Memorial Tournament

The greater Columbus area is where Nicklaus was born, raised, learned the game of golf, went to college, and started his own family. It was his vision to create a golf club that embodied his personal and professional life and to create a golf tournament that would long represent his passion for tournament golf, and would give back to a community that has embraced him and the game. This was fulfilled in May 1976 with the first Memorial Tournament, two years to the day after the course opened at Muirfield Village. The par-72 course was set at 7,072 yards (6,467 m),[5] a considerable length for the mid-1970s.

Nicklaus signaled his intent to host his own tournament during Masters Week in 1966, when he spoke of his desire to create a tournament that, like The Masters, had a global interest, and was inspired by the history and traditions of the game of golf. He also wanted the tournament to give back in the form of charitable contributions to organizations benefiting needy adults and children throughout Columbus and Ohio. The primary charitable beneficiary of the tournament is Nationwide Children's Hospital.

The Memorial reached the height of its popularity in the 1990s having reached "sold-out" status, a first on the PGA Tour other than the major championships. For a variety of reasons, the event has started seeing ticket sales decrease during the last five years.

The Memorial Tournament is one of only five tournaments given "invitational" status by the PGA Tour, and consequently it has a reduced field of only 120 players (as opposed to most full-field open tournaments with a field of 156 players). The other four tournaments with invitational status are the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the RBC Heritage, Charles Schwab Challenge, and the Tiger Woods Foundation tournament (originally the Quicken Loans National until 2018, to be replaced in 2020 by the Genesis Open). Invitational tournaments have smaller fields (between 120 and 132 players), and have more freedom than full-field open tournaments in determining which players are eligible to participate in their event, as invitational tournaments are not required to fill their fields using the PGA Tour Priority Ranking System. Furthermore, unlike full-field open tournaments, invitational tournaments do not offer open qualifying (aka Monday qualifying).

In June 2014, the PGA Tour approved a resolution to grant the winner a three-year exemption, one more than other regular Tour events and on par with winners of the World Golf Championships, The Tour Championship and the Arnold Palmer Invitational.[6]

The field consists of 120 players invited using the following criteria:[7]

1. Memorial winners in the last five years or prior to 1997
2. The Players Championship and major championship winners in the last five years
3. The Tour Championship, World Golf Championships, and Arnold Palmer Invitational winners in the past three years
4. Tournament winners in the past year
5. Playing member of last named U.S. Ryder Cup team, European Ryder Cup team, U.S. Presidents Cup team, and International Presidents Cup team (non-PGA Tour members qualifying in this category count against unrestricted sponsor exemptions)
6. Prior year U.S. Amateur winner
7. Prior year British Amateur winner
8. Up to four players selected by the tournament from among the money leaders from the other five Federation tours
9. 14 sponsors exemptions – 2 from among graduates of the Web.com Tour Finals, 6 members not otherwise exempt, and 6 unrestricted
10. Top 50 Official World Golf Ranking as of the Friday before the tournament
11. Top 70 from prior year's FedEx Cup points list
12. PGA Tour members whose non-member FedEx Cup points the previous season (excluding WGCs) would have placed them in the top 70
13. Top 70 from current year's FedEx Cup points list as of the Friday before the tournament
14. Prior year college player of the year (Jack Nicklaus Award)
15. Remaining positions filled alternating from current year's and prior year's FedEx Cup point lists

• 1976: Roger Maltbie won the inaugural Memorial Tournament, defeating Hale Irwin in a four-hole aggregate playoff. On the third extra hole Maltbie's errant approach shot appeared headed for the gallery when it hit a post, causing the ball to bounce onto the green, where both parred to remain tied; Maltbie then birdied the 18th hole to win the playoff.[5]
• 1977: Poor weather resulted in a Monday finish for the tournament; host Jack Nicklaus won by two shots over Hubert Green.[8]
• 1980: David Graham birdied the 72nd hole to edge Tom Watson by one shot; Watson was bidding to become the first Memorial champion to defend his title.[9]
• 1984: Jack Nicklaus defeated Andy Bean in a sudden-death playoff to become the first two-time Memorial winner.[10]
• 1991: Kenny Perry won for the first time on the PGA Tour, defeating Irwin on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.[11]
• 1993: Paul Azinger birdied the 72nd hole by holing out from a bunker to finish one shot ahead of Corey Pavin.[12]
• 1994: Tom Lehman shot a tournament record 268 (-20) for 72 holes on his way to a five-shot victory over Greg Norman.[13]
• 2000: Tiger Woods became the first Memorial winner to successfully defend his title, finishing five shots clear of Ernie Els.[14]
• 2001: Woods won for a third consecutive year, seven shots ahead of runners-up Paul Azinger and Sergio García.[15]
• 2005: Bart Bryant saved par from a hazard on the 72nd hole to win by one shot over Fred Couples.[16]
• 2007: K. J. Choi shot a final round 65 to win by one shot over Ryan Moore.[17]
• 2012: Woods birdied three of the last four holes, including a chip in on the 16th hole, to turn a two-shot deficit into a two-shot victory. The win was Woods' 73rd PGA Tour victory, which tied Jack Nicklaus for second most PGA Tour wins.[18]
• 2013: Defending champion Woods posted a third round back nine score of 44, the worst in his career. He finished 20 shots behind winner Matt Kuchar.
• 2014: Hideki Matsuyama won in a playoff against Kevin Na;[19] he was the first Japanese PGA Tour winner since 2008.
• 2015: In the third round, Tiger Woods shot an 85, the worst round of his professional career. Three-time winner Kenny Perry played his last PGA Tour event.
• 2016: William McGirt won for the first time on the PGA Tour after 165 starts.
• 2020: Jon Rahm's win elevated him to the world number one ranking for the first time in his career.

Muirfield Village Golf Club in 2016

Source:[1]

Year	Winner	Country	Score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Winner's share ($)	Honoree(s)[20]
2020	Jon Rahm	Spain	279	−9	3 strokes	Ryan Palmer	1,674,000	Nick Price, Gene Littler[lower-alpha 1], Ted Ray[lower-alpha 1]
2019	Patrick Cantlay	US	269	−19	2 strokes	Adam Scott	1,638,000	Judy Rankin
2018	Bryson DeChambeau	US	273	−15	Playoff	An Byeong-hun Kyle Stanley	1,602,000	Hale Irwin, Jock Hutchison[lower-alpha 1], Willie Turnesa[lower-alpha 1]
2017	Jason Dufner	US	275	−13	3 strokes	Rickie Fowler Anirban Lahiri	1,566,000	Greg Norman, Tony Lema[lower-alpha 1], Ken Venturi[lower-alpha 1], Harvie Ward[lower-alpha 1]
2016	William McGirt	US	273	−15	Playoff	Jon Curran	1,530,000	Johnny Miller, Leo Diegel[lower-alpha 1], Horton Smith[lower-alpha 1]
2015	David Lingmerth	Sweden	273	−15	Playoff	Justin Rose	1,160,000	Nick Faldo, Dorothy Campbell[lower-alpha 1], Jerome Travers[lower-alpha 1], Walter Travis[lower-alpha 1]
2014	Hideki Matsuyama	Japan	275	−13	Playoff	Kevin Na	1,160,000	Annika Sörenstam, Jim Barnes[lower-alpha 1], Joe Carr[lower-alpha 1], Willie Park Sr.[lower-alpha 1]
2013	Matt Kuchar	US	276	−12	2 strokes	Kevin Chappell	1,160,000	Raymond Floyd
2012	Tiger Woods (5)	US	279	−9	2 strokes	Andrés Romero Rory Sabbatini	1,160,000	Tom Watson
2011	Steve Stricker	US	272	−16	1 stroke	Brandt Jobe Matt Kuchar	1,160,000	Nancy Lopez
2010	Justin Rose	England	270	−18	3 strokes	Rickie Fowler	1,080,000	Seve Ballesteros
2009	Tiger Woods (4)	US	276	−12	1 stroke	Jim Furyk	1,080,000	JoAnne Carner, Jack Burke, Jr.
2008	Kenny Perry (3)	US	280	−8	2 strokes	Mathew Goggin Jerry Kelly Justin Rose Mike Weir	1,080,000	Tony Jacklin, Ralph Guldahl[lower-alpha 1], Charles B. Macdonald, Craig Wood[lower-alpha 1]
2007	K. J. Choi	South Korea	271	−17	1 stroke	Ryan Moore	1,080,000	Louise Suggs, Dow Finsterwald
2006	Carl Pettersson	Sweden	276	−12	2 strokes	Zach Johnson Brett Wetterich	1,035,000	Michael Bonallack, Charles Coe[lower-alpha 1], Lawson Little[lower-alpha 1], Henry Picard[lower-alpha 1], Paul Runyan[lower-alpha 1], Denny Shute[lower-alpha 1]
2005	Bart Bryant	US	272	−16	1 stroke	Fred Couples	990,000	Betsy Rawls, Cary Middlecoff[lower-alpha 1]
2004	Ernie Els	South Africa	270	−18	4 strokes	Fred Couples	945,000	Lee Trevino, Joyce Wethered[lower-alpha 1]
2003	Kenny Perry (2)	US	275	−13	2 strokes	Lee Janzen	900,000	Julius Boros[lower-alpha 1], William C. Campbell
2002	Jim Furyk	US	274	−14	2 strokes	John Cook David Peoples	810,000	Kathy Whitworth, Bobby Locke[lower-alpha 1]
2001	Tiger Woods (3)	US	271	−17	7 strokes	Paul Azinger Sergio García	738,000	Payne Stewart[lower-alpha 1]
2000	Tiger Woods (2)	US	269	−19	5 strokes	Ernie Els Justin Leonard	558,000	Jack Nicklaus
1999	Tiger Woods	US	273	−15	2 strokes	Vijay Singh	459,000	Ben Hogan[lower-alpha 1]
1998	Fred Couples	US	271	−17	4 strokes	Andrew Magee	396,000	Peter Thomson
1997	Vijay Singh	Fiji	202[lower-alpha 2]	−14	2 strokes	Jim Furyk Greg Norman	342,000	Gary Player
1996	Tom Watson (2)	US	274	−14	2 strokes	David Duval	324,000	Billy Casper
1995	Greg Norman (2)	Australia	269	−19	4 strokes	Mark Calcavecchia David Duval Steve Elkington	306,000	Willie Anderson[lower-alpha 1], John Ball[lower-alpha 1], James Braid[lower-alpha 1], Harold Hilton[lower-alpha 1], J.H. Taylor[lower-alpha 1]
1994	Tom Lehman	US	268	−20	5 strokes	Greg Norman	270,000	Mickey Wright
1993	Paul Azinger	US	274	−14	1 stroke	Corey Pavin	252,000	Arnold Palmer
1992	David Edwards	US	273	−15	Playoff	Rick Fehr	234,000	Joseph Dey[lower-alpha 1]
1991	Kenny Perry	US	273	−15	Playoff	Hale Irwin	216,000	Babe Zaharias[lower-alpha 1]
1990	Greg Norman	Australia	216[lower-alpha 2]	E	1 stroke	Payne Stewart	180,000	Jimmy Demaret[lower-alpha 1]
1989	Bob Tway	US	277	−11	2 strokes	Fuzzy Zoeller	160,000	Henry Cotton[lower-alpha 1]
1988	Curtis Strange	US	274	−14	2 strokes	David Frost Hale Irwin	160,000	Patty Berg
1987	Don Pooley	US	272	−16	3 strokes	Curt Byrum	140,000	Old Tom Morris[lower-alpha 1], Young Tom Morris[lower-alpha 1]
1986	Hal Sutton	US	271	−17	4 strokes	Don Pooley	100,000	Roberto De Vicenzo
1985	Hale Irwin (2)	US	281	−7	1 stroke	Lanny Wadkins	100,000	Chick Evans[lower-alpha 1]
1984	Jack Nicklaus (2)	US	280	−8	Playoff	Andy Bean	90,000	Sam Snead
1983	Hale Irwin	US	281	−7	1 stroke	Ben Crenshaw David Graham	72,000	Tommy Armour[lower-alpha 1]
1982	Raymond Floyd	US	281	−7	2 strokes	Peter Jacobsen Wayne Levi Roger Maltbie Gil Morgan	63,000	Glenna Collett-Vare
1981	Keith Fergus	US	284	−4	1 stroke	Jack Renner	63,000	Harry Vardon[lower-alpha 1]
1980	David Graham	Australia	280	−8	1 stroke	Tom Watson	54,000	Byron Nelson
1979	Tom Watson	US	285	−3	3 strokes	Miller Barber	54,000	Gene Sarazen
1978	Jim Simons	US	284	−4	1 stroke	Billy Kratzert	50,000	Francis Ouimet[lower-alpha 1]
1977	Jack Nicklaus	US	281	−7	2 strokes	Hubert Green	45,000	Walter Hagen[lower-alpha 1]
1976	Roger Maltbie	US	288	E	Playoff	Hale Irwin	40,000	Bobby Jones[lower-alpha 1]

Note: Green highlight indicates scoring records.
Source:[21][22]

Six men have won the Memorial Tournament more than once through 2019.

• 5 wins: Tiger Woods (1999, 2000, 2001, 2009, 2012)
• 3 wins: Kenny Perry (1991, 2003, 2008)
• 2 wins: Jack Nicklaus (1977, 1984), Hale Irwin (1983, 1985), Greg Norman (1990, 1995), Tom Watson: (1979, 1996)

• Official website
• Coverage on the PGA Tour's official site
• Nicklaus.com – Muirfield Village Golf Club
• Jack Nicklaus Museum