokrak, and last year’s runner-up Ryan Palmer aren’t playing.  In the case of Abraham Ancer, he got a significant appearance fee to play in Germany at the Porsche European Open.  As for Phil Mickelson, Ryan Palmer, and Jason Kokrak, they wanted to be well-rested and will prep at home. Kokrak, who lives in Ohio, seems hard to believe, but his schedule was probably done way before he won at Colonial.

In the case of Mickelson, he lives about 20 minutes away from Torrey Pines and is planning on spending as much time at that course as he can.

But we have to wonder about Dustin johnson and Brooks Koepka.  We know that Koepka is trying not to stress his knee, but after the PGA Championship, we know that Koepka can still win despite the injuries. Many more folks will risk their money at the U.S. Open, feeling that Koepka will prevail despite the lack of competitive play.

Now that leaves us with Dustin Johnson, who has only missed one Memorial in 2019 because of injury.  Dustin always plays at the Memorial but won’t be there this year, and we have to wonder what is up.  Since winning, the Saudi International and his T-8th at the Genesis, Johnson has played terribly.  He didn’t look close to his usual stuff in his miss-cut performance at the Masters and PGA Championship.  Johnson is constantly very secretive, and he hasn’t indicated any problems with his ailing knee, other than withdrawing from some events using the knee as the reason.  When he missed the cut at Kiawah, he never said anything about the knee and said his game was close.  Guess with rounds of 76-74, it’s a bit farther than he thinks.

Have to say this, I feel that even Nostradamus is rolling in his grave.  Anyone who feels he is a “soothsayer” can be a “clairvoyant” in making picks, I have some great swampland in the Everglades I could sell you dirt cheap.  In the 24 PGA Tour events played since the beginning of January, I can say that I saw the results in about four of them.  Even in the tournaments that big names won, Brooks Koepka in Phoenix, Justin Thomas at the Players, Hideki Matsuyama at the Masters, Rory McIlroy at Wells Fargo, and Phil at the PGA, not many people saw the victory coming.  Even last week at Colonial, not many people felt that Jason Kokrak would win.

Still, we have to be resilient and gather as much information as possible to figure it out.  The days of what happened at the November Masters when Dustin Johnson dominated things are getting harder to find.  In looking at those 24 events since January on the PGA Tour, we could probably say that we could see Daniel Berger winning at Pebble.  Then we had Collin Morikawa winning the WGC-Workday Concession, Bryson winning the Palmer, Jordan Spieth winning the Texas Open.  Stewart Cink won at Heritage, Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman won in New Orleans.  On another front, we had warning salvos from Max Homa, Sam Burns, K.H. Lee, and Jason Kokrak before they won.

It’s getting harder to gauge when a player is about to win.  In the case of Joel Dahmen winning the Corales Puntacan, he missed the cut in his three previous starts and only made the cut in one event in the seven he played before winning.  At the same time, we can sense that just like Mickelson, who gave us a warning by leading the Wells Fargo after the first round two weeks before his PGA Championship win.  So with that said, in looking at the following ten events, don’t be surprised if Louis Oosthuizen, Charley Hoffman, Corey Conners, Will Zalatoris, Keegan Bradley, Tony Finau, Brandt Snedeker, or even Sergio Garcia will have a victorious Sunday in the near future.

Things you need to know about the Memorial

This is the 46th annual Memorial Tournament. The first one was played in 1976, and it has always been played at Muirfield Village.  There are close ties between the Memorial Tournament and Jack Nicklaus. The tournament was a long-time vision of Nicklaus, who grew up playing the famous Scioto Country Club, which hosted the 1926 U.S. Open.  But the course wasn’t large enough to hold a major championship, so Nicklaus built Muirfield Village with that in mind.  In some ways, the Memorial mirrors the Masters because it’s the tournament that Nicklaus always thought was the best run on a great course.

The tournament got its name because every year, a different golfer is recognized for their contribution to golf. The first Memorial Tournament honoree was Bobby Jones in 1976. This year Nick Price was the honoree along with posthumous Gene Little and Ted Ray.  In the Journalism category, the 2020 selection was Jim Nantz.  With the advent of no fans, there won’t be a Wednesday ceremony, so I would think the honorees will honor next year.

Course information:

• Muirfield Village Golf Club
• Dublin, Ohio
• 7,543 yards     Par 36-36–72

Muirfield Village has a 76.9 rating and slope rating of 153 from the championship tees. The course is very private. The tees and Fairways are Bentgrass Poa Annua, while the rough is Kentucky Bluegrass with ryegrass and fescue. The greens are bentgrass.  All of them are brand new for this week as Jack Nicklaus revamped the course, including redoing all 18 greens.

Last year the scoring average was 74.01, making it the 2nd hardest course on the PGA Tour in 2020.  Weather conditions always dictate how hard or easy it will be.  As we know from past events, Mother Nature has been terrible weather-wise for the tournament. One of the reasons last year’s event played so was the cold, windy weather with a touch of rain.

The tournament got its start thanks to Jack Nicklaus.

During the 1966 Masters,  Nicklaus told some of his closest friends that he wanted to bring a major championship to the Columbus area.  Unfortunately, the best course in town, Scioto Country Club, was not big enough to hold a tournament that Nicklaus envisioned.  At the time, he was just getting into course designing, so he knew just enough to be dangerous on the subject.  He also imagined that his course would have some of the same characteristics that Augusta National had, plus Nicklaus wanted the event to mirror Augusta National.

After the Masters, Nicklaus and his trusted friends made secret site surveys around the Columbus area and found the site he thought was perfect, on the Northwestern part of town.  In 1967 with his own money, Nicklaus started buying the land that would be Muirfield Village.

By 1970, Nicklaus realized that he had a future in building golf courses. He started his own company, and in 1972, under the supervision of Golden Bear Inc., construction began in Dublin, Ohio. The project encountered many delays, including excessive amounts of rain that ultimately postponed the completion of the project until late 1973.  The project also almost bankrupt Nicklaus, who funded the whole thing. Nicklaus played the inaugural round of golf at Muirfield in October 1973. Fittingly, his round was marred by torrential rainstorms. The course officially opened on May 24, 1974, with an exhibition match between Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf. Nicklaus shot a 66, which stood as the course record until 1979.

Over the years, Muirfield Village has racked up numerous prestigious awards. Still, the essential accolade that Muirfield Village gets every year is when it is voted one of the five best sites by PGA Tour players, not only because the course is excellent but because of how well the players are pampered here.  It goes beyond even the PGA Tour rules.  It’s the only tournament on Tour that bans equipment manufacturers, tournament representatives, and the media from the practice facilities and locker rooms.

When Nicklaus built the course in the ’70s, he had championships in mind and, of course, a yearly PGA Tour event.  Along with the Memorial, which started in 1976, the course held just about every other major tournament, except for a U.S. Open or a PGA Championship.  Other championships that have been held at Muirfield include the 1986 U.S. Junior Amateur, the 1987 Ryder Cup Matches, the 1992 U.S. Amateur, the 1998 Solheim Cup, and the 2013 Presidents Cup.

The par 72 course has 73 bunkers, with water coming into play on 11 holes. In general, Muirfield Village plays a long, challenging 7,543 yards, up 87 yards with the new revamp that Nicklaus did on the course in 2020/21. With a course rating of 76.9 and a slope rating of 153, it is one of the most challenging venues on Tour.

Nicklaus didn’t just design this course with the golfer in mind; he was one of the first designers to account for the fan. The 220-acre venue strategically incorporates hills and mounds that allow fans to look down upon most of the action. This setup mirrors most traditional stadium-seating arrangements found at major sporting events.

Over the years, Nicklaus tweaks the course, and after the 2020 event, he did a complete revamp by redoing all 18 greens, redoing all the bunkers and contouring and made changes to 16 of the 18 holes.  The only ones he left untouched were the 12th and 14th holes.  Along with the greens, all fairways were resurfaced, and additional drainage was installed.

Nicklaus had no sinister plot to make the course harder, he just felt at his age of 81 that there were things he wanted to do.  The changes were done to make the holes more playable and enjoyable for all.  So we shouldn’t see any complaints this week that the course is too severe.  If anything, Nicklaus may have taken some of the toughness out of the course, but many feel scoring-wise, it will be about the same as last year.

Let’s take a look at vital stats that are important for those playing at Muirfield Village.

So the news for this week is the changes that they will see. For the 120 participates, they will see a totally different Muirfield Village. While Jon Rahm was winning last year’s Memorial, workers were stripping the grass off the 6th green on the other side of the course. Tournament host Jack Nicklaus had wanted to revamp the course for several years and finally did it after last year’s event. So all 18 greens were completely torn out and reconstructed with new bentgrass, irrigation, and an air system that could suck all of the moisture off the greens. He re contoured and re bunkered 14 of the 18 greens, rebuilding 12, 13, 14, and 17 to the way they use to be. On the other greens, he did significant remolding on all the bunkers. He alternated 16 of the 18 holes, he felt that 12 and 14 were perfect, so he left them the same. He added new tees to five of the holes, and all fairways were redone, with fairway bunkers being strategically repositioned. Muirfield Village will play 87 yards longer than it was for the 2020 Memorial with all of the work.
On the surface, many will think that Nicklaus has toughened up the course, alternating it to make it harder to score on. But that wasn’t Jack’s plan. Nicklaus wanted to make his pride and joy, his favorite course, be as perfect as possible. At age 81 he realizes that there won’t be many chances in the future to do a major redo, so that’s why they decided to make the changes. I haven’t seen the changes but from everything I’ve heard, he may have made a lot of changes, but they are all cosmetic in nature. It’s as if 40 years after the Mona Lisa was completed, Leonardo da Vinci decided to make some “improvements” to that perfect picture.
The course is always “perfect,” and in Jack Nicklaus’s mind, he has made Muirfield Village as good as possible.

It will be hard to compare this year with last year. For the week the scoring average was 74.01 and it was the 2nd toughest average for the year But the weather was terrible over the weekend, with lots of wind. In 2019 the scoring average was 72.08 and it was the 13th hardest course for the year. Bet that is what Nicklaus is looking for this year, again Jack didn’t make these changes to make the course harder, just more enjoyable to play. One thing that the tournament will be able to control is the moisture in the fairways and greens. With the sub-pumps under the course, they will be able to make the course firmer in wet conditions. But of course, we have seen a lot of rain and storms in the years the Memorial has been played so of course expect rain and Thunderstorms on Thursday and then the weather will get better with perfect conditions over the weekend.  The good news for the players, winds will be below 10 mph each day.

In looking at our four categories and taking into account that the grass may not be 10% perfect with all of the alterations, our first for Muirfield Village is and 6th in Driving Accuracy. On Greens in Regulation, the course was 5th. Last year’s winner Jon Rahm was 3rd in Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green.. Last year the course ranked 16th of all the courses in 2020 in Driving Distance and 6th in Driving Accuracy. On Greens in Regulation, the course was 5th. Last year’s winner Jon Rahm was 1st in Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green. 2019 champion Patrick Cantlay ranked 2nd, 2018 champion Bryson DeChambeau ranked 12th, 2017 champion Jason Dufner ranked 1st, 2016 winner William McGirt ranked 7th, and 2015 champion David Lingmerth ranked 9th.
The next important stat is Putting Inside 10 feet, Muirfield Village has some great greens, they are only 5,000 square feet but have a lot of undulation, and the bentgrass is easy to read. Still, with the greens running at 12 on the stipmeter if you make a lot of putts in this distance, you will do very well. Last year the course ranked 13th in this category while Jon Rahm was 11th making 65 of 71 putts. 2019 winner Patrick Cantlay was 19th making 64 of 71 putts. You have to putt well to score well at Muirfield Village, last year the field made 87.57% of the putts in that distance, so look for players that make lots of putts.
Our third important stat is scrambling, players will miss greens and have to get it up and down. The course ranked 1st last year, 7th in 2019, 11th in 2018, 2nd in 2017, 14th in 2016, and 13th in 2015 while Rahm ranked T-3rd last year. In 2019 Cantlay ranked 5th, DeChambeau ranked 1st in 2018, Dufner in 2017 was 30th, McGirt was 6th in 2016 and Lingmerth was T-9th.
Our last category is birdie average, last year it ranked 5th, in 2019 it was T-28th. In 2018 it ranked 42nd, in 2017 it ranked 29th, in 2016 it ranked 48th and in 2015 was 43rd which means a lot of birdies were made with the average number of birdies by players being 2.99 average last year and 3.77 in 2019. For the year 2018, it was 4.02, in 2017 it was 3.61, and 4.24 per round in 2016. So how did our winners do, Rahm made 18 birdies, and that ranked T-3rd. In 2019 Cantlay made 25 birdies, in 2018 DeChambeau was T-7th, Dufner was T-2nd in 2017, averaging 5.25, McGirt was at 5.00 which ranked T-16th and Lingmerth averaged 5.50 and ranked T-6th.
The big question, will the course play the same this year, especially with all of the changes and weather?

*Strokes Gained tee-to-green: The per round average of the number of strokes the player was better or worse than the field average on the same course & event minus the players’ strokes gained putting value.

*Putting inside 10 feet: Very easy, counts every putt from ten feet in to see who makes the most.

*Scrambling: The percent of time a player misses the green in regulation, but still makes par or better.

*Birdie Average: It’s the average number of birdies made over the course of a round.

The 110 of the 121 players from this year’s field with stats from 2021:

Click any column title in the table header to sort columns.

For a link to the other 100 player stats

DraftKings tips

Of the 121 in the field, 109 have played at least once at Muirfield Village in The Memorial since 2015:

• Marc Leishman is 35 under in 24 rounds, playing 6 years
• Kevin Streelman is 33 under in 24 rounds, playing 6 years
• Matt Kuchar is 30 under in 22 rounds, playing 6 years
• Patrick Cantlay is 29 under in 16 rounds, playing 4 years
• Jordan Spieth is 28 under in 22 rounds, playing 6 years
• Jason Dufner is 26 under in 22 rounds, playing 6 years
• Tony Finau is 26 under in 22 rounds, playing 6 years
• Adam Scott is 25 under in 12 rounds, playing 3 years
• Byeong Hun An is 25 under in 18 rounds, playing 5 years
• Rickie Fowler is 23 under in 18 rounds, playing 6 years
• Bryson DeChambeau is 22 under in 14 rounds, playing 4 years
• Kyle Stanley is 21 under in 10 rounds, playing 3 years
• Patrick Reed is 20 under in 20 rounds, playing 5 years
• David Lingmerth is 18 under in 22 rounds, playing 6 years
• Emiliano Grillo is 18 under in 18 rounds, playing 5 years
• Hideki Matsuyama is 18 under in 20 rounds, playing 6 years
• Rory McIlroy is 18 under in 14 rounds, playing 4 years
• Jamie Lovemark is 17 under in 12 rounds, playing 3 years
• Jason Day is 17 under in 20 rounds, playing 6 years
• Gary Woodland is 14 under in 22 rounds, playing 6 years
• Matt Jones is 13 under in 12 rounds, playing 3 years
• Joaquin Niemann is 12 under in 10 rounds, playing 3 years

*Here are the ones with the best under par totals averaging it per years played (2 or more starts)

• Adam Scott is 25 under, playing 3 years (-8.3)
• Patrick Cantlay is 29 under, playing 4 years (-7.3)
• Kyle Stanley is 21 under, playing 3 years (-7.0)
• Marc Leishman is 35 under, playing 6 years (-5.8)
• Jamie Lovemark is 17 under, playing 3 years (-5.7)
• Kevin Streelman is 33 under, playing 6 years (-5.5)
• Bryson DeChambeau is 22 under, playing 4 years (-5.5)
• Matt Kuchar is 30 under, playing 6 years (-5.0)
• Byeong Hun An is 25 under, playing 5 years (-5.0)
• Jordan Spieth is 28 under, playing 6 years (-4.7)
• Rory McIlroy is 18 under, playing 4 years (-4.5)
• Jason Dufner is 26 under, playing 6 years (-4.3)
• Tony Finau is 26 under, playing 6 years (-4.3)
• Matt Jones is 13 under, playing 3 years (-4.3)
• Patrick Reed is 20 under, playing 5 years (-4.0)
• Joaquin Niemann is 12 under, playing 3 years (-4.0)
• Rickie Fowler is 23 under, playing 6 years (-3.8)
• Emiliano Grillo is 18 under, playing 5 years (-3.6)
• Peter Malnati is 7 under, playing 2 years (-3.5)
• David Lingmerth is 18 under, playing 6 years (-3.0)
• Hideki Matsuyama is 18 under, playing 6 years (-3.0)
• Jason Day is 17 under, playing 6 years (-2.8)
• Russell Henley is 8 under, playing 3 years (-2.7)

Historical ParBreakers

Here is a look at those playing this week and who has made the most eagles and birdies:

So it makes sense that the top players on this list are guys that will make lot’s of points this week

DraftKings tips

*Here are the guys that cost the most on DraftKings this week:

• Jordan Spieth – $11,300
• Jon Rahm – $11,100
• Bryson DeChambeau – $10,900
• Rory McIlroy – $10,600
• Collin Morikawa – $10,400
• Justin Thomas – $10,200
• Viktor Hovland – $9.900
• Xander Schauffele – $9,700
• Patrick Cantlay – $9,500
• Hideki Matsuyama – $9,400
• Corey Conners – $9,300
• Tony Finau – $9,200
• Patrick Reed – $9,100
• Scottie Scheffler – $9,000

In looking at this week’s game of course Jordan Spieth is the top dog at $11,300, he is playing the best and with his win at the Valero Texas Open and runner-up last week we can agree.  His Memorial record is good, he was in contention on Sunday in 2019 and 2015 so he can play well on this course.  But like everything else, $11,300 is a ball and chain around your neck and limits your flexibility.  Jon Rahm at $11,100 is also worth the money and we can see picking him, again a lot of money makes other picks harder.  Bryson DeChambeau at $10,900 is a tough decision, Even though he has won this event in 2018, he was a much different player.  Since then was T-22th in 2019 and missed the cut last year.  I say it’s best to pass on Bryson, he is just too unpredictable.  Rory McIlroy is $10,600 and frankly, the dirty secret is he probably can’t win at Muirfield Village.  He has done well in past with four top-tens in nine starts, but when your spending this amount of money, your looking for a win or runner-up, something that I don’t think Rory can do right now.  Collin Morikawa at $10,400 is interesting because he won Workday and the next week was T-48th at the Memorial.  You may want to take him because of how well he is playing right now.  If he can get his putter going, he can win.  I don’t have to words to tell you what to do with Justin Thomas at $10,200.  Too many negatives, in seven Memorial starts his best finish was T-4th in 2017 and T-8th in 2018.  So he’s not a sure thing, in seven starts he has missed the cut three times.  The way he is playing right now anything can happen, hell he could win as easily as missing the cut, we just don’t know the real state of his game.  So best to pass on him.  On the other end of the spectrum, Viktor Hovland at $9,900 is a very good pick.  His game has been great, but he had poor finishes at the Masters (T-21st) and PGA Championship (T-30th).  Feel he will do well this week.  Normally I would say that Xander Schauffele at $9,700 is a good pick, but he has not had much success in three starts but I also am a bit concern with him missing the cut at the PGA Championship.  The same with Patrick Cantlay at $9,500.  A past winner in 2019, he seems to be perfect for this course.  But his game has been lost the last two months, missing the cut in four of his last seven starts.  He showed some signs of good play at the PGA Championship but still finished T-23rd.  So best to pass on him.  Hideki Matsuyama at $9,400 is a go, he won for the first time on the PGA Tour at Memorial in 2014 and has done well since.  Yes, he missed the cut last year but I am not worried about it.  He took some time off after his Masters’ victory and I can see his game showed some good signs at the PGA Championship (T-23rd).  Corey Conners at $9,300 is a toss-up, but still a lot of money.  His Memorial record isn’t that great, don’t think the course suits him and he has been ok but after a T-17th at the PGA Championship and T-20th at Charles Schwab doesn’t give me enough courage to pick him.  But I will take Tony Finau at $9,200, he has done well at Memorial, last year he got caught up in the bad weather and shot a final round 78 to finish 8th.  But after the worst slump of his PGA Tour career, he seems to have broken out of the slump with a T-8th at the PGA Championship and T-20th at the Charles Schwab.  Now both Patrick Reed at $9,100 and Scottie Scheffler at $9,000 don’t interest me.

*Players in that $7,500 to $8,900 price range, which ones are worth the money?:

Joaquin Niemann at $8,800 is a toss-up for me, has the game to play well at Muirfield and has done ok this year, just priced too high.  The same with Matt Fitzpatrick at $8,700, he was 3rd last year and has been going pretty good this year.  He is someone that could easily win on this course this week.  Louis Oosthuizen at $8,500 is my choice for this week to win, think his game is really good and the course does suit the way he is playing.  The same with Shane Lowry at $8,400, he is starting to shine and get his game back and this could be the week it really comes back.  Keegan Bradley at $8,000 is worth the cost and he has been knocking on the door the last couple of months.  Hard to believe I am making this statement but I think Rickie Fowler at $8,000 is a great pick.  He has been terribly mangled by the press and yes he has been struggling but I sense things are better after his great performance at the PGA Championship.  I like Rickie because he plays well on this course and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him in contention.  Gary Woodland at $7,900 is another player to watch, his game has been good the last few weeks and he is ok at the Memorial.  Adam Scott at $7,900 is another player I am watching, just like Rickie Fowler, Scott plays well at Muirfield and even though he has struggled in 2021 he could turn it around this week.  Marc Leishman at $7,800 is another to watch, great Memorial record and his game is ok even with a missed cut at the PGA Championship.  Also, watch Stewart Cink at $7,500.  This is a course that is perfect for him and he is playing well, don’t get caught off guard with Cink, just draft him the price is right.

Some of the “bargains” this week at the Memorial

Matt Wallace at $7,400 is a person to watch, he was T-4th last year at the Memorial.  He also played great three weeks ago at the Wells Fargo (T-6th).  Matt Kuchar at $7,400 is a good pick because he makes a lot of cuts and does earn you points.  Sebastian Munoz at $7,100 is a great price, he will make the cut and earn you a lot of points.

Here are some of the secrets of what it takes to play well at the Memorial:

The key stat for the winner:

• Those that embrace the changes to the course will do well.  In the long run, they are mostly cosmetic and wont make the course any harder.  Muirfield Village is a course that will get you ready for a U.S. Open.  No matter how comfortable, you can’t overpower this course, you have to hit it in the fairway and think each shot to the green.

Another key:

• Those that do well in majors do well at Muirfield Village.  Of the 35 different champions of the Memorial, they have accounted for 520 wins on the PGA Tour while 19 have won a total of 70 major championships. What’s more, 17 of the last 28 Memorial champions have been a winner of a major championship.
• In the history of the Memorial, only three leaders after the first round have won (Ernie Els in 2004, Justin Rose in 2010 and Jason Dufner 2017). 15 second-round leaders have won, and 20 third-round leaders have won.  Between 1994 and 2006, 11 of the 14 winners were in the lead after the third round.  But since 2007, only 5 champions had the lead going into the final round so again look for someone coming out of the pack to win as Patrick Cantlay did in 2019.
• 12 of the last 24 winners were in the top four in greens hit. In 2009 Tiger Woods was T3rd in greens hit while Justin Rose was T-13th in 2010, Steve Stricker was T30th in 2011, Tiger Woods was T-1st in 2012, Matt Kuchar was also 1st in 2013.  In 2014 Hideki Matsuyama was T-22nd while David Lingmerth was T-16th in 2015.  In 2016 William McGirt was T-7th in greens hit while in 2017 Jason Dufner lead greens hit.  In 2018 Bryson DeChambeau was T-12th in greens hit while in 2019 Patrick Cantlay was T-11th.  Last year Jon Rahm hit 48 of the 72 greens and was 3rd best in the field.
• Overpowering the par fives is crucial, last year Jon Rahm was 9 under while in 2019 Patrick Cantlay was 12 under the best of the winners since Tiger Woods was 14 under in 2001.
• In past years hitting greens has been significant, as Muirfield Village has some of the hardest sets of greens to hit from the fairway.  Once you miss the greens, it’s hard to get it up and down, in 2014 of the 2,631 greens missed only 1,375 par or better was made, it was the fourth hardest course in scrambling at 52.26%.  In 2015 of the 2,504 greens missed only 1,382 par or better were made making it the 13th hardest.  In 2016 of the 2,386 greens missed, only 1,240 par or better were make making it the 14th hardest on tour.  In 2017 of the 2,810 greens missed only 1,433 were able to get it up and down making it the 2nd hardest on tour.  In 2018 2,419 greens were missed with 1,315 able to get it up and down the 11th hardest on tour, in 2019 2,579 greens were missed with 1,420 able to get it up and down making it the 7th hardest on tour. Last year 2,579 greens were missed with 1,501 able to get it up and down making it #1 ranked on the PGA Tour.
• Accuracy is key to winning at Memorial, 12 of the last 18 winners have been in the top-10 in driving accuracy, which proves the point that you have to drive the ball well at Muirfield Village.  In 2009 Tiger Woods was 2nd while in 2010 Justin Rose was T-10th.  In 2011 Steve Stricker kept the tradition up as he was T-3rd but in 2012 Tiger Woods broke the tradition when he was T-14th in driving making him the first player out of the top-ten in driving since Ernie Els won in 2004.  Even worst things got bad in 2013 as Matt Kuchar was T-37th in driving accuracy, in 2014 Matsuyama was T-11th while in 2015 Lingmerth was T-11th. In 2016 McGirt was 38th in fairways hit while 2017 winner Jason Dufner was T-7th in fairways hit.  In 2018 Bryson DeChambeau was 4th while in 2019 Patrick Cantlay was also 4th in driving accuracy.  Last year Jon Rahm hit 36 fairways and was T-4th in Driving Accuracy.
• In its 45-year history, there have been 8 playoffs, the last coming in 2018 when DeChambeau beat Byeong Hun An with a birdie on the second extra hole.  Now between 1976 and 2013, the tournament saw only four playoffs the previous was in 1992 when David Edwards beat Rick Fehr on the second hole.  Since then every Memorial except for three (2005, ’07, and ’11) has been won by at least two shots or more.

Active tournaments that have the least amount of playoffs since 1976:

• 5 – Players championship
• 6 – Arnold Palmer Invitational
• 8 – Shriners Hospital
• 8 – Memorial
• 8 – Honda Classic
• 8 – John Deere Classic

Only eleven times in the history of the Memorial has a player shot four rounds in the 60s with eight of them winning. The last time it happened was in 2019 when Patrick Cantlay did it. Before that Byeong Hun An did it in 2018, before that Steve Stricker did it in 2011 but the last time that happened before that was in 2005 when Bart Bryant prevailed.

Last we have to talk about the weather.  This tournament has always had its share of severe weather, last week they encountered delays but were lucky to complete play.  I remember when I use to attend this event between 1988 and 2003, one year Barbara Nicklaus hired an Indian chief to do dances to avoid bad weather.  Barbara may need that Indian Chief for the first round which will have scattered Thunderstorms but the rest of the week looks great.