Memorial Tournament Key Fantasy Stats

Memorial Tournament

June 6th – 9th, 2024

Muirfield Village G.C.

Dubin, OH

Par: 72 / Yardage: 7,571

Purse: $20 million

with $4 million to the winner

Defending Champion:
Viktor Hovland

by Sal Johnson

Founder, Chief Data Officer, GOLFstats

E-mail me at:
sal@golfstats.com

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Muirfield Village. Jack Nicklaus started this project in the 60’s to have a championship course in the city where he grew up. Nicklaus also wanted his course to host major championships, but Jack wasn’t about to wait; two years after the course opened, the Memorial Tournament began in 1976. In the five decades of the Memorial, there have been many historic moments, one of the reasons the course is one of the most popular on the PGA Tour and one that Nicklaus continues to tweak.
As Nicklaus gets older, he does less and less major work each year. The changes he makes now are more cosmetic than making the course harder. When Nicklaus turned 80 in 2020, he realized there weren’t many changes left. So, in 2021, Nicklaus made a lot of “cosmetic” changes to make the course as perfect as possible. He realized that in the 50 years since the course opened, he had painted his Mona Lisa, which was as perfect as possible. A perfect example of trying to make the Mona Lisa look better and hurting the painting was when, in 2021, Nicklaus put a lake in front of the par 3, 16th, making it drastically harder. Last year, Jason Day didn’t realize Nicklaus was within earshot and called the changes harsh, saying it was a “stupid hole. Jack realized he had gone too far in making the hole a little more challenging and worked on the hole for this year’s Memorial.

The thing about Muirfield is that it’s a challenging course but very manageable. In its 50 years, the winning score has been as high as even par and as low as 20 under. Last year, Viktor Hovland won at seven under, the highest since Greg Norman shot even par in 1990. Now, much of it concerns the weather; last year, the wind blew between 15 and 20 mph over the weekend. This year, the wind will be in the 15 to 18 mph range, except Sunday, when the wind will drop to 11 mph but with some early morning rain.

One thing is for sure: the course is always “perfect” year after year, and in Jack Nicklaus’s mind, he has made Muirfield Village as good as it can be. The Memorial field’s scoring average on the par-72 course last year was 73.52, making it the 5th hardest of the 58 courses on the PGA Tour in 2023. It was the second hardest non-major course behind Torrey Pines South. The only thing that made the scoring higher was the windy conditions, which blew up to 20 mph over the weekend.

Here is a look at the scoring average at Muirfield Village over the past few years:
*2022 – The average was 73.06, making it the 8th most challenging of the 50 courses on the PGA Tour that year. One of the significant changes to the course was the addition of sub-pumps under the course to make it firmer in wet conditions.
*2021 – Averaged 72.97, the 10th hardest of the 51 courses on the PGA Tour that year. The course was soft. It rained on Thursday and part of Sunday. The wind was normal, 10-15 mph, but the course was perfect for low scores.
*2020 – Average was 74.01, the 2nd hardest of 41 courses on the PGA Tour that year. The weather was terrible over the weekend, with lots of wind, one of the reasons it was 74.01 for the week.
*2019 – Averaged 72.08, the 13th hardest of 49 courses on the PGA Tour that year.

Looking at our four categories and knowing the course is 100% perfect, our first for Muirfield Village is Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green, which considers distance and accuracy off the tee and greens hit. Driving and greens hit are essential when looking at Muirfield Village’s stats over the past few years. Each year, greens hit and driving accuracy have always been critical and key to playing the course well.
The course ranked 1st in Greens in Regulation hit last year. It ranked 29th for driving accuracy and 20th for Driving Distance all holes.
Last year’s tournament winner, Viktor Hovland, was 14th in Driving Distance, averaging 300.2 yards per drive, T-51st in Driving Accuracy, hitting 30 of 54 fairways, and T-19th in Greens in Regulation, hitting 41 of 72 greens. Between the three stats, he ranked 12th in Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green.

Here is a look at the Driving Distance, Driving Accuracy, and Greens in Regulation for Memorial winners in recent years:
*2022 – The course ranked 12th in Driving Distance with an average drive of 285.7 yards (out of 50 courses), 39th in Driving Accuracy, and 4th in Greens in Regulation.
Winner Billy Horschel was 42nd in Driving Distance, averaging 285.2 yards per drive, T-7th in Accuracy, hitting 43 of 54 fairways, and 1st in Greens in Regulation, hitting 53 of 72 greens. Between the three stats, he ranked 1st in Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green.
*2021 – The course ranked 14th in Driving Distance with an average drive of 286.5 yards (out of 51 courses), 31st in Driving Accuracy, and 7th in Greens in Regulation.
Winner Patrick Cantlay was T-23rd in Driving Distance, averaging 290.3 yards per drive, T-28th in Accuracy, hitting 37 of 54 fairways, and T-1st in Greens in Regulation, hitting 54 of 72 greens. Between the three stats, he ranked 1st in Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green.
*2020 – The course ranked 22nd in Driving Distance with an average drive of 294.5 yards (out of 29 courses), 6th in Driving Accuracy, and 5th in Greens in Regulation.
Winner Jon Rahm was T-15th in Driving Distance, averaging 302.1 yards per drive, T-4th in Accuracy, hitting 36 of 54 fairways, and T-3rd in Greens in Regulation, hitting 48 of 72 greens. Between the three stats, he ranked 1st in Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green.
*2019 – The course ranked 15th in Driving Distance with an average drive of 282.5 yards (out of 35 courses), 43rd in Driving Accuracy, and 14th in Greens in Regulation.
Winner Patrick Cantlay was 2nd in Driving Distance, averaging 292.4 yards per drive, T-51st in Accuracy, hitting 38 of 54 fairways, and T-11th in Greens in Regulation, hitting 50 of 72 greens. Between the three stats, he ranked 2nd in Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green.
Interestingly, three of the five winners were 1st in Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green, while one was 2nd.

Our 2nd category for The Memorial is putting inside 10 feet. We chose this because 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 12 on the stipmeter, you will do very well if you make a lot of putts at that distance. Now, for last year, Muirfield Village ranked 21st in putting inside 10 feet out of 41 courses played for the year. As for winner Hovland, he ranked 5th, making 61 of 64 putts inside 10 feet.

Here is a look at the putting inside 10 feet of the Genesis Invitational winners in recent years:
*2022 – The field made 87.93% of their putts inside ten feet, the 19th toughest of the 36 courses that tracked putts that year.
Winner Billy Horschel made 64 of 71 putts inside 10 feet (90.14%) for a T-25 ranking.
*2021 – Those who putted inside 10 feet made 88.83% of their putts, which was the 35th hardest of the 51 courses that tracked putts for the year.
Winner Patrick Cantlay made 59 of 70 putts (84.29%) and finished 61st.
*2020 – 87.57% of putts were made for those putting inside 10 feet, as it was the 13th hardest of the 29 courses that tracked putts for the year.
Winner Jon Rahm made 65 of 71 putts inside 10 feet (91.55%) and finished T-11th.
*2019 – 87.24% of putts were made for those who putted inside ten feet, as it was the 12th hardest of the 35 courses that tracked putts for the year.
Winner Patrick Cantlay made 64 of 71 putts inside ten feet (90.14%) and ranked 19th.
Yes, it’s tough to make putts inside ten feet at Riviera.

Our third important stat is scrambling, and you can see why. Since the course is a shot-maker’s delight, you can see that if you miss a lot of greens, you better get it up and down to play well. Last year, Muirfield Village ranked 8th out of 58 courses in scrambling, while winner Hovland ranked 21st, getting up and down on 19 of the 31 greens he missed.

Here is a look at the scrambling of Memorial winners in recent years:
*2022 – Muirfield Village ranked 14th in scrambling out of the 50 courses that tracked scrambling for the year, getting it up and down 54.92% of the time.
Winner Billy Horschel was 1st, getting it up and down 16 of the 19 greens he missed.
*2021 – Muirfield Village ranked 11th in scrambling out of 51 courses that tracked scrambling for the year, getting it up and down 53.60% of the time.
Winner Patrick Cantlay was T6, getting it up and down on 12 of the 18 greens he missed.
*2020 – Muirfield Village finished 1st in scrambling out of the 41 courses that tracked scrambling this year, getting it up and down 48.40% of the time.
Winner Jon Rahm was T-3rd, getting it up and down 16 of the 24 greens he missed.
*2019 – Muirfield Village was ranked 7th in scrambling out of the 49 courses that tracked scrambling for the year, getting it up and down 55.06% of the time.
Winner Patrick Cantlay ranked 5th, getting it up and down 16 of the 22 greens he missed.
The winner has to do a great job of getting it up and down on the greens he misses.

Our final category is Par Breakers because making eagles and birdies is significant. Last year at Muirfield Village, 1,181 birdies were made, which ranked 22nd in the number of birdies made for the event. There were 29 eagles made last year, which ranked T-29th. Thanks to this, 18.27% of the holes were played par (par breakers) as the Memorial ranked 12th in par breakers. Winner Hovland was T-2nd with 19 birdies and no eagles. He was T-2nd in Par Breakers.

Here is a look at the Par Breakers of the Memorial winners in recent years:
*2022 – Made 1,237 birdies (22nd hardest) and 26 eagles (T-19th) as 18.61% of holes were under par, making it the 13th hardest of the 50 courses that year.
Winner Billy Horschel made 15 birdies (T-24th) and had one eagle as 22.22% of the holes played were under par, and he ranked T-20th in Par Breakers.
*2021 – Made 1,229 birdies (20th hardest) and 24 eagles (13th) as 18.71% of holes played were under par, making it the 16th hardest of the 51 courses that year.
Winner Patrick Cantlay made 20 birdies (3rd) and no eagles as 27.78% of the holes played were under par, ranking him 3rd in Par Breakers.
*2020 – Made 1,212 birdies (21st hardest) and 28 eagles (T-16th) with 16.97% of holes played under par, making it the 5th hardest of the 41 courses that year.
Winner Jon Rahm made 18 birdies (T-3rd) and no eagles as 325.00% of the holes played were under par, ranking him T-3rd in Par Breakers.
*2019 – Made 1,448 birdies (30th hardest) and 26 eagles (18th) as 21.33% of holes played were under par, making it the 27th hardest of the 49 courses this year.
Winner Patrick Cantlay made 25 birdies (1st) and no eagles as 34.72% of the holes played were under par, ranking him 1st in Par Breakers.
So the winner has to make a lot of birdies and eagles.

So you can see there are many ways to win at Muirfield Village, but you still have to hit the fairways and stay out of the rough. Then you have to hit the greens, and if you’re a good putter, you’ll do well at the Memorial.

*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: This is very easy. Count 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.

*Par Breakers: Percentage of eagles and birdies made during the course of a tournament

The 72 of the 73 players from this year’s field with stats from 2024.

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