Course Preview and Fits: Memorial Tournament

With Doral, the PGA Championship, and the rest of the spring behind us, the PGA Tour heads to Dublin, Ohio, for the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village, the penultimate signature event of the 2026 calendar. 72 players will compete for a $20 million purse, and unlike most signature events, this one comes with a cut. Muirfield is one of only three player-hosted signature events, alongside the Genesis and the API, that trim the field after 36 holes to the top 50 and ties, plus anyone within 10 of the lead. As is customary for signature events, the field will be star-studded from top to bottom with 23 of the world’s top 25 in attendance.

The Course:

Muirfield Village will host the Memorial once again, set up as a par 72 measuring 7,569 yards on the scorecard. The greens, fairways, and tees are bentgrass, with a bluegrass and rye rough, and the whole property plays firm and fast when the weather cooperates.

To put it bluntly, Muirfield is hard. Since 2015, it has averaged roughly 1.2 strokes over par on an adjusted basis, which makes it one of the most difficult non-major golf courses on Tour. The defenses are what you’d expect from a Jack Nicklaus design at this length, with hard, fast, heavily contoured greens that draw open comparisons to Augusta, and a penalty profile that ranks top 10 on Tour. Muirfield does not afford the luxury of big misses. Wild golf shots anywhere from tee to green can quickly lead to double bogies or worse, and the name of the game here is avoiding disaster through solid ball striking.