6 Big Names Missing The 2026 Memorial Tournament
The Memorial Tournament boasts a stacked field as always, but a number of big names are either injured or have failed to qualify...
It's a huge week on the PGA Tour as Jack Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament celebrates its 50th playing.
The $20m Signature Event features a limited-field headlined by nine of the world's top 10 as Scottie Scheffler looks to emulate Tiger Woods by winning for the third consecutive year.
Rory McIlroy, Cameron Young, Matt Fitzpatrick, Justin Rose and Xander Schauffele are among some of the other headline names, but which notables are not playing?
As always with small field tournaments, a number of big names have missed out or are either injured or taking a break. Let's take a look...
Collin Morikawa
The World No.7 is the highest-ranked player in the world not in the field this week.
Morikawa tweaked his back at The Players Championship in March and has not been the same since, despite finishing T7th at The Masters and T4th at the RBC Heritage.
With the US Open just a couple of weeks away, the two-time Memorial Tournament runner-up is likely still taking it easy before the year's final two Majors.
Viktor Hovland
Viktor Hovland was another surprise name not included in the field this year, which means he misses The Memorial for the first time in his career.
The Norwegian star won his fourth PGA Tour title here in 2023 and loves Jack's Place, so he must be nursing an injury. No official reason was given for his absence.
Hovland has not had a top-10 yet this year and missed the cut in his last appearance at the PGA Championship.
Brooks Koepka
Brooks Koepka returning to the PGA Tour was a huge story to start the year, and he agreed to no sponsor's invites for Signature Events as one of the elements to his deal following his nine-figure LIV Golf move in 2022.
The five-time Major champion was first-alternate for the RBC Heritage and Cadillac Championship but he has still not managed to qualify for one of the big $20m tournaments yet.
Koepka has played well this year, albeit his putting has let him down. He has five top-15 finishes from ten individual events in 2026.
Jake Knapp
Jake Knapp's injury plagued season continues after a brilliant start to 2026.
The Californian injured his thumb prior to the RBC Heritage and it has kept him out ever since.
He had five top-10s in his first nine starts of 2026 and still ranks 2nd in Scoring Average. He missed The Masters and PGA Championship so will be desperate to get back out for the US Open and Open Championship.
Max Homa
Homa currently ranks 120th in the world and has not been awarded a sponsor's invitation into The Memorial after invites into the Genesis Invitational, RBC Heritage and Truist Championship.
The six-time PGA Tour winner finished inside the top-10 at The Masters but that has been his only top-10 from 14 starts in 2026.
Homa has historically had a very good Memorial Tournament record, with T5 and T6 finishes in 2022 and 2021.
Marco Penge
It has been a whirlwind start to the year for Marco Penge after earning his PGA Tour card following three DP World Tour titles in 2025.
The Englishman has relocated to Florida, had his second child and is now taking time off to focus on his health.
He revealed he recently had an MRI scan on his brain, head and neck after a viral infection in November caused a reoccurring issue with his ear, neck and nervous system. He said the results were positive and he's now battling to return to full fitness.
Other notables missing the Memorial Tournament:
(World ranking)
- Michael Brennan (54th)
- Pierceson Coody (55th)
- Max Greyserman (62nd)
- Sami Valimaki (63rd)
- Matti Schmid (67th)
- Jordan Smith (68th)
- Eric Cole (69th)
- Rasmus Hojgaard (71st)
- Michael Thorbjornsen (73rd)
- Matt Wallace (74th)
- John Keefer (75th)
- Aldrich Potgieter (77th)
- Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (80th)
- Mac Meissner (81st)
- Andrew Putnam (84th)
- Rico Hoey (85th)
- Haotong Li (87th)
- Garrick Higgo (89th)
- Austin Smotherman (91st)
- Christiaan Bezuidenhout (93rd)
- Ricky Castillo (95th)
- Stephan Jaeger (96th)
- Max McGreevy (97th)
- John Parry (98th)
- Keith Mitchell (99th)
- David Lipsky (100th)
- Blades Brown (105th)
- Dan Brown (113th)
- Tom Kim (150th)
