Jack Nicklaus sure knows how to host an event.
The Memorial Tournament, this week's stop on the PGA Tour, is at the beautifully-crafted Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio. Nicklaus is the founder and host of the event that annually boasts one of the stronger fields on tour.
The course is designed to replicate Augusta National, and the par-3 12th is a near duplicate to Augusta's 12th hole. This week, Tiger Woods returns to action at a tournament he's won five times (most recently in 2012), as he looks to establish his form heading into the year's final three majors.
Here are this week's top players to watch:
Hideki Matsuyama (World Golf Ranking: 14): Matsuyama won here last year in a playoff over Kevin Na. Curiously, two of the top five finishers from a year ago aren't in the field (Adam Scott and Bubba Watson), so Matsuyama comes in as the favorite after his success last year and a fifth-place finish at "big brother" Augusta National.
Dustin Johnson (8): D.J. added to his growing reputations as the most talented yet head-scratching player on tour in last week's AT&T Byron Nelson. He recorded four birdies and 13 pars in Sunday's round, but made a messy quadruple bogey on the par-4 sixth hole to knock himself out of contention. The longer hitters usually fare well at Muirfield, and Johnson certainly is that.
Justin Rose (6): Rose has had an interesting season. He owns a win (Zurich Classic) and a runner-up (Masters), but hasn't finished in the top 35 in his eight other starts on the PGA Tour. It's hard to predict which Rose will show up week to week, but this is his time of year.
Jordan Spieth (2): Spieth's tie for 30th last week ended his streak of three straight runner-up finishes in his home state of Texas. With two wins already to his name this year, Spieth seeks to become the first three-time winner in 2015.
Jim Furyk (5): Furyk has won (2002) and finished second (1997, 2009) here, and is starting to show some form this season. The 45-year-old hasn't slowed down much in recent seasons, despite nearing that dreaded Champions Tour age, so expect to see Furyk on the first page of the leaderboard this weekend.
Jason Day (10): Day, 27, is arguably the most frustrating player on tour. This year, he has four top-fives, including a win at the Farmers Insurance Open, but only has one top-five since February. After withdrawing last week, it will be interesting to see how Day can fair on this course. His success at Augusta also makes him intriguing this week.
Rickie Fowler (7): It looked like Fowler was going to contend across the pond last week at the Irish Open, but finished his third round with an 8 on consecutive holes. Not good. Despite the mini-meltdown, Fowler seems to be playing solid golf after his breakthrough win at the Players Championship.
Chris Kirk (16): Kirk returns to the course for the first time since his win at Colonial. With four top-20s in his past six starts, it would appear Kirk has turned the corner on what had been a disappointing start to the season.
Kevin Kisner (61): Kisner's breakout season has come out of nowhere, but it's hard to ignore a guy with three top-fives in his past five starts. His solid iron game should keep him afloat on this lengthy course.
Tommy Fleetwood (49): The 24-year-old Englishman impressed at the WGC-Cadillac Match Play by making it out of a tough group, and has three top-six finishes in his past six starts worldwide.
Others to watch:
Phil Mickelson (19): Mickelson, somewhat quietly, has two top-fours in his past three starts (t2 Masters, t4 Wells Fargo) and looks to be hitting his stride entering a busy summer schedule. That bodes well for Mickelson, who has struggled to find consistency in recent seasons.
Tiger Woods (172): For a while, we've looked at Woods' world ranking with a grain of salt, realizing there's been a number of things holding him back. But seeing him so far down the list is a bit startling.
Matt Kuchar (18): Who is that Doppelganger playing with Kuchar's clubs? The usually consistent top-10 presence has managed one such finish in his past 10 starts. He's won (2013) and finished second (2011) here, so a positive result could be close.
Young Guns:
Daniel Berger, 22
Ryo Ishikawa, 23
Carlos Ortiz, 24
Justin Thomas, 22
Morgan Hoffman, 25