The Memorial Tournament 2024 Preview, Picks & Analysis

Viktor Hovland's astonishing 2023 really got going 12 months ago when he won The Memorial at Muirfield Village. He would go on to secure the FedEx Cup with some stellar play at the end of the season before making the extraordinary decision to change swing coaches.

Mercifully, common sense has prevailed, he has returned to what he knows best and has returned to form, seriously challenging at the PGA Championship at Valhalla.

Hovland will fancy his chances of making a successful title defence with the US Open at Pinehurst just around the corner. But the Norwegian will have to hold off a world-class field if he is to do so. It includes world number one Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Wyndham Clark, Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay, Shane Lowry, Tony Finau, Collin Morikawa and a resurgent Keegan Bradley.

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

This could be the week that things turn around for Justin Thomas. After enduring a miserable time of it in 2023, the American is at last beginning to show signs of a return to form.

His best finish at Muirfield Village came in 2017 when he finished in a tie for fourth place. His scoring average at Muirfield Village sits at 72.21 with career earnings of $809,410. He has recorded six top-25 finishes in 10 starts this season, including three top-10s. Thomas has 15 PGA Tour victories to his name, including two wins at the PGA Championships. He has had three multi-win seasons with his best campaign coming in 2016-17 with five wins, the FedExCup title and the Jack Nicklaus Award as the PGA Tour Player of the Year.

Newly-crowned PGA champion Xander Schauffele will be looking to close the gap on Scottie Scheffler at the top of the world rankings. Schauffele, 30, landed his eighth PGA Tour victory and first major title at the 106th PGA Championship with a record-breaking 21-under-par performance at Valhalla Golf Club that took him to second in the world rankings.

His breakthrough win was his 11th top-10 finish in a major, including two second places and he has finally rid himself of the title of the best golfer never to have won a major. He has been a model of consistency in 2024 with nine top-10s in 13 starts, including runner-up finishes at The Players Championship and Wells Fargo Championship. Since turning professional in 2015, Schauffele has recorded an incredible 114 top-25 finishes, five coming at the Memorial Tournament over six starts, his best in 2021 with a tied 11th. 

Lowry, 37, captured his third career PGA Tour victory at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with McIlroy. He is enjoying a fine season, including a tied sixth at the PGA, where he recorded a third round of 62. This will be his eighth start at Muirfield Village, including a tied sixth three years ago. 

Speaking of McIlroy, he will still be smarting after slipping to fourth place in the world rankings. Don’t hold your breath for that improving this week. If McIlroy is to have any chance of winning here then he is going to have to drive the ball superbly. The rough at Muirfield Village is always pretty punishing. And the greens are among the most difficult on the PGA Tour.

Finau has four top-20 finishes here and an impressive scoring average of 71.04 on one of the toughest golf courses in America. He finished tied second at the Houston Open and has been quietly going about his business this season. A six-time PGA Tour winner, he has had eight top-25 finishes in 2024.

Open champion Brian Harman has grown in stature since picking up the Claret Jug last July. One of the best putters in the game, he is currently ranked No. 11 in the world on the back of seven top-25s, including a tie for second at the Players Championship. He will make his 10th start at the Memorial and is looking to improve on a pretty poor record - his best finish was a tie for eighth in 2022.

Morikawa will make his fifth start in the Memorial Tournament, where his best result came in 2021 with a second-place finish after a playoff loss to Patrick Cantlay. He has enjoyed six PGA Tour victories since turning professional in 2019. During his 2019-20 campaign, Morikawa won the Workday Charity Open and his first major, the PGA Championship. In 2021, Morikawa added his second major championship at The Open at Royal St George’s. After a slump in form, he is now back to his best, with five top 10s in 2024, the highlights to date being a tie for third at The Masters and a tie for fourth at the PGA. He followed that with another fourth place at the Charles Schwab Challenge. He is now back in the top 10 in the world rankings and sixth in the FedEx Cup. 

Bradley won twice during the 2022-23 season and was extremely unlucky to miss out on a Ryder Cup berth. That form has continued, with a tie for second at the Sony Open in Hawaii and solo second at the recent Charles Schwab Challenge. 

Cantlay is a course specialist having won this tournament twice, but the world number nine is having a quiet season by his own high standards. Nevertheless, he has had a tied fourth at the Genesis and a tied third at the RBC Heritage to his credit and will be hoping to draw on some positive memories at Muirfield Village.

This is one of the PGA Tour’s signature events, which means a restricted field and a huge prize fund.

Tournament Winners:

It was won in 2015 by David Lingmerth, in 2016 by William McGirt, in 2017 by Jason Dufner, in 2018 by Bryson DeChambeau, in 2019 and 2021 by Patrick Cantlay, in 2020 by Jon Rahm, in 2022 by Billy Horschel and last year by Viktor Hovland.

The Course:

Muirfield Village was designed by Jack Nicklaus and provides one of the toughest tests on the PGA Tour every year. With the US Open just around the corner it gets the world’s best players in the right mindset. It opened in 1974, measures 7,553 yards and is a par 72. Accuracy is essential as the rough is punishing and the greens are extremely fast. After the tournament in 2020 the course was extensively renovated, with every green rebuilt and bunkers enlarged and deepened. Nicklaus described it as "his final bite at the apple".

Form Guide:

Scottie Scheffler will, of course, start as favourite once again. His run of form in 2024 shows no sign of coming to an end, but I have a sneaky feeling that this week is going to come down to a shootout between Collin Morikawa, who has been making steady progress since The Masters, and defending champion Viktor Hovland, who is finally back to his best.

To Win:

Collin Morikawa. Has done everything but win in 2024

Each Way:

Viktor Hovland. Common sense has finally prevailed

Each Way:

Scottie Scheffler. A machine

Five to Follow:

Collin Morikawa. Gone back to what he knows 

Viktor Hovland. Adores this course

Scottie Scheffler. He can’t win again, can he?

Xander Schauffele. Super consistent

Justin Thomas. Finding his way back