COLUMBUS – Sweden’s David Lingmerth will try to become the first player in 15 years to successfully defend his title at the Muirfield Village Golf Club when the Memorial Tournament tees off early Thursday.
Tiger Woods, the last player to repeat, who won three consecutive Memorial Tournament titles in 1999, 2000 and 2001.
Key tee times for First Round of 2016 Memorial Tournament
KJ Choi – 8:06am (#10th tee)
Bubba Watson/Ricky Fowler – 8:15 am (#10)
Jordan Spieth/Rory McIlroy – 8:36 am (#10)
Ernie Els – 12:43 pm (#1)
Phil Mickelson – 1:05 pm (#1)
Jason Day/David Lingmerth – 1:16 pm (#1)
Complete list of tee times
Real-time leaderboard
Traffic and parking will be affected by road construction. Click here for a map.
Officials are recommending fans use parking lots near the golf course and take shuttles to avoid congestion (see map above).
Lingmerth overcame a three-stroke deficit with a final round 3-under-par 69 proved strong enough to force sudden death with 2010 champion Justin Rose. Lingmerth made a 10 ½-foot par save at 18 to force the playoff and sank a putt for par from 6 feet on the third extra hole to claim his first career PGA Tour victory.
Final 2015 Leaderboard
David Lingmerth 67-65-72-69—273 (-15)*
Justin Rose 68-67-66-72—273 (-15)
Francesco Molinari 68-67-69-71—275 (-13)
Jordan Spieth 68-70-72-65—275 (-13)
The field for the 40th Memorial seven of the world’s top 10 golfers, inclduding No. 1 Jason Day, No. 2 Jordan Spieth, No. 3 Rory McIlroy, No. 4 Bubba Watson, No. 5 Rickie Fowler, No. 8 Dustin Johnson and No. 10 Justin Rose.
The 2015 field also boasts eight of the top 10 on both the FedExCup points list and current PGA Tour money list.
In addition to Rose and Lingmerth, seven past winners of the Memorial Tournament will be returning: K.J. Choi, Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, Matt Kuchar, Hideki Matsuyama, Carl Pettersson and 2015 winner David Lingmerth.
Day, who calls central Ohio home, is a three-time winner this season and leads the current FedExCup standings by 179 points over fellow Australian Adam Scott. He hasn’t played since he won The Players Championship three weeks ago to tighten his grip on being ranked number one in the world.
During his time away, McIlroy went home and won the Irish Open with two of the best fairway metals he has ever hit, finishing birdie-par-eagle to outduel Russell Knox down the stretch.
The following week, Spieth won at Colonial. Spieth returns to the Memorial for a fourth appearance after a top 3 finish last year.
Day believes his latest run has inspired Spieth and McIlroy to raise their games. A member at Muirfield Village, he has never finished better than a tie for 27th at the tournament.
Spieth and McIlroy will be playing together at Muirfield Village when the Memorial starts Thursday. Day is
In six starts at Muirfield, Fowler has not posted a top-20 finish since 2010 and missed the cut in his last two starts. He finished second in his first start in the Memorial in 2010.