THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT
Purse: $20M
Winner's Share: $4M
FedEx Cup Points: 700 to the winner
Location: Dublin, Ohio
Course: Muirfield Village Golf Club
Yardage: 7,569
Par: 72
2025 champion: Scottie Scheffler
Tournament Preview
Every week we start our research by looking at recent editions of a tournament -- the winners, their winning scores, etc. This week, as if we needed to be reminded, that look illustrated just how high a level of golf is required to succeed on what is annually one of the toughest courses on the PGA Tour.
Scottie Scheffler is the two-time defending champion, Viktor Hovland won the year before, and then going backwards the champions were Billy Horschel, Patrick Cantlay, Jon Rahm, Cantlay again and, in 2018, Bryson DeChambeau.
Not a slouch in the group.
The Memorial is the seventh of eight Signature Events this season, but long before the advent of elevated events, this tournament was a de facto Signature Event. It always had the best field among standard Tour stops. Just about every top golfer would show up every year, for two reasons: one, as an homage to tournament host Jack Nicklaus and two, as a final tuneup for the U.S. Open, which traditionally is played two weeks hence, as it will be this year.
But for the second straight year, there are some surprise no-shows in the 72-man field. Word came on Friday morning via the tournament's Twitter page that Hovland withdrew. And then when the field was published on Friday afternoon, world No. 6 Collin Morikawa was not in it.
Last year, Rory McIlroy skipped the Memorial for the first time in years. But he is back this year, heading the field along with Scheffler, Cameron Young, Matt Fitzpatrick and every golfer other than Morikawa among the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking.
This is the 50th anniversary but the 51st playing of the Memorial, which debuted in 1976 when Nicklaus was 35 years old and still winning majors. (To see the surprise winner of that inaugural Memorial, keep reading.) Nicklaus is now 86 and, after a huge renovation six years ago, his signature course design remains, um, a bear. It's been among the five toughest courses on Tour the past three years.
In some ways, Muirfield Village is the perfect golf course. No, it's not St. Andrews, it's not Augusta, it's not Pebble Beach. We don't mean it like that. As Nicklaus courses tend to do, it demands a golfer use all facets of his game and every club in his bag. While Nicklaus always put a premium on driving in his playing days -- and tee balls on these narrow fairways are important this week -- everything about Muirfield gets harder later. The holes get harder closer to the pin. The back nine is harder than the front, with the hardest sequence being Nos. 16-18. The closing three-hole stretch doesn't have a cutesy animal nickname like so many courses, but the 218-yard 16th, 503-yard 17th and 480-yard 18th all play over par.
Last year, those three holes were hard, but the two toughest were the 472-yard 10th and 180-yard 12th. So you can see how arduous the back-nine is.
Only four holes played under par last year. They were three of the four par-5s -- even a par-5 played over par -- and drivable 360-yard par-4 14th.
The bentgrass greens have severe undulations and are fast and small, averaging 5,000 square feet. Complicating matters are the 68 bunkers, water on 13 holes and the rough at a club-grabbing four inches. The easiest path to victory is to score on the par-5s, none of which reaches 590. The par-3s have always been brutal, with three of them 200+ yards. Seven of the 10 par-4s exceed 450 yards.
With the top-50 golfers and ties making the cut, it's an opportunity to take some gambles on lower-priced options, maybe go with a top-and-bottom approach. Not only is a top guy likely to win, but a bottom guy, even the worst guy, will have to beat only 20ish guys to make the cut. But from our picks below, you'll see that a balanced approach is also in play.
As for the weather, it looks like a great week ahead. Highs will be in the 80s every day, with little chance of rain till late in the day on Saturday. Winds will be pretty light all week.
Annual Memorial honorees: Every year the tournament honors one or two greats of the game. This year, there are two. First, there's two-time major winner and Golf Hall of Famer David Graham of Australia. Second, is a someone not many people have heard of, even golf people. It's golf pioneer Allan Robertson. And by pioneer we mean that Robertson was born in St. Andrews, Scotland, in 1815. He was considered the finest golfer of his generation until his death at age 43 in 1859. Upon Robertson's passing, Prestwick Golf Club held a competition to determine who would replace him as the "Champion Golfer." And that's how the Open Championship became the Open Championship. It wasn't until 2001 that Robertson was honored with a place in the Hall of Fame.
Fun Memorial factoid: As we like to note every year, the winner of the inaugural tournament back in 1976 was none other than the lovable Roger Maltbie, for the third of his five PGA Tour wins, in a playoff over Hale Irwin.
Key Stats to Winning at Muirfield Village
The most important indicators every week are current form and course history. "Key Stats" follow in importance.
• Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green/Strokes Gained: Approach
• Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green
• Strokes Gained: Putting
• Par-3 Efficiency 200-225 yards, Par-4 Efficiency 450-500 yards, Par-5 Efficiency 550-600 yards
• Bogey Avoidance
Past Champions
2025 - Scottie Scheffler
2024 - Scottie Scheffler
2023 - Viktor Hovland
2022 - Billy Horschel
2021 - Patrick Cantlay
2020 - Jon Rahm
2019 - Patrick Cantlay
2018 - Bryson DeChambeau
2017 - Jason Dufner
2016 - William McGirt
Champion's Profile
Scheffler won last year at 10-under by four strokes over Ben Griffin and two years ago at 8-under, one better than Morikawa.
Last year, Scheffler ranked second in the field in both SG: Off-the-Tee and Approach, third in Around-the-Green and 34th in Putting, along with second in greens in regulation.
Two years ago, Scheffler ranked 18th in SG: Off-the-Tee, first in Approach, 35th in Around-the-Green and 22nd in Putting, plus first in greens in regulation.
Scheffler ranked 16th in driving distance both years, and he also was outside the top-20 in driving accuracy in 2024 and outside the top-30 in 2025.
Back in 2021, defending champion Rahm was forced to withdraw through 54 holes with a six-shot lead after testing positive for COVID. To that point, he had gained an incredible 21 shots total on the field -- 15 of them from tee to green, including nine on approach alone, and about 5 1/2 putting. His driving accuracy was 80 percent in what would've been one of the most dominating performances on Tour in years -- had it been completed.
Golfodds.com put the over/under on the winning score at 278.5, which is 9.5 under par.
DRAFTKINGS VALUE PICKS
Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap
$10,000 and up
Scottie Scheffler - $13,500 (Winning odds at the DraftKings Sportsbook: +310)
He's the two-time defending champion and finished third his two previous times. Yes, it's now close to five months since Scheffler has won -- it's as if it's measured in dog years compared to other players. But his price is sufficiently moderate and, with lots of $6,000s reaching the weekend this week thanks to such a small cut, Scheffler is very much rosterable.
Cameron Young - $10,300 (+1475)
Young has not been great in his four previous trips to the Memorial. But his most recent visit was his best, tying for 25th last year. His game is a great fit for Muirfield Village -- heck, it's a good fit for any course these days. Young is ranked in the top-20 in every strokes-gained stat but putting, and there he's ranked top-50. Can't get much better than that.
$9,000-$9,900
Matt Fitzpatrick - $9,600 (+1900)
Fitzpatrick is having arguably the best season of anyone on Tour. Yet the price-makers and oddsmakers are almost saying, "We're not entirely sold." He's finished outside the top 18 just once in almost three months. He's coming off a tie for 14th at the PGA. Fitzpatrick is ranked fourth in SG: Approach, eighth in Around-the-Green and seventh in bogey avoidance. He had an off year here in 2025 but finished fifth and ninth the two previous years.
Patrick Cantlay - $9,200 (+2700)
Cantlay is having a sneaky good season. He had run off four straight top-12 showings before one bad round cost him at the PGA Championship. He's ranked top-50 in every strokes-gained stat except putting, and he has been one of the top horses for this course through the years. He's a two-time winner with three other top-10s and a tie for 12th last year. Cantlay is also ranked fifth on Tour in bogey avoidance.
$8,000-$8,900
Sam Burns - $8,800 (+4600)
It's simply too hard to ignore that Burns has finished in the top-16 here three years running, and four times in his career. Sometimes course history needs to take precedence over recent play. And it's not as if Burns is playing badly. He just missed a top-25 at the PGA.
Alex Smalley - $8,100 (+5800)
Smalley is on the biggest heater of his career. He's coming off a tie for third at the Charles Schwab, plus he has two runners-up and a tie for seventh in his past five starts. He's hasn't finished outside the top-21 since March. Smalley is ranked top-30 on Tour in SG: Approach, Tee-to-Green and Putting, and he's 14th in bogey avoidance.
$7,000-$7,900
Sepp Straka - $7,700 (+6200)
Straka is another player who loves himself some Muirfield Village. He's finished in the top-5 the past two years and has two other top-16s through the years. Straka has had a few very good weeks this season and more than a few clunkers. But his track record here speaks for itself.
Gary Woodland - $7,300 (+6700)
Woodland is back in the Memorial after a two-year absence. He played his way back in. He's coming off a tie for sixth at a very tough Colonial track, and he would be in the Tour Championship if it started today. Always a great driver, Woodland is ranked eighth on Tour in SG: Off-the-Tee. But the real difference in his game this season is on the greens -- he's ranked 33rd in SG: Putting.
$6,000-$6,900
Nick Taylor - $6,800 (+10000)
Taylor has had his two best finishes all season in his past three starts -- T9 at Doral and T14 at Quail Hollow, both long, hard courses. And then he just missed a top-25 at the PGA (T26). Taylor is ranked 31st on Tour in SG: Approach and 11th in bogey avoidance. He tied for fourth here last year.
Michael Kim - $6,200 (+19500)
After a very rocky start that made one wonder whether Kim's breakthrough 2025 season was a fluke, he's starting to come around. He's had three top-25s in his past five starts, including last week at the Charles Schwab. And he made the cut at the PGA. Kim is an excellent putter, which can carry him to the weekend if not more. He made the Memorial cut for the first time last year.
Making DraftKings lineups for the Memorial? Load them up in RotoWire's PGA DFS Lineup Optimizer.
