With 18 Majors - three more than Tiger Woods - Jack Nicklaus is the most successful male golfer in history.
And this is the week where the game’s current elite players pay homage to the man they call the Golden Bear.
The Memorial Tournament at the Nicklaus-designed Muirfield Village has always been one of the notable stops on the PGA Tour calendar.
This year it has been given Signature Event status, meaning a huge purse and a field of just 72, less than half the standard size.
The course has been tweaked numerous times by Nicklaus and his team and there was another serious revamp three years ago.
Scoring has gone up as a result. Billy Horschel fired 13-under but was the only player to shoot double digits under when winning by four in 2022.
And last year the play-off number was 7-under, Viktor Hovland eventually ousting Denny McCarthy in extra holes.
With wind in the forecast, the tree-lined par 72 which measures over 7,500 yards will offer a serious test once more.
Perhaps that’s a good thing as players get used to the grind ahead of next week’s US Open.
Angles to consider
1/ Strokes Gained: Approach
This metric is a staple on Nicklaus designs which are almost always viewed as second-shot courses. In 2022, 11 of the top 12 finishers were ranked in the top 25 for SG: Approach while last year the top five all ranked 21st or better for SGA. That included the best iron player of the week, Scottie Scheffler.
2/ Strokes Gained: Off The Tee
Almost as important at the revamped Muirfield Village is driving the ball well. That makes sense with the four-inch rough. Last year, nine of the top 11 on the leaderboard were in the top 20 for SG: Off The Tee. In 2022, winner Horschel was 7th when he won while Joaquin Niemann ranked 2nd in this category which helped him finish in the top three.
3/ Course form/Nicklaus designs
Course form counts for plenty and most champions here had already shown a liking for the place with a big finish. With other Nicklaus designs presenting a similar test, it’s no surprise to see Memorial winners boasting excellent form on Jack’s other courses. Horschel, for example, had previously been seventh here and a runner-up at Concession the year before.
Selections
The above angles have been used to create a shortlist from which the following players are selected.
Justin Thomas
Thomas ranks 6th in the field for SG: Approach over the last eight weeks and 15th Off The Tee in that same period. Last time out he was 1st for SG: Tee To Green in the US PGA (on another Nicklaus course at Valhalla), showing up strongly in both OTT and Approach on the way to an eighth place. JT has a second, a fourth and an eighth at Muirfield Village and three starts ago was fifth at Harbour Town where Nicklaus was a design consultant to Pete Dye.
Sepp Straka
The Austrian is in fine form with two tops fives, an eighth and two more top 16s in his last six PGA Tour starts. His Approach numbers have been excellent in that run while he’s also ranked in the top 13 for Off The Tee in three of the five. Straka’s one Korn Ferry win came on a Nicklaus design and he’s hinted at a big week here with 14th on his Muirfield Village debut and 16th last year. He’s 66s with six places but, given the strength of the field, it could be worth accepting the 50s with 10 payout slots and slightly worse place terms.
Keegan Bradley
Bradley has a pair of top eights at Muirfield Village as well as a fourth at Jack’s Glen Abbey in the Canadian Open. Last year here he was ninth with a round to go after a brilliant third-round 65 but fell away on Sunday. The former US PGA champ has ranked 1st for Off The Tee in his last two starts which helped him take 18th at Valhalla (Nicklaus course) and runner-up at Colonial. Again, the 10 place option appeals.
Tips 1-2; +3.33pts
