Wikipedia

Memorial Tournament

The Memorial Tournament (branded as the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday for sponsorship reasons) is a PGA Tour golf tournament founded in 1976 by Jack Nicklaus. It is played on a Nicklaus-designed course at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, a suburb north of Columbus. The golf course passes through a large neighborhood called Muirfield Village, which includes a 1999 bronze sculpture of Nicklaus mentoring a young golfer located in the wide median of Muirfield Drive.[2][3]

Memorial Tournament
Tournament information
LocationDublin, Ohio
Established1976
Course(s)Muirfield Village Golf Club
Par72
Length7,392 yards (6,759 m)[1]
Tour(s)PGA Tour
FormatStroke play
Prize fundUS$20,000,000
Month playedJune
Tournament record score
Aggregate268 Tom Lehman (1994)
To par−20 as above
Current champion
United States Scottie Scheffler
Location map
Muirfield Village GC is located in the United States
Muirfield Village GC
Muirfield Village GC
Location in the United States
Muirfield Village GC is located in Ohio
Muirfield Village GC
Muirfield Village GC
Location in Ohio

History

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The greater Columbus area is where Jack Nicklaus spent most of his early life. The golf course he designed at Muirfield Village, north of Columbus, was opened in May 1974, and two years later it hosted the first Memorial Tournament. The par-72 course was 7,072 yards (6,467 m),[4] a considerable length for the mid-1970s.

At the Masters Tournament in 1966, Nicklaus had spoken of his desire to create a tournament that, like The Masters, had a global interest, and was inspired by the history and traditions of the game of golf. He also wanted the tournament to give back in the form of charitable contributions to organizations benefiting needy adults and children throughout Columbus and Ohio. The primary charitable beneficiary of the tournament is Nationwide Children's Hospital.

One of the features of the tournament is a yearly induction ceremony honoring past golfers. A plaque for each honoree is installed near the clubhouse at Muirfield; Nicklaus himself was the 2000 honoree.

Invitational status

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The Memorial Tournament is one of only five tournaments given "invitational" status by the PGA Tour, and consequently it has a reduced field of only 73 players in 2024 (as opposed to most full-field open tournaments with a field of 156 players). The other four tournaments with invitational status are the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the RBC Heritage, Charles Schwab Challenge, and the Genesis Invitational. Invitational tournaments have smaller fields (between 69 and 132 players), and have more freedom than full-field open tournaments in determining which players are eligible to participate in their event, as invitational tournaments are not required to fill their fields using the PGA Tour Priority Ranking System. Furthermore, unlike full-field open tournaments, invitational tournaments do not offer open qualifying (aka Monday qualifying).

In June 2014, the PGA Tour approved a resolution to grant the winner a three-year exemption, one more than other regular Tour events and on par with winners of the World Golf Championships, The Tour Championship and the Arnold Palmer Invitational.[5]

Field

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The field consists of 120 players invited using the following criteria:[6]

  1. Memorial winners in the last five years or prior to 1997
  2. The Players Championship and major championship winners in the last five years
  3. The Tour Championship, World Golf Championships, and Arnold Palmer Invitational winners in the past three years
  4. Tournament winners in the past year
  5. Playing member of last named U.S. Ryder Cup team, European Ryder Cup team, U.S. Presidents Cup team, and International Presidents Cup team (non-PGA Tour members qualifying in this category count against unrestricted sponsor exemptions)
  6. Prior year U.S. Amateur winner
  7. Prior year British Amateur winner
  8. Up to four players selected by the tournament from among the money leaders from the other five Federation tours
  9. 14 sponsors exemptions – 2 from among graduates of the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, 6 members not otherwise exempt, and 6 unrestricted
  10. Top 50 Official World Golf Ranking as of the Friday before the tournament
  11. Top 70 from prior year's FedEx Cup points list
  12. PGA Tour members whose non-member FedEx Cup points the previous season (excluding WGCs) would have placed them in the top 70
  13. Top 70 from current year's FedEx Cup points list as of the Friday before the tournament
  14. Prior year college player of the year (Jack Nicklaus Award)
  15. Remaining positions filled alternating from current year's and prior year's FedEx Cup point lists

Tournament highlights

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  • 1976: Roger Maltbie won the inaugural Memorial Tournament, defeating Hale Irwin in a four-hole aggregate playoff. On the third extra hole Maltbie's errant approach shot appeared headed for the gallery when it hit a post, causing the ball to bounce onto the green, where both parred to remain tied; Maltbie then birdied the 18th hole to win the playoff.[4]
  • 1977: Poor weather resulted in a Monday finish for the tournament; host Jack Nicklaus won by two shots over Hubert Green.[7]
  • 1980: David Graham birdied the 72nd hole to edge Tom Watson by one shot; Watson was bidding to become the first Memorial champion to defend his title.[8]
  • 1984: Jack Nicklaus defeated Andy Bean in a sudden-death playoff to become the first two-time Memorial winner.[9]
  • 1991: Kenny Perry won for the first time on the PGA Tour, defeating Irwin on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.[10]
  • 1993: Paul Azinger birdied the 72nd hole by holing out from a bunker to finish one shot ahead of Corey Pavin.[11]
  • 1994: Tom Lehman shot a tournament record 268 (-20) for 72 holes on his way to a five-shot victory over Greg Norman.[12]
  • 2000: Tiger Woods became the first Memorial winner to successfully defend his title, finishing five shots clear of Ernie Els.[13]
  • 2001: Woods won for a third consecutive year, seven shots ahead of runners-up Paul Azinger and Sergio García.[14]
  • 2005: Bart Bryant saved par from a hazard on the 72nd hole to win by one shot over Fred Couples.[15]
  • 2007: K. J. Choi shot a final round 65 to win by one shot over Ryan Moore.[16]
  • 2012: Woods birdied three of the last four holes, including a chip in on the 16th hole, to turn a two-shot deficit into a two-shot victory. The win was Woods' 73rd PGA Tour victory, which tied Jack Nicklaus for second most PGA Tour wins.[17]
  • 2013: Defending champion Woods posted a third round back nine score of 44, the worst in his career. He finished 20 shots behind winner Matt Kuchar.
  • 2014: Hideki Matsuyama won in a playoff against Kevin Na;[18] he was the first Japanese PGA Tour winner since 2008.
  • 2015: In the third round, Tiger Woods shot an 85, the worst round of his professional career. Three-time winner Kenny Perry played his last PGA Tour event.
  • 2016: William McGirt won for the first time on the PGA Tour after 165 starts.
  • 2020: Jon Rahm's win elevated him to the world number one ranking for the first time in his career.
  • 2021: Defending champion Jon Rahm held a six-stroke lead after 54 holes but was forced to withdraw after testing positive for COVID-19.[19]
  • 2024: Scottie Scheffler wins the Memorial, becoming the first golfer with five PGA Tour wins before the U.S. Open in a season since Tom Watson in 1980.[20]

Course layout

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Muirfield Village Golf Club in 2016

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Yards 470 455 401 200 527 447 563 185 412 3,660 471 567 184 455 363 529 201 478 484 3,732 7,392
Par 4 4 4 3 5 4 5 3 4 36 4 5 3 4 4 5 3 4 4 36 72

Source:[1]

Winners and honorees

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Year Winner Score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up Winner's
share ($)		 Honoree(s)[21]
2024   Scottie Scheffler 280 −8 1 stroke   Collin Morikawa 4,000,000 Juli Inkster
Tom Weiskopf[a]
2023   Viktor Hovland 281 −7 Playoff   Denny McCarthy 3,600,000 Larry Nelson
2022   Billy Horschel 275 −13 4 strokes   Aaron Wise 2,160,000 Charlie Sifford[a]
2021   Patrick Cantlay (2) 275 −13 Playoff   Collin Morikawa 1,674,000 Nick Price
Gene Littler[a]
Ted Ray[a]
2020   Jon Rahm 279 −9 3 strokes   Ryan Palmer 1,674,000
2019   Patrick Cantlay 269 −19 2 strokes   Adam Scott 1,638,000 Judy Rankin
2018   Bryson DeChambeau 273 −15 Playoff   An Byeong-hun
  Kyle Stanley		 1,602,000 Hale Irwin
Jock Hutchison[a]
Willie Turnesa[a]
2017   Jason Dufner 275 −13 3 strokes   Rickie Fowler
  Anirban Lahiri		 1,566,000 Greg Norman
Tony Lema[a]
Ken Venturi[a]
Harvie Ward[a]
2016   William McGirt 273 −15 Playoff   Jon Curran 1,530,000 Johnny Miller
Leo Diegel[a]
Horton Smith[a]
2015   David Lingmerth 273 −15 Playoff   Justin Rose 1,116,000 Nick Faldo
Dorothy Campbell[a]
Jerome Travers[a]
Walter Travis[a]
2014   Hideki Matsuyama 275 −13 Playoff   Kevin Na 1,116,000 Annika Sörenstam
Jim Barnes[a]
Joe Carr[a]
Willie Park Sr.[a]
2013   Matt Kuchar 276 −12 2 strokes   Kevin Chappell 1,116,000 Raymond Floyd
2012   Tiger Woods (5) 279 −9 2 strokes   Andrés Romero
  Rory Sabbatini		 1,116,000 Tom Watson
2011   Steve Stricker 272 −16 1 stroke   Brandt Jobe
  Matt Kuchar		 1,116,000 Nancy Lopez
2010   Justin Rose 270 −18 3 strokes   Rickie Fowler 1,080,000 Seve Ballesteros
2009   Tiger Woods (4) 276 −12 1 stroke   Jim Furyk 1,080,000 JoAnne Carner
Jack Burke Jr.
2008   Kenny Perry (3) 280 −8 2 strokes   Mathew Goggin
  Jerry Kelly
  Justin Rose
  Mike Weir		 1,080,000 Tony Jacklin
Ralph Guldahl[a]
Charles B. Macdonald[a]
Craig Wood[a]
2007   K. J. Choi 271 −17 1 stroke   Ryan Moore 1,080,000 Louise Suggs
Dow Finsterwald
2006   Carl Pettersson 276 −12 2 strokes   Zach Johnson
  Brett Wetterich		 1,035,000 Michael Bonallack
Charles Coe[a]
Lawson Little[a]
Henry Picard[a]
Paul Runyan[a]
Denny Shute[a]
2005   Bart Bryant 272 −16 1 stroke   Fred Couples 990,000 Betsy Rawls
Cary Middlecoff[a]
2004   Ernie Els 270 −18 4 strokes   Fred Couples 945,000 Lee Trevino
Joyce Wethered[a]
2003   Kenny Perry (2) 275 −13 2 strokes   Lee Janzen 900,000 Julius Boros[a]
William C. Campbell
2002   Jim Furyk 274 −14 2 strokes   John Cook
  David Peoples		 810,000 Kathy Whitworth
Bobby Locke[a]
2001   Tiger Woods (3) 271 −17 7 strokes   Paul Azinger
  Sergio García		 738,000 Payne Stewart[a]
2000   Tiger Woods (2) 269 −19 5 strokes   Ernie Els
  Justin Leonard		 558,000 Jack Nicklaus
1999   Tiger Woods 273 −15 2 strokes   Vijay Singh 459,000 Ben Hogan[a]
1998   Fred Couples 271 −17 4 strokes   Andrew Magee 396,000 Peter Thomson
1997   Vijay Singh 202[b] −14 2 strokes   Jim Furyk
  Greg Norman		 342,000 Gary Player
1996   Tom Watson (2) 274 −14 2 strokes   David Duval 324,000 Billy Casper
1995   Greg Norman (2) 269 −19 4 strokes   Mark Calcavecchia
  David Duval
  Steve Elkington		 306,000 Willie Anderson[a]
John Ball[a]
James Braid[a]
Harold Hilton[a]
John Henry Taylor[a]
1994   Tom Lehman 268 −20 5 strokes   Greg Norman 270,000 Mickey Wright
1993   Paul Azinger 274 −14 1 stroke   Corey Pavin 252,000 Arnold Palmer
1992   David Edwards 273 −15 Playoff   Rick Fehr 234,000 Joseph Dey[a]
1991   Kenny Perry 273 −15 Playoff   Hale Irwin 216,000 Babe Zaharias[a]
1990   Greg Norman 216[b] E 1 stroke   Payne Stewart 180,000 Jimmy Demaret[a]
1989   Bob Tway 277 −11 2 strokes   Fuzzy Zoeller 160,000 Henry Cotton[a]
1988   Curtis Strange 274 −14 2 strokes   David Frost
  Hale Irwin		 160,000 Patty Berg
1987   Don Pooley 272 −16 3 strokes   Curt Byrum 140,000 Old Tom Morris[a]
Young Tom Morris[a]
1986   Hal Sutton 271 −17 4 strokes   Don Pooley 100,000 Roberto De Vicenzo
1985   Hale Irwin (2) 281 −7 1 stroke   Lanny Wadkins 100,000 Chick Evans[a]
1984   Jack Nicklaus (2) 280 −8 Playoff   Andy Bean 90,000 Sam Snead
1983   Hale Irwin 281 −7 1 stroke   Ben Crenshaw
  David Graham		 72,000 Tommy Armour[a]
1982   Raymond Floyd 281 −7 2 strokes   Peter Jacobsen
  Wayne Levi
  Roger Maltbie
  Gil Morgan		 63,000 Glenna Collett-Vare
1981   Keith Fergus 284 −4 1 stroke   Jack Renner 63,000 Harry Vardon[a]
1980   David Graham 280 −8 1 stroke   Tom Watson 54,000 Byron Nelson
1979   Tom Watson 285 −3 3 strokes   Miller Barber 54,000 Gene Sarazen
1978   Jim Simons 284 −4 1 stroke   Billy Kratzert 50,000 Francis Ouimet[a]
1977   Jack Nicklaus 281 −7 2 strokes   Hubert Green 45,000 Walter Hagen[a]
1976   Roger Maltbie 288 E Playoff   Hale Irwin 40,000 Bobby Jones[a]

Note: Green highlight indicates scoring records.
Source:[22][23]

Multiple winners

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Seven men have won the Memorial Tournament more than once through 2024:

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av Posthumously honored
  2. ^ a b Shortened to 54 holes due to rain.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Course map". Memorial Tournament. 2016. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  2. ^ "Jack Nicklaus tribute sculpture". (Ohio): Dublin Arts Council. Archived from the original on March 29, 2016. Retrieved June 2, 2016.
  3. ^ "Jack Nicklaus – Dublin Icon". (Ohio): City of Dublin. August 9, 2013. Retrieved June 2, 2016.
  4. ^ a b Kady, John (June 1, 1976). "Roger Maltbie wins Memorial". Beaver County Times. UPI. p. C-2 – via Google News Archive.
  5. ^ "Boost to Arnie and Jack tourneys". ESPN. Associated Press. June 3, 2014.
  6. ^ "2015–16 PGA Tour Player Handbook & Tournament Regulations" (PDF). October 5, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 12, 2016.
  7. ^ "Nicklaus wins Memorial Golf". The Pittsburgh Press. UPI. May 23, 1977. p. C-2 – via Google News Archive.
  8. ^ "Graham outlasts Watson!". The Deseret News. UPI. May 26, 1980. p. 2B – via Google News Archive.
  9. ^ White, Gordon S. Jr. (May 28, 1984). "Nicklaus win in playoff". The New York Times. p. B-25. Archived from the original on 2016-03-06.
  10. ^ "Perry beats Irwin in Memorial playoff". St. Petersburg Times. Associated Press. May 20, 1991. p. 6C – via newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Diaz, Jamie (June 7, 1993). "Golf; Azinger's 'Miracle' Shot From Bunker Wins by 1". The New York Times. p. C-1.
  12. ^ Parascenzo, Marino (May 23, 1994). "Lehman devours Memorial". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. D-6 – via Google News Archive.
  13. ^ "Another first for Woods". New Straits Times. May 31, 2000. p. 39 – via Google News Archive.
  14. ^ "Golf: Woods crushes Memorial field". The New Zealand Herald. June 5, 2001. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
  15. ^ "Bryant earns second career tour victory". ESPN. Associated Press. June 5, 2005.
  16. ^ "K.J. Choi wins the Memorial". UPI. June 3, 2007.
  17. ^ Ferguson, Doug (June 3, 2012). "Tiger Woods rallies to win Memorial, ties Jack Nicklaus with 73 PGA Tour victories". PGA of America.
  18. ^ "Hideki Matsuyama wins the Memorial Tournament in a playoff". PGA Tour.
  19. ^ DiMeglio, Steve (5 June 2021). "Jon Rahm tests positive for COVID-19, withdraws from Memorial with six-shot lead". Golfweek. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  20. ^ "Scheffler, with newborn on hand, takes Memorial". ESPN. 2024-06-09. Retrieved 2024-06-11.
  21. ^ "The Memorial Tournament Honorees". The Memorial Tournament. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  22. ^ "the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday – Past Results". PGA Tour.
  23. ^ "Past Results". The Memorial Tournament.
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40°08′25″N 83°08′29″W / 40.1404°N 83.1414°W / 40.1404; -83.1414

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