THE OVERVIEW DUBLIN, Ohio – To win on the PGA TOUR is always special, but to win at Jack’s place, that is something else entirely. The enormity of winning at Muirfield Village and shaking the hand of arguably the greatest golfer to ever play the game in Jack Nicklaus, the tournament host, is not lost on William McGirt. The defending champion is still pinching himself after his incredible up-and-down on the 72nd hole last year to secure victory in front of an idol. “Anytime you get to shake his hand, it’s a pretty special moment,â€� McGirt grinned as he seeks to become the first to defend the Memorial Tournament since Tiger Woods in 2000-2001. “Coming back here to his place, he’s put so much time and effort into making this place his own Augusta National, and to come back here as defending champion it’s honestly a dream come true.â€� A large part of the field these days never saw Nicklaus play golf, and certainly didn’t witness his prime as he worked his way to 73 PGA TOUR wins and 18 majors. But they all revere him. And they all love to honor his legacy by being part of the tournament. And it crosses all borders. “Winning here three years ago, I didn’t realize how big a tournament this really is,â€� Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama says. “Since winning, these last three years, I’ve come to realize what an important event the Memorial Tournament is. There’s a different feel here at the Memorial tournament … the course, the fans, Mr. Nicklaus hosting, it’s a special event and always will be to me.â€� Of the 31 different players to have won the tournament (some have won multiple times), 16 are major champions. It’s a who’s who of modern day golf. This year, five FedExCup champions are in the field in Jordan Spieth (2015), Billy Horschel (2014), Bill Haas (2011), Jim Furyk (2010) and Vijay Singh (2008) while 10 of the top 10 in the current FedExCup Standings are here, highlighted by Dustin Johnson who is No. 1. Nine of the 10 winners of the Memorial Tournament since the inception of the FedExCup in 2007 have qualified for the season-ending TOUR Championship. McGirt advanced to last year’s TOUR Championship for the first time in his career, posting a T17 at East Lake to finish a career-high No. 24 in the FedExCup. THREE PLAYERS TO PONDER Dustin Johnson The FedExCup leader has matched his career-high with three wins this season. Could he make the Memorial No. 4? He finished a shot outside a playoff last year. Jon Rahm He arrives at Muirfield Village with a TOUR-leading seven top 10s in 14 starts this season, including a runner up last week at the DEAN & DELUCA Invitational. Jason Day The Muirfield Village member is still seeking his first top-10 at the Memorial, but is coming off a runner-up finish in his last start (AT&T Byron Nelson). THE FLYOVER A closer look at Muirfield Village’s difficult finishing hole, the 484-yard, par-4 18th hole. It was the second-most difficult hole at last year’s Memorial Tournament, playing to a 4.15 scoring average. There were just 56 birdies on the uphill hole last year, compared to 103 scores of bogey or worse. It was the fifth-hardest fairway (59.3 percent) and third-hardest green (51.3 percent) to hit in 2016. THE LANDING ZONE Muirfield Village’s final hole gets most of the attention, but the 17th is no slouch. The 478-yard, par-4 was the third-hardest hole at Muirfield Village last year, playing just one one-hundredth of a stroke easier than No. 18. Seventy-three percent of the field hit the fairway last year, but fewer than half the players (46.6 percent) were able to hit the green in regulation. WEATHER CHECK Dry weather is forecast on Thursday, but central Ohio will enter a stormy weather pattern from Friday afternoon through Sunday as a frontal boundary stalls across the region. The weekend is not expected to be a washout, but there will be scattered showers and thunderstorms across the area each day. TEMPS: The mercury may never reach past 80 degrees this week, and morning lows will be in the 50s and 60s. TOUR players will get to enjoy some cool temperatures before summer arrives. RAIN: As is often the case, thunderstorms are in the forecast for the Memorial Tournament. There is a chance of thunderstorms from Friday to Sunday. WINDS: Friday and Sunday are forecast to be the breeziest days, but winds are never expected to surpass 20 mph. SOUND CHECK You can get murdered at 14. And a lot of guys do get murdered at 14. 16 turned out to be a strongest hole on the golf course. 17 is a strong par-4. And 18 is a strong par-4. Those three holes – I suppose what I tried to do was strengthen up the finish of the golf tournament, I think I accomplished that. ODDS AND ENDS 1. William McGirt waited a long time for his first PGA TOUR victory. More than 37 years, to be exact. He earned that first win at last year’s Memorial Tournament in a playoff over Jon Curran. Dustin Johnson, who was in the midst of his Player of the Year season, finished a shot back. McGirt arrives at Muirfield Village after appearing on early-week leaderboards at the Masters and THE PLAYERS, eventually finishing 22nd in both events. He points to last year’s win as a reason for his good play in big events. “The biggest thing was confidence, knowing that I could get the job done out here now, especially against the best players in the world,â€� McGirt said. “If you look at the leaderboard on Sunday last year, I mean it was top-10 players in the world, it seemed like every one of them were up there. It was just nice to get that done. … It’s just been huge in many, many ways. So much of it you just can’t put into words.â€� 2. Muirfield Village was the site of Hideki Matsuyama’s first Presidents Cup appearance (2013) and his first PGA TOUR victory, at the 2014 Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. He also finished fifth in his title defense. His strong iron play makes him a good fit for Muirfield Village, where players hit tee shots into wide, forgiving fairways but are challenged on the approach shots. Matsuyama ranks in the top 15 in proximity to the hole from 125-150 yards, 150-175, 175-200 and more than 200 yards. He’s also eight in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee. The putter is often the question mark for Matsuyama, who ranks 182nd in Strokes Gained: Putting. Matsuyama ranks second in the FedExCup, 405 points behind Dustin Johnson, but is seeking his first top-10 since winning the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February. “It has been an up-and-down year. Hopefully I’m on the upswing, but to be honest, my swing isn’t where I’d like it to be and I’m not putting very well,â€� Matsuyama said. “But really coming back to Muirfield Village, there are some special vibes here and hopefully that will encourage my game to play much better than I have been the last couple of months.â€� 3. Kisner’s big win: Kevin Kisner arrives at Muirfield Village as the PGA TOUR’s most recent winner, having claimed the DEAN & DELUCA Invitational on Sunday. It was the culmination of an eight-tournament stretch that saw him collect that win and two runners-up (Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, Zurich Classic of New Orleans) to move to seventh in the FedExCup standings and virtually lock up a spot on the Presidents Cup team. He’d love nothing more than to continue his good play at Muirfield Village, where he finished eighth in 2015. “I love the golf course, love the place. This tournament has a little extra special feel. It’s Mr. Nicklaus’ tournament, so it’s a lot like Bay Hill, Mr. Palmer’s tournament. When you get here they treat you well,â€� Kisner said. “The golf course is sweet. It’s demanding, but still you can make a lot of birdies. So that’s the cool thing about courses on Tour when you can still shoot 5 or 6 under, but if you don’t shoot well you’re going to shoot a couple over.â€�
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