Golden anniversary for the Golden Bear: 50 years of the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday

The young newspaper reporter from Cleveland couldn’t believe his eyes. There weren’t many idols for a kid growing up in northeast Ohio in the 1970s, but 24-year-old Dave Shedloski had found himself in front of one of them.

It was the 1986 media day for the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday and Shedloski suddenly held the company of Jack Nicklaus, who, a month earlier, donned the green jacket in one of the most remarkable moments in sports.

“I think I said, ‘Nice to meet you, Mr. Jackalus,’” Shedloski recalls. “It's like one of those days that you just never forget.”

Shedloski will attend his 40th edition of the Memorial this week, a majority of which he’s spent as a contributing writer for Golf Digest. The tournament has remained a milestone in Shedloski since that first encounter with Nicklaus, one that mirrors the relationship the golf world has with one of the most iconic players and tournaments on the pro calendar: constant, memorable and consistent.

The Memorial is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and all of its editions have been held at Muirfield Village Golf Club. The course and tournament were built in the image of its owner and designer. So it’s no surprise that the Memorial has remained a mainstay on the PGA TOUR. It’s taken different forms with various levels of acclaim, but with Nicklaus’ name attached to it, it’s remained among the crown jewels of professional golf.

“The fact that it was always Jack's event,” Shedloski said, “it had the premature Signature status. It’s always been a Signature Event.”

The story of Muirfield Village and the Memorial was born out of tragedy. Two of Nicklaus’ friends were headed to watch the Golden Bear at the 1966 Masters, but never made it to Augusta National. They died in a plane crash. It forced Nicklaus, then just 26 years old, to confront what he wanted his legacy to be. What did he hope to be remembered for, beyond major victories and signature celebrations? It led him back home to Columbus, Ohio, and the idea of building a championship-level golf course and tournament that the community could be proud of, which would outlast Nicklaus long after his playing career and life.

A decade later, the Memorial was born, a first-of-its-kind event. Most tournaments in those days didn’t have names attached to them. If they did, they were celebrities like Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. But a tournament hosted by an active player? While it’s common now, it wasn’t then, and Nicklaus’ the Memorial quickly set a trend. Four years later, Arnold Palmer attached his name to the annual event in Bay Hill, Florida. Years later, Tiger Woods did the same with a TOUR event.

As the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday celebrates its Golden Jubilee, take a look back down memory lane as the event evolved from a fledgling event to one of the TOUR's most steeped in tradition.

1976: Less than two years after Muirfield Village began operations, the PGA TOUR arrived for the first playing of the Memorial. All the top names flocked to Columbus to play in Nicklaus’ inaugural event, including Lee Trevino, Johnny Miller, Hale Irwin, Jerry Pate and Tom Weiskopf. None of them won, though. Roger Maltbie, rookie of the year from the previous season, beat out Irwin in a playoff for his third career victory, and it didn’t come without some flair. In the playoff, Maltbie’s approach shot clanged off a gallery stake and onto the 17th green, 15 feet away. He made par, stayed alive, then won on the next hole with a birdie.

Nicklaus finished eighth but was mostly worried about his host duties.

“I filled up (my caddie’s) pockets with cigarette butts and papers and all kinds of debris trying to keep the golf course clean,” Nicklaus said. “I was really concentrated more on putting on a golf tournament than playing in a golf tournament.”

1977: It didn’t take long for Nicklaus to stamp his name on his own trophy, with the Golden Bear emerging victorious in the second playing of the Memorial. While Nicklaus initially had reservations about competing in a tournament and a course he created, fellow competitors encouraged him to play. Careful what you wish for. Nicklaus trailed Bobby Wadkins by a shot entering Sunday, but Wadkins shot 81 to Nicklaus’ 71, for a smooth two-shot victory that finished Monday after weekend storms. Nicklaus would call it “my biggest thrill in golf” and “the most difficult tournament that I've ever won.”

1979: Tom Watson’s second round can easily make the case for the best round in the history of the Memorial. The always-fickle Ohio weather took a turn for the worse and produced gusts up to 30 mph and bone-chilling temperatures around 13 degrees Fahrenheit, tormenting the top players in the world.

Except for Watson. He shot a 3-under 69, which doesn’t sound remarkable until you see what the rest of the field did – the scoring average that day: 78.74. Watson bested the field by nearly nine shots.

"It wasn't all that bad out there," Watson said with a laugh.

By Nicklaus’ admission, the course became “impossible.” The greens measured 17.5 on the Stimpmeter, the cut settled at 13 over, and Tom Watson won at 3 under, the second-highest winning score in tournament history.

1993: You might have seen the image, one of the most iconic in tournament history. As Paul Azinger splashed out his bunker shot on the 18th hole and watched it drop for a birdie, he fell to his knees in the sand, raising his wedge in one hand and his hat in the other, looking toward the sky in wonderment. He trailed Payne Stewart by a shot walking down the final hole. That birdie tied Azinger for the lead, and when Stewart missed his par putt, it proved to be the winner. Still in its infancy, the tournament had its signature closing moment, one that remains in the pantheon of Memorial history.

"I probably hit some of the best shots I've ever hit coming down the stretch,” Azinger said.

1994: The record still stands. Tom Lehman set the tournament scoring record with a blistering 20 under victory, leading Nicklaus to say: “Tom Lehman played a game this week with which I am not familiar.”

It was Lehman’s first PGA TOUR win, and he did it emphatically, shooting four consecutive 67s to win by five strokes. Only four others were within 10 strokes of Lehman’s winning margin. Now, more than 30 years later, Lehman’s record still stands.

1996: Seventeen years earlier, when Tom Watson was in his late 20s and in the middle of his prime, he won the Memorial. But as he arrived at Muirfield Village on this occasion, he had not won on TOUR in almost a decade. Consider it one of the many times that Watson dazzled us with his resolve and longevity. Then 46 years old, Watson turned back the clock in front of one of his career rivals, Nicklaus, besting a much younger David Duval to win by two. The gap between his first and second Memorial titles set the record for longest, eventually matched by Kenny Perry. Since then, Watson has remained a valuable member of the Captain Club, officially honored in 2012.

1999-2001: This is the dawn of the Tiger Woods era, across both the PGA TOUR and particularly the Memorial. Woods won the event for the first time in 1999, a comfortable two-stroke victory over Vijay Singh, then became the first player to defend his title, emerging victorious again in 2000, this time by five strokes. That year was also special as Nicklaus was selected to the Captains Club, which inducts a new honoree annually.

Woods’ Muirfield Village résumé grew from historic to unparalleled the following year, winning again for the third year in a row. He is still the only player to win the tournament back-to-back-to-back. The winning margin only grew with each successive victory. The third win came by seven strokes.

"Right now, he is the most dominant athlete in sports,” Azinger said, who finished a distant runner-up.

2005: If Woods had begun a new era a few years earlier, this was the end of another. For the 30th and final time, Nicklaus teed it up in his tournament. The host never missed a start, playing every year from 1976 onward – a testament to his longevity and durability. The final start was a missed cut, though the Golden Bear made the cut three times while in his 60s. His record at the Memorial was stellar, making the cut 22 times, with six top 10s and two victories.

“There was tons of fanfare and emotion,” Shedloski said. “Jack basically said this marked his last round in the United States. He knew it, and he ended at his course.”

2012: The highlight reel of Tiger Woods’ career is lengthy, but one of the first few clips always shown took place at Muirfield Village in 2012, perhaps the most famous shot in tournament history.

Woods, chasing a 73rd win that would tie Nicklaus for the second-most in tournament history, pulled off one of the most magical short game shots imaginable, holing out with a dramatic flop shot from behind the 16th green for birdie. It was one of three birdies in a four-hole stretch that earned Woods a two-stroke victory and set up the incredibly fitting moment of Woods shaking Nicklaus’ hand as he tied his career win total.

Nicklaus called Woods’ holed chip, “the most unbelievable, gutsy shot I’ve ever seen.”

“If he’s short, the tournament is over. If he’s long, the tournament is over. He puts it in the hole. What a shot,” Nicklaus added. “I don’t think under the circumstances I’ve ever seen a better shot."

The win was Woods’ fifth at the Memorial, the most of all time.

"It's awfully special to just have won this event, and to do it here with Jack obviously there at 18, it's awfully special for us as players to have him there and to greet us after we finish,” Woods said. “... And to do it at such a young age, it feels really special."

2014: It came with a fortuitous break, but that didn’t downplay the significance as an international star was born at Muirfield Village in 2014. Hideki Matsuyama nearly coughed up his first PGA TOUR victory with a double bogey at the 16th and a bogey on the 17th. His tee shot hit a tree on the 18th, but bounced back into the fairway, and he capitalized on the break, flagging his approach inside 5 feet to make a birdie and force a playoff, which he won with a par on the first hole.

"I just think you've just seen the start of what's going to be truly one of your world's great players over the next 10 to 15 years," Nicklaus said.

He was right.

2025: Scottie Scheffler’s dominant run continues, with the Memorial playing no small part. For the second year in a row, Scheffler won Jack’s tournament – the first and only player to do it since Woods rattled off three straight. It was only fitting that Nicklaus saw a bit of himself in Scheffler’s performance.

“Once I got myself into position to win, then you’ve got to be smart about how you finish it,” Nicklaus said. “And that’s the way he’s playing. He reminds me so much of the way I like to play.”

Scheffler’s back-to-back victories were the latest in a line of top-tier winners over the last handful of years, which included Viktor Hovland, Billy Horschel, Patrick Cantlay (twice), Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau.