the Memorial Tournament Preview, TV Times

The 18th at Muirfield Village; host venue for the Memorial

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 29 May 2018

The PGA Tour heads for Jack’s place and the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. Jason Dufner is the defending champion at Muirfield Village.

the Memorial Tournament, Preview, TV Times

An extremely strong field, including eight of the top-10 players in the world and Tiger Woods has travelled to Ohio this week to do battle for the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village.

New World Number 1 Justin Thomas will tee it up at Jack’s place for the first time since ascending to the very top of the golfing tree. He was fourth in this event last year.

The 220 acres on which Muirfield Village GC sits was acquired in 1966 though the course was not officially opened until 1974. Built in the outskirts of Jack Nicklaus’ hometown of Columbus, the course and the Memorial Tournament were the work and dream of the Golden Bear.

Europe won the 1987 Ryder Cup at Muirfield Village

Muirfield Village has played host to the Memorial since 1976 and the course was also used for the 1987 Ryder Cup matches, the 1992 US Amateur and the 1998 Solheim Cup.

Past winners of this tournament include Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Greg Norman, Fred Couples and Tiger Woods. The former World Number 1 took this title three years straight from 1999 to 2001 then in 2009 and again in 2012.

Last year, Jason Dufner recovered from a poor third round to win by three from Rickie Fowler and Anirban Lahiri.

The weather looks like being a little unsettled. Although it will be warm, there could be gusting winds and a strong chance of the odd thunderstorm.

Venue: Muirfield Village GC, Dublin, Ohio Date: May 31 – Jun 3 Course stats: par 72, 7,392 yards Purse: $8,900,000 Defending champion: Jason Dufner (-13)

How to watch the Memorial tournament

TV Coverage:

Thursday 31 – Sky Sports Golf from 7.30pm, Sky Sports Main Event from 9.30pm, Featured Groups on Sky Sports Golf from 5.30pm Friday 1 – Sky Sports Golf from 7.30pm, Sky Sports Main Event from 7.30pm, Featured Groups on Sky Sports Golf from 5.30pm Saturday 2 – Sky Sports Golf from 5.30pm, Sky Sports Main Event from 7.30pm Sunday 3 – Sky Sports Golf from 5.00pm, Sky Sports Main Event from 9.00pm

Not a Sky Sports customer and want to watch the Memorial Tournament?

Why not buy a Now TV pass? For £7.99 you can get a day pass if you wish to watch one of the rounds or, for just £12.99, you can get a week pass to see the whole tournament.

Buy a Now TV Sky Sports Day Pass for £7.99 Buy a Now TV Sky Sports Week Pass for £12.99

Players to watch:

Marc Leishman – The Australian has shown good form recently and he has a good record on this course with a scoring average of below 70 for his last 12 rounds.

Emiliano Grillo – Played some great golf at Colonial to secure his fifth top-10 of the season. He has the game to mix it with the best and he will look to press on this week.

Matt Kuchar – Not been on his best form but this is a course he loves. He was champion in 2013 and has seven further top-10 finishes at Muirfield Village.

Key hole: 18th. A long, par-4 finishing hole of 484-yards, it generally averages well above par. The fairway bunkering was redesigned two years ago to catch more drives. The players now need to carry the ball fully 350 yards if there to get past all the sand.

TOPICS

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here.

He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

Get the Golf Monthly Newsletter