Horses for Courses: the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday
4 Min Read
All-time shots from the Memorial Tournament
The 47th Memorial Tournament kicks off the June portion of the 2021-2022 season as Jack Nicklaus and Muirfield Village Golf Club play host in the Columbus, Ohio, suburb of Dublin.
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Memories from past Memorials have forced us to remember Jack Nicklaus, even in his 80s, cannot and will not sit still. His course and event is at the forefront of challenge the modern player and if that takes tinkering each year, so be it.
Our memory of 2020 before the changes were made is Jon Rahm blowing away the field with his epic ball-striking and short game. The golf course was on the edge, as it was being replaced the moment the tournament ended, but that didn't bother Rahm. He was one of two players to post a round in the 60s on Saturday and not even his final round 75 (including a two stroke penalty) made the tournament interesting as he won by three.
The changes after the 2020 edition were the "one last bite" for the great player and course designer. Greens were expanded and softened to add extra hole locations. Bentgrass surfaces were brand new. Fairways were shifted to make misses off the tee more punitive.
New design, no problem.
The Spaniard sat on 18-under thru 54 holes in 2021, setting the tournament record. Speaking of records, he had 18 more holes to beat the mark that has stood since 1994, Tom Lehman and 20-under.
And then COVID-19.
Rahm and his six stroke lead were forced to WD, as per rules, as his test from earlier in the weekend came back positive.
No tournament scoring record.
No repeat champion.
Rahm would return in two weeks to win the U.S. Open title and will return this week for a bit of unsettled business.
The show must and did go on. 2019 winner Patrick Cantlay knocked out Collin Morikawa in a playoff to take his second Memorial title in three years. All three players mentioned above are in the field this week.
Annual course changes keep the invitational field on their toes as they arrive in late spring to see what The Golden Bear has in store for them this time around. The 2022 scorecard will have the standard Par-72 stretching to 7,533, 10 yards shorter than the 2021 edition. The Bentgrass putting surfaces have had another full year to settle in.
The slick, pure Bentgrass will run truer (and faster) plus approach shots should not trampoline off into the four inches of Bluegrass and Fescue as frequently. Water is in play on 13 of the 18 holes and 68 bunkers will penalize errant tee balls and approaches.
The invitational field of 120 will be chasing a prize pool of $12 million with the winner taking home $2.16 million plus 550 FedExCup points.
Let's find some horses for courses!
Horses for Courses
At least one Top 10 finish in the last five Memorial Tournaments
| Recent Winners (Cuts made/events entered) | Top 10 | Top 25 | 2022 BET MGM ODDS Win, Top 10, Top 20 |
| 2021: Patrick Cantlay (5/5) | 3 | 3 | +1600; +150; -150 |
| 2020: Jon Rahm (3/3) | 1 | 1 | +1000; +100; -190 |
| 2019: Patrick Cantlay (5/5) | 3 | 3 | +1600; +150; -150 |
| 2018: Bryson DeChambeau (4/5) | 1 | 3 | +8000; +600; +275 |
| 2017: Jason Dufner (7/10) | 2 | 4 | +50000; +3300; +1200 |
| Veteran Presence (Cuts made/events entered) | Top 10 | Top 25 | 2022 BET MGM ODDS Win, Top 10, Top 20 |
| Patrick Reed (6/6) | 3 | 3 | +4000; +400; +180 |
| Jason Day (8/12) | 1 | 2 | +8000; +600; +250 |
| Adam Scott (12/13) | 4 | 6 | +8000; +600; +250 |
| Kevin Streelman (9/13) | 3 | 6 | +12500; +800; +333 |
| Marc Leishman (12/13) | 2 | 4 | +8000; +550; +250 |
| Hideki Matsuyama (6/8) | 3 | 4 | +2800; +275; +175 |
| Jordan Spieth (8/9) | 2 | 6 | +2000; +200; -110 |
| Billy Horschel (6/8) | 1 | 4 | +6600; +500; +200 |
| Emiliano Grillo (4/6) | 1 | 3 | +25000; +1800; +700 |
| Rickie Fowler (8/12) | 3 | 6 | +12500; +750; +300 |
| Patrick Rodgers (4/6) | 1 | 2 | +15000; +900; +400 |
| Rory McIlroy (8/10) | 4 | 6 | +1100; +250; -175 |
| Gaining Traction (Cuts made/events entered) | Top 10 | Top 25 | 2022 BET MGM ODDS Win, Top 10, Top 20 |
| Collin Morikawa (2/2) | 1 | 1 | +2000; +200; -110 |
| Shane Lowry (3/5) | 1 | 2 | +2500; +240; +110 |
| Max Homa (2/3) | 1 | 1 | +3300; +333; +150 |
| Aaron Wise (1/3) | 1 | 1 | +6600; +550; +275 |
| Ryan Palmer (3/6) | 1 | 1 | +10000; +750; +333 |
| Matt Fitzpatrick (2/3) | 1 | 1 | +2500; +225; +100 |
| Luke List (2/5) | 1 | 1 | +15000; +900; +400 |
| Joaquin Niemann (2/4) | 1 | 1 | +4000; +350; +160 |
| Anirban Lahiri (4/4) | 1 | 1 | +15000; +900; +350 |
| Francesco Molinari (1/2) | 1 | 1 | +20000; +1400; +550 |
| Select Past Winners (Cuts made/events entered) | Top 10 | Top 25 | 2022 BET MGM ODDS Win, Top 10, Top 20 |
| 2016: William McGirt (5/8) | 1 | 1 | +50000; +3300; +1400 |
| 2015: David Lingmerth (7/9) | +50000; +3300; +1100 | ||
| 2013: Matt Kuchar (13/16) | 7 | 10 | +8000; +600; +250 |
Odds sourced on Tuesday, May 10th at 3 p.m. ET. For live odds visit betmgm.
Notes
• The 2020 Workday, a one-off event, played before the 2020 Memorial was won by Collin Morikawa.
• Tournament record: 268; Tom Lehman, 1994.
• Course record: 61; John Huston, 1996
• Oldest winner: 47; Kenny Perry, 2008.
• Youngest winner: 22; Hideki Matsuyama, 2014.
• Most wins: 7; Tiger Woods.
• Multiple winners: 7; Cantlay (2) is the only one entered this year.
• First time winner on TOUR (last): David Lingmerth, 2016.
• Winner on debut (last): Matsuyama, 2014.
• Only two players have won more than twice as Tiger Woods (7) and Kenny Perry (3) are the only members of that exclusive club.
• Rahm and Cantlay both have sub-70 scoring averages here.
• Patrick Reed hit the top 10 in his last two visits and T29 or better in his last five.
• Cuts made streaks: Marc Leishman (11), Pat Perez (10), Adam Scott (8), Lucas Glover (8), Kevin Streelman (7), Patrick Reed (6), Brendan Steele (6) and Russell Knox (6).
• Veteran Stewart Cink has been paid in 22 of his 24 visits.
Recent Event Winner Stats
| Year | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
| Winner | Patrick Cantlay | Jon Rahm | Patrick Cantlay |
| Score | 275 (-13) | 279 (-9) | 269 (-19) |
| MOV | Playoff (Morikawa) | 3 (Palmer) | 2 (Scott) |
| Cut | 2-over | 3-over | 1-over |
| Age | 29 | 25 | 27 |
| Pre Tournament Odds | +2000 | +2000 | +1400 |
| Disantance - All Drives | 23 | T15 | 2 |
| Driving Accuarcy | T28 | T4 | T51 |
| GIR | T1 | T3 | T11 |
| Ball-Striking | T4 | T7 | |
| Proximity | 21 | T20 | T10 |
| Putting: Birdie or Better % | 18 | T11 | 2 |
| SG: Off-the-Tee | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| SG: Approach-the-Green | 5 | 4 | 5 |
| SG: Around-the-Green | 3 | 3 | 5 |
| SG: Putting | 19 | 28 | 7 |
| SG: Tee-to-Green | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Scrambling | 6 | T3 | 5 |
| Bogey Avoidance | T1 | T2 | |
| Par-3 Scoring | T6 | T8 | T4 |
| Par-4 Scoring | 1 | T4 | T2 |
| Par-5 Scoring | T23 | T2 | T1 |
Key stat leaders
Top golfers in each statistic on the 2021-2022 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week.
| Strokes Gained: Tee to Green | |
| Rank | Player |
| 1 | Will Zalatoris |
| 2 | Jon Rahm |
| 3 | Rory McIlroy |
| 5 | Matt Fitzpatrick |
| 5 | Luke List |
| 7 | Jordan Spieth |
| 8 | Chris Kirk |
| 9 | Xander Schauffele |
| 10 | Sungjae Im |
| 11 | Daniel Berger |
| 12 | Joaquin Niemann |
| 14 | Cameron Young |
| 15 | Cameron Smith |
| Strokes Gained: Putting | |
| Rank | Player |
| 3 | Lucas Herbert |
| 4 | Beau Hossler |
| 5 | Denny McCarthy |
| 9 | Cameron Smith |
| 10 | Matt Fitzpatrick |
| 12 | Mackenzie Hughes |
| 13 | Matt Kuchar |
| 14 | Marc Leishman |
| 15 | Troy Merritt |
| 16 | Billy Horschel |
| 21 | Alex Noren |
| Strokes Gained: Around the Green | |
| Rank | Player |
| 1 | Matt Kuchar |
| 2 | Danny Willett |
| 4 | Sungjae Im |
| 6 | Matt Jones |
| 7 | William McGirt |
| 8 | Chris Kirk |
| 10 | Joaquin Niemann |
| 11 | Matt Fitzpatrick |
| 12 | Charles Howell III |
| 14 | Pat Perez |
| 17 | Daniel Berger |
| 21 | Adam Hadwin |