Woods has won the tournament a record five times and while it would be surprising to see him add a sixth title to his collection, his first competitive start since February has predictably generated the kind of excitement that normally accompanies his appearances.
The 15-time major winner hasn’t played competitively since February 16, when he shot 77 in the final round of the Genesis Invitational and finished last among those who made the cut.
He subsequently pulled out of the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship due to back problems, before the novel coronavirus pandemic intervened to grind golf to a halt.
Woods sat out the first four events the PGA Tour has held since returning from the coronavirus-enforced lockdown last month, citing a desire to put safety first.
“I just felt it was better to stay at home and be safe,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
“I’m used to playing with lots of people around me or having lots of people have a direct line to me, and that puts not only myself in danger but my friends and family, and just been at home practicing and social distancing and being away from a lot of people.”
Woods finished tied for ninth at Muirfield Village 12 months ago and Dustin Johnson expects him to be immediately competitive, despite the five-month layoff.
“Obviously it’s tough to simulate competition, but if anybody will be ready to play after not playing for five months, I think Tiger will be,” he told a news conference.
“I don’t think he would come back and play this week if he wasn’t ready.”
The PGA Tour is just as eager as Woods to keep the bio-secure bubble intact. Tour organizers have implemented more stringent measures after Denny McCarthy, Cameron Champ and caddies for Graeme McDowell and Brooks Koepka tested positive at the Travelers Championship at the end of June.
Under the revised protocol, all the remaining PGA Tour events this year will be held behind closed doors—but there may be an exception to social distancing on Sunday, with Jack Nicklaus planning to shake the winner’s hand.
The gesture is a long-standing tradition of the Memorial Tournament, which the 18-time major winner founded in 1976.
“I’m going to shake their hand,” Nicklaus, who will be inside the Tour’s “bubble” this week, was quoted as saying by Golf.com. “I’m going to walk right out there and shake their hand. If they don’t want to shake my hand, that’s fine. I’ll give them a fist bump or an elbow bump, but I’m not going to give them COVID-19.
“I wouldn’t want to put anybody in that position. I wouldn’t do that, and if I was in danger of doing that, I wouldn’t shake the hands.”
The field at Muirfield includes nine of the top 10 players in the world, with Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm all featuring.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the tournament.
When is the Memorial Tournament?
Originally scheduled for June 4 to 7, the Memorial Tournament runs from July 16 to July 19. The purse for this year’s event stands at $9.3 million.
Where is the Memorial Tournament?
As it has been the case since its inception in 1976, the Memorial Tournament will be staged at Muirfield Village Golf Club in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. The par-72 course stretches over 7,303 yards this year.
Memorial Tournament TV coverage
The tournament will be broadcast by Golf Channel and CBS, with the latter carrying the final two rounds.
Thursday, July 16 (All times EDT)
2:30 - 6:30 p. m. —Golf Channel
Friday, July 17
2:30 - 6:30 p. m. —Golf Channel
Saturday, July 18
12:30 - 3 p. m. —Golf Channel3 - 6 p. m. —CBS
Sunday, July 19
12:30 - 3:30 p. m. —Golf Channel3:30 - 7 p. m. —CBS
Memorial Tournament live stream
All four days of the tournament can be watched on PGA Tour Live—beginning at 6:45 a.m. EDT with featured groups and featured holes—and Golf Channel’s digital platforms. A live stream of the final two rounds will be available via CBS’ digital platforms.
