SEVEN OF the world’s top 10, including numbers one and two Luke Donald and Rory McIlroy, are in head-to-head combat at Muirfield Village in Ohio this week for the Memorial Tournament.
Lee Westwood, Jason Dufner and Matt Kuchar are the only three missing, which means Tiger Woods is back to try to banish the memory of three bad events in a row and US Masters champion Bubba Watson is playing for only the second time since his triumph at Augusta.
Donald, of course, is flying high with confidence after his successful defence of the BMW PGA Championship on Sunday.
The fact he had another tournament to head for did not stop him celebrating.
After getting back to his home in Chicago he posted on Twitter: “Quick sweat in the gym to get the last of the Moet out! Then off to The Memorial to do it all over again.”
For McIlroy it is a matter of finding some form with his defence of the US Open now only a fortnight away. The 23-year-old Northern Irish man lost top spot to Donald at the weekend after missing his second successive halfway cut, by a worrying eight shots at Wentworth.
McIlroy, who has now entered next week’s St Jude Classic in Memphis, admitted: “I think I might have taken my eye off the ball a little bit.
“Maybe it’s just not practising as hard as I might have been. Pretty much everything went wrong, but I don’t think it will be hard to fix. I just need to hit a lot of balls and get comfortable with my game again. I’m still confident in my abilities.”
He could move back to number one, but that requires him winning and Donald finishing outside the top 13.
Woods has already been at the Olympic Club in San Francisco this week preparing for the second major of the season.
His last three finishes have been 40th in the Masters, missed cut at Quail Hollow and then 40th again at the Players Championship.
In an online chat with fans – the second time this year he has done that rather than a press conference – Woods said he was happy with how things are going with coach Sean Foley.
“We’re excited about what we’re working on. I hadn’t played well in a couple of weeks, but we know what it is,” he said. “It’s a matter of getting reps in and getting the trust in it.”
Watson played in New Orleans three weeks after his first major success, but then announced he was having a month off to devote time to his wife and their newly-adopted baby son.
The left-hander, now fourth in the world, admits he is rusty, but feels ready to resume his career.
“I’ve probably really put in about three days of good, hard practice over the last month,” he said. “It’s a different tired than we’re used to, having a child. A lot of different things going on . . . But I got energised as soon as I got here Sunday afternoon and I’m looking forward to the challenge”.
Also keen to play is Dustin Johnson, out of action with a back injury since before the Masters.
“I really couldn’t do anything for five or six weeks,” he said.
There were rumours circulating about him failing a drugs test, but on that he said: “I just laughed. I mean, it doesn’t bother me. People talk all the time, so people make stuff up, especially when I’m not out here I guess they use their imagination a little too much.”
MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT
Course: Muirfield Village, Dublin, Ohio.
Prize money: $6.2 million (€5 million, €1.6 million to winner).
Length: 7,265 yards. Par: 72. Field: 120.
Course record: 72 holes – 268 Tom Lehman (1994).
Course winners in field: Vijay Singh, Fred Couples, Tiger Woods (4), Jim Furyk, Ernie Els, Carl Petterson, KJ Choi, Justin Rose, Steve Stricker.
Course overview: The Jack Nicklaus design has hosted the event since 1974. Generous fairways are countered by extremely penal bunkers. The greens are in majestic condition. The four par fives are birdie holes.
Defending champion: Steve Stricker.
Key attribute: Accuracy
On television: Sky Sports.
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