Memorial preview: Designated status ups the ante at Jack's place

With the legend Jack Nicklaus serving as the host, the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club was always looked at as a step above the other regularly scheduled PGA TOUR events.

The tournament added even more prestige this year, receiving designated event status and the $20-million purse that comes with it. That has brought a loaded field to Ohio for one of the final tuneups before the U.S. Open.

When: June 1-4
Where: Muirfield Village Golf Club, Dublin, Ohio

How to watch

Last year's result

Billy Horschel won for the seventh time on the PGA TOUR last year, taking a five-shot lead to the final round and cruising to a comfortable victory. Horschel punctuated the day with an incredible 55-foot eagle putt on the 15th hole to put the tournament out of reach.

The win moved Horschel to a career-best 11th in the OWGR, but the Florida alum has plummeted all the way to 35th since. Horschel's had a rough season thus far on TOUR, missing six of his last 12 cuts and posting only one top-10 finish.

Recent winners

2022: Billy Horschel (-13)
2021: Patrick Cantlay (-13)
2020: Jon Rahm (-9)
2019: Patrick Cantlay (-19)
2018: Bryson DeChambeau (-15)
2017: Jason Dufner (-13)
2016: William McGirt (-15)
2015: David Lingmerth (-15)

Featured/Marquee groups

3 reasons to watch

Loaded field, monster purse

Ten of the top-15 players in the world are in the field at Muirfield Village, led by the star-studded trio at the top in Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, and Rory McIlroy. Scheffler and Rahm have passed the top-two slots back and forth all season, buoyed largely by their success in designated events and majors. Rahm was victorious in Hawaii and Riviera before grabbing the green jacket at Augusta in April. Scheffler has taken home both the Phoenix Open and Players Championship. It's a safe bet one of these two will be in the thick of it come Sunday.

Cantlay looking for the triple

Only Tiger Woods and Kenny Perry have ever won the Memorial Tournament at least three times, but Patrick Cantlay can join that group with a victory this week. Cantlay claimed the trophy in 2019 and 2021, an odd-years trend that bodes well for his chances this time out. He's a whopping 35-under in his last four events at Muirfield Village. The 31-year-old hasn't played since a sizzling 66 on Sunday at the PGA Championship that saw him get inside the top 20 for the event.

Can Scheffler fix putting woes?

Scheffler is on an absolutely bananas run of consistent play throughout this wraparound season.

What's even more impressive is that he's been doing it despite struggling mightily with the putter almost the entire time. Scheffler has now dropped all the way to 114th on TOUR this season in strokes gained: putting. That falls well back of his 58th-place standing in that category last year. He's been able to stay in contention all season thanks to some otherworldly ball-striking. According to Rick Gehman of CBS Sports, Scheffler gained an absurd 15 strokes: tee to green last week at Colonial but couldn't get the victory due to his putting. It's the third event this season that Scheffler has hit those numbers in an event, with nobody else doing it once.

Betting odds

Scottie Scheffler +700
Jon Rahm +750
Patrick Cantlay +1,100
Rory McIlroy +1,400
Xander Schauffele +1,400
Viktor Hovland +1,800
Collin Morikawa +2,200
Justin Thomas +2,500
Tyrrell Hatton +2,500
Jason Day +2,800
Matthew Fitzpatrick +3,000
Cameron Young +3,300
Hideki Matsuyama +3,300
Jordan Spieth +3,300
Sungjae Im +3,300
Rickie Fowler +3,500

Odds via theScore Bet