The First Look: the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday

One of the PGA TOUR’s longest-standing events will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year, as the game’s best return to Muirfield Village for the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday.

It’s set to be a special week on multiple fronts at the Jack Nicklaus-hosted event, the seventh of eight Signature Events on the PGA TOUR schedule, as Scottie Scheffler is chasing a three-peat.

Here’s everything else you need to know from Ohio.

FIELD NOTES: Scheffler returns to action looking to do something on TOUR that hasn’t been done in a decade-and-a-half – complete a three-peat at the same event. The two-time defending champion has seen Muirfield Village as a happy hunting ground the last few years and will now look to become the first golfer on TOUR since Steve Stricker at the John Deere Classic in 2009-11 to win the same event three years in a row. Scheffler is coming off a solo third at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson. … Rory McIlroy is back at the Memorial for the first time since 2024. The Masters winner had recorded four straight top-20 finishes at Muirfield Village before missing the event last year. His best result at the event came in 2016, when he finished T4. … Nos. 2 and 3 in the FedExCup standings – Cameron Young and Matt Fitzpatrick, respectively – are set to tee it up for the first time since the PGA Championship. It’s been a tremendous start to 2026 for the duo, who have notched five wins combined. Fitzpatrick has had three top-10 finishes at the Memorial in his career, while Young’s best-ever result at Muirfield Village came last year. … Ludvig Åberg is looking to continue his fabulous springtime stretch of results. Åberg has just one finish outside the top 20 in his last nine starts (and it was a T21), and in that mix were six top-eight results. Åberg finished T5 in his debut at the Memorial in 2024. … Russell Henley is looking to continue his run of tremendous play so far in 2026 on another big TOUR stage. Henley, last week’s winner at the Charles Schwab Challenge, has three other top 10s this year, including a T3 at the Masters and a T5 at the Memorial last year.

SPONSOR EXEMPTIONS: Tony Finau, Patrick Rodgers and a pair of past champions in Billy Horschel (2022) and Matt Kuchar (2013) received the sponsor invites for the 2026 edition of the Memorial. … Finau has five top-15 finishes in nine starts at Muirfield Village while Rodgers started his season with a bang with a solo third at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

SIGNATURE EVENT STORYLINES: With the playoff loss Sunday at the Charles Schwab Challenge, Eric Colestill earned a spot in his first Signature Event of 2026, rising 12 spots into the Aon Swing 5. … Wyndham Clark, the winner of the THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson, topped the standings while Brandt Snedeker (who won the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic) was third. … Mac Meissner, who finished T3 at Colonial, was fourth, while Mark Hubbard nabbed the final spot. … There was one significant move in the Aon Next 10, with Nico Echavarria making a birdie on the 72nd hole at Colonial to finish T6 and move from No. 13 to No. 10 in the standings – bumping out two golfers. … Alex Smalley, who finished T3 at the Charles Schwab Challenge, was in the top spot on the list. … Min Woo Lee, Kristoffer Reitan, Nicolai Hojgaard, Adam Scott, Jake Knapp, Gary Woodland, Alex Fitzpatrick and PGA Championship winner Aaron Rai filled out the rest of the list. … The Memorial will mark the first start back in action for Rai since he lifted the Wanamaker Trophy.

FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 700 FedExCup points

COURSE: Muirfield Village Golf Club, par 72, 7,569 yards. The Jack Nicklaus/Desmond Muirhead design has held a spot on the PGA TOUR calendar since 1976, two years after the course opened in 1974. The venue’s name is inspired by Muirfield, Scotland, where Nicklaus won his first of three Open Championship titles in 1966.

72-HOLE RECORD: 268, Tom Lehman (1994)

18-HOLE RECORD: 61, John Huston (Round 2, 1996)

LAST TIME: Scottie Scheffler dominated through the week, and after a 2-under 70 in the final round, he had topped the field by four shots. And, in the process, joined Tiger Woods as the only repeat winners at the Jack Nicklaus-hosted event. Scheffler, who made just one bogey over the final 40 holes at Muirfield Village, won for the third time in four starts. Ben Griffin made it interesting late with an eagle and a birdie on Nos. 15 and 16, respectively, but gave most of it back with a double bogey on the penultimate hole. Sepp Straka finished solo third, Nick Taylor finished solo fourth, and Russell Henley and Maverick McNealy rounded out the top five.

How to follow (all times ET)

Special programming alerts:

• PGA TOUR LIVE Betcast Preview Show presented by DraftKings: Get a first look at featured groups, markets, odds and more.
  • Tuesday: 1 p.m., ESPN+
• PGA TOUR LIVE Betcast presented by DraftKings: Get your betting coverage and analysis for the Memorial on ESPN+ throughout the week for an all-day, watch-and-bet experience for golf fans.
  • Thursday-Friday: 7:45 a.m.-6 p.m.
  • Saturday-Sunday: 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
• NCAA Men's Golf Championship: Watch the top college stars compete for individual and team national championships at the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California.
  • Monday (individual championship): 5:30-9:30 p.m., Golf Channel
  • Tuesday (team quarterfinals, semifinals): 1-10 p.m., Golf Channel
  • Wednesday (team championship): 6-10 p.m., Golf Channel

Television:

• Thursday-Friday: 2-6 p.m. (Golf Channel)
• Saturday-Sunday: 12:30-2:30 p.m. (Golf Channel); 2:30-6 p.m. (CBS)

PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+:

• Thursday-Friday: 7:45 a.m.-6 p.m.
• Saturday-Sunday: 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

PGA TOUR LIVE is available exclusively on ESPN+ and consists of four streams:

• Main feed (Stream 1): Primary tournament coverage featuring the best action from across the course
• Marquee group (Stream 2): New "marquee group" showcasing every shot from each player in the group
• Featured groups (Stream 3): Traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups
• Featured holes (Stream 4): Betting coverage and analysis throughout the week

PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and free at PGATOUR.com/liveaudio:

• Thursday-Friday: noon-6 p.m.
• Saturday-Sunday: 1-6 p.m.