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2021 Memorial Tournament: Top 10 power rankings at Muirfield Village

By Mike Randleman

Jun 1, 2017; Dublin, OH, USA; A tournament flag flies during the first round of The Memorial golf tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 1, 2017; Dublin, OH, USA; A tournament flag flies during the first round of The Memorial golf tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports /
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May 27, 2021; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; Justin Thomas hits his tee shot on #6 during the first round of the Charles Schwab Challenge golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports
May 27, 2021; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; Justin Thomas hits his tee shot on #6 during the first round of the Charles Schwab Challenge golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports /

Justin Thomas struggled at Muirfield Village early in his career, but he’s getting the hang of it lately.

Since 2017, JT owns three top-10s including second (68-66-66-69) at the 2020 Workday Charity Open where he led late on Sunday and lost in a thrilling playoff to Collin Morikawa.

Thomas also posted T-4th (67-71-69-72) in 2017, T-8th (72-69-68-68) in 2018 and T-18th (74-67-75-74) at the 2020 Memorial. He did miss the cut in 2019, although it was in his first start coming off a wrist injury.

“This is as close as I get to home. That’s not the reason I play. I play because I love the golf course and I really do feel like I’m going to win this event at some point in my career,” Thomas was quoted by ASAP Sports in 2019. He grew up approximately three hours away in Louisville, Kentucky. “I really do like it. I’ve played it well. I’ve missed two cuts here, but I’ve played it well in other years past.”

Thomas didn’t compound his first missed cut since February when he MC’d at the PGA Championship. He posted a T-40th last week at Colonial where a Friday 66 was the highlight for an otherwise middling performance by his lofty standards.

Thomas has gone a bit cold, but the 2020-21 PGA Tour season has been far from a lost cause.

He’s got a win at the Players Championship, T-2nd at the Zozo Championship and fourth at the 2020 Masters, to name a few. But a guy of his ilk probably feels like he should have at least two or three trophies by now.

There’s still half of the major season, the FedEx Cup Playoffs and Ryder Cup to turn an OK season into a great one. Thomas is plenty of capable of winning at a course like Muirfield Village that plays to his strengths. Beating a high-quality field would be a big shot of confidence before Torrey Pines.

The 28-year-old ranks second on the PGA Tour in strokes gained approach (.977). A Nicklaus course will never crush a golfer for playing to the fat of the green, but they tend to reward players skilled enough to shape the ball to the right portion of the putting surface to make birdies.

That’s Thomas’ bread and butter. His short game has been sharp, ranking 17th in SG around the green (.34). Add in that he’s 17th in par-5 scoring and there’s a lot to like.

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