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Memorial Tournament 2017: 5 groups to watch in Rounds 1 & 2

By Luke Norris

Apr 5, 2016; Augusta, GA, USA; Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson prepare to tee-off on the 1st hole during a practice round for the 2016 Masters at Augusta National GC. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 5, 2016; Augusta, GA, USA; Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson prepare to tee-off on the 1st hole during a practice round for the 2016 Masters at Augusta National GC. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jul 14, 2015; St. Andrews, Scotland, GBR; Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson stand on the 17th green waiting their turn to putt during a practice round for the 144th Open Championship at Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /

1. Dustin Johnson, William McGirt, Phil Mickelson

Round 1: 10th tee, 8:37 a.m.

Round 2: 1st tee, 1:27 p.m.

Normally, with all due respect, a group with William McGirt in it wouldn’t really be headline news but given the fact that he’s the defending champion, he deserves to be in the number one spot. It doesn’t hurt that world No.1 Dustin Johnson and five-time major champion Phil Mickelson are grouped with him, does it? McGirt, a 37-year-old journeyman who bounced around the mini-tours for years, had never won a PGA TOUR event but came to Muirfield Village last year and played extremely well, shooting 15-under for the week and winning in a playoff with Jon Curran. McGirt jumped 58 spots in the world rankings to No. 44 following his win and has stayed pretty consistent in the last year. He was in the field at the TOUR Championship and tied for 17th and has three top-10 finishes since then, including a recent third-place finish at the RBC Heritage. He’ll look to become the second back-to-back winner in Memorial Tournament history. Tiger Woods won this event three years in a row from 2000-2002.

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It’s not often that Dustin Johnson gets bumped to the second paragraph but McGirt earned his top spot, which is where DJ currently sits in the world rankings and for good reason. Since last year’s TOUR Championship, Johnson has played in 12 tournaments and has finished sixth or better in eight of those, including three consecutive victories earlier this year. He’s the favorite in any tournament that he enters and that goes for this week as well. He’s played very well here the last couple of years, finishing in a tie for 13th two years ago and solo third in 2016. If you’re looking for Dustin Johnson this week, just look near the top of the leaderboard and he’ll most likely be there.

Rounding out this trio is Phil Mickelson, who first played the Memorial all the way back in 1991 — he finished in 66th place that week. Over the years, Lefty has had some close calls at Muirfield Village but has never managed to win this prestigious event. He finished tied for fourth in 2006 and tied for fifth in 2010 but as it was with a lot of people, Tiger Woods was around and won this event a record five times so sometimes, it was difficult for anyone else to do so. Mickelson tied for 20th a year ago. Is this the week he can finally get a win at the Memorial? We’ll find out starting on Thursday.

Next: Memorial Tournament Round 1 & 2 tee times

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