Author: Matt Fargo - Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Obviously the big story this week is who is not playing in the Memorial. Tiger Woods and tournament founder Jack Nicklaus will both be sitting this one out but Muirfield Village will not be without a string field. Six of the top seven in the world will be on hand, Woods being the exception, with Phil Mickelson leading the way. Mickelson has been off since the Wachovia and is the odds on favorite at 8-1. He has played here only once since 2000 and that was a 9th place finish in 2002.

That was his best ever finish in Dublin but his all-around game is arguably the best of his career and he could be even stronger coming off the break. Mickelson is 10-10 in made cuts this season and has finished in the top 15 in all but two of those 10 starts. He took three weeks off to mentally recover and he will also be playing at the Barclay's next week as the final tune up for the U.S. Open. Mickelson finished 14th and 1st in his two starts prior to his last major, The Masters.

Ernie Els is listed at 15-1 and admits that this is one of his favorite stops and he hopes that this week is the week he finally breaks through. Els won the event in 2004 becoming the fourth non-American champion in tournament history. He also is the first wire-to-wire champion ever to win at Muirfield. He is coming off a disappointing tie for 19th at the BMW Championship played on his home course in England and has not placed higher than 7th in any event this year.

Jim Furyk, who won the Memorial in 2002, took last week off following a 17th place finish at the Colonial. Besides winning here, he has not finished out of the top 25 in his last five starts at Muirfield and that includes an 8th place finish last year. He shot a 64 on Saturday that vaulted him from 70th to 17th heading into the final day. He finished the week 14th in fairways hit and 6th in greens hit but with his putting at its best right now, his game fits the course well and the 12-1 odds are looking good.

Retief Goosen is also at 12-1 and he has been nothing but consistent this season. He is 7-7 in cuts made but most impressive is the fact that he has finished out of the top 25 only once and his worst finish was 48th at Bay Hill. He does not have a win this year but he has four top fives and heads to Muirfield with a small but successful track record. He has played the event only twice but those resulted in 7th and 8th place finishes and like Mickelson, he has not teed it up on tour in three weeks.

Bart Bryant is listed at a lofty 60-1 to try and defend his title and those odds could be safe. Bryant has not been having a great season as he has made only six cuts in 11 starts and currently sits 98th on the money list. Surprisingly, the 2005 win was only his second start at the Memorial, the first coming in 1991. Woods is the only player to defend his title at Muirfield and he actually did it twice. The course will be fast and the bunkers will be tough so this will take a U.S. Open type of effort to get the job done.

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