Muirfield Village plays host to the Memorial Tournament this week and fans will be keen to see whether the Tiger Woods revival will continue at a course where he has a great record. The Masters winner missed the cut at the US PGA but he has to be taken seriously at a venue where he has won five times. It’s no surprise to see Woods prominent in the betting markets for this event, with BetCris making him the +1467 second favourite, behind Rory McIlroy.
As with the Masters at Augusta, McIlroy has always given the impression that he will win Memorial one day, and he goes to Muirfield Village in good form, having cracked the top ten at the US PGA. It’s only two months ago that he landed the Players Championship with a stunning late charge, and if he brings his A-game, he will surely take all the stopping.
Both McIlroy and Woods will also have their victory chances increased by the fact that some of their main rivals won’t be taking part. Dustin Johnson isn’t involved this year, and neither is Brooks Koepka, who defended his US PGA title last weekend, while Justin Thomas, who might pose a serious threat in top shape, is still nursing an injured wrist and can’t be expected to be at his best.
Another leading contender this week is Justin Rose. Fowler had a miserable time at Colonial, getting the worst of some bad weather on the opening afternoon, which pretty much put him out of contention, but he showed considerable resilience in fighting back on the second day. Back in April he was in contention at the Masters before his putting let him down, and he has already bagged one trophy this season, at Phoenix in February. He has twice been runner-up in this event, and made the top ten again last year, underlining his liking for Jack Nicklaus-designed courses.
Hideki Matsuyama will also fancy his chances of success at Muirfield Village, given his excellent record at the course, where he won in 2014. He also has a good record at another event played on a Nicklaus-designed course, the WGC-Bridgestone International. And while he ultimately finished outside the top thirty at the US PGA, after a poor final round, he was firmly in contention on the Friday and Saturday, so will be keen to build on the form he showed at Bethpage.
And this course might also bring the best out of veteran Swede Henrik Svenson. He hasn’t had the best of years so far but there were positives in how he went about his business at the US PGA. Despite conditions not suiting his style of golf, his approach play was exemplary and back at a course where he shot a 66 last year, there is reason for optimism about his chances this week, in which should be a high quality renewal of this popular tournament.
