Big names added to an already-stacked field at the Memorial

Two big names have been added to an already-stacked field at the Memorial Tournament, the PGA Tour event hosted annually by Jack Nicklaus.

The Memorial Tournament, held annually on the PGA TOUR since Jack Nicklaus founded the event in 1976, is always a highlight of the season and this year will surely be no different.

Some of the biggest names in the history of the sport have won at Muirfield, including The Golden Bear himself, who won at Muirfield Village (a course he also designed) in 1977 and 1984. Other notable winners at the Memorial include Tiger Woods (five wins), Kenny Perry (three wins), Tom Watson (two wins), Hale Irwin (two wins), Greg Norman (two wins), Raymond Floyd, Curtis Strange, Fred Couples, Vijay Singh, Tom Lehman, Paul Azinger, Jim Furyk, Ernie Els and on and on and on, the point being that the world’s best want to play the Memorial. And with this being just one of a handful of tournaments with “invitational” status, when Jack asks you to come and play, you go and play.

The field at the Memorial is perennially one of the strongest fields outside of major championships and now the World Golf Championships and that will once again be the case this time around. Before Wednesday, the field was already stacked with world No. 1 Dustin Johnson, No. 2 Rory McIlroy, No. 3 and 2014 winner Hideki Matsuyama, No. 4 Jason Day, No. 8 and 2010 winner Justin Rose and No. 9 Adam Scott heading to Columbus in a couple of weeks.

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And now, two more big names have been added to the mix as both Jordan Spieth, currently ranked sixth in the world, and Phil Mickelson, still world No. 21 at age 46, announced on Wednesday that they will be in attendance. Spieth will be playing in his fifth Memorial, his highest finish being a T-3 in his crazy-hot 2015, and Lefty will tee it up for the 17th time at Jack’s place, his best finish being a tie for fourth back in 2006. Mickelson also announced plans to play at the Colonial and the FedEx St. Jude Classic, which means he’ll play three straight tournaments before heading to Erin Hills for another crack at the U.S. Open and the career Grand Slam.

Also in the Memorial field this week are Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm, meaning nine of the top 12 players in the latest Official World Golf Ranking will be at Muirfield. William McGirt won his first PGA TOUR event a year ago here by beating Jon Curran in a playoff. The Memorial Tournament takes place June 1-4.

Next: 5 groups to watch at the AT&T Byron Nelson

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