Woods returns for Memorial
BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2009 the Memorial Tournament | Preview | 03 Jun 2009
The PGA Tour is in Columbus, Ohio for this week’s Memorial Tournament at the Muirfield Village layout, the 34th staging of an event that has become synonymous with the name of Jack Nicklaus.
The event sees the return to tournament golf of Tiger Woods for the first time since the Players Championship where he finished 8th. Woods has won this event on three occasions although perhaps surprisingly given his early domination of the event (he won by five shots in 2000 and seven shots in 2001) he has not won in his last five visits to the tournament.
Kenny Perry is a three time winner of this event and has often played well at the Desmond Muirhead and Jack Nicklaus designed Muirfield Village even when not winning. Perry has lost some of his form since his late demise at Augusta National but his quality driving might just assist him back to his best this week.
Zach Johnson has not won this event but he did finish runner up to surprise winner Carl Pettersen in 2006 and given his current form, which includes two wins in 2009 and several other good finishes, he is a very good chance.
Jim Furyk has won this event and finished runner up on one other occasion and he has been very impressive in recent starts. Furyk has not won a PGA Tour event since July of 2007 but keeps knocking on the door. If it was to open for him this week it would hardly be unexpected.
Vijay Singh is clearly on his way back to his best form after a period recovering from injury and surgery. Singh has regularly played this venue very well, winning in 1997 and finishing runner up to Tiger Woods in 1999. There have been several good finishes since and if this was the scene of Singh’s first win in 2009 it would come as no surprise.
Now that Ian Poulter is focusing his attention on the PGA Tour there is an increasing likelihood of him winning his first PGA Tour event. He has played this event on four occasions making three cuts without looking a winner. He has been a big improver in 2009 and the chances of a big week for him are very good.
John Mallinger has been on the verge of a breakthrough of late and his 10th place in this event last year indicates that the layout holds few fears for him. His third place finish at the Players Championship against an even stronger field than this highlights that he could potentially win this week. The event has thrown up the occasional surprise winner in recent years such as Bart Bryant and Carl Pettersen and if they can win then so could Mallinger who finished 6th in his last start at the Byron Nelson.
Of the Australians Geoff Ogilvy is clearly the highest rated and he has finished 9th in this event in each of his last two starts. Ogilvy has been a little disappointing in recent weeks after what had been a great start to the season but he is far too good a player to dismiss lightly this week.
Mathew Goggin finished runner up to Perry last year but has lost form at present, Nick O’Hern plays this golf course well, while Robert Allenby, Adam Scott, Jason Day, John Senden, Aaron Baddeley, Stuart Appleby, Rod Pampling, James Nitties and Peter Lonard all get their chance.
New Zealander Danny Lee is also in the field as he seeks to earn more money in his quest for PGA Tour status via invites in 2009.
