After being cut at the PGA Championship, Russell Henley came back to birdie his way to the win at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth last Sunday. He nailed three straight regulation birdies to force a playoff with Eric Cole, then made a fourth to take home the $1.78 million winner's paycheck. Cole, who played well enough to win in regulation at -12, had to settle for a $1.08M runner-up paycheck after missing his birdie putt on the playoff hole. Henley’s win was his first of the 2026 season and his sixth career PGA Tour title and it couldn't have come at a better time, because the very next stop is one of golf’s most demanding Signature Events.
The PGA Tour now heads to Dublin, OH, for the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, the seventh of eight Signature Events on the 2026 schedule. Jack Nicklaus has hosted this tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club every year since 1976, and the 2026 edition marks the 51st running of the event. This is not a quiet US Open tune-up week. This is the real deal with a $20 million purse and 700 FedExCup points to the winner.
The Setup: Tournament Stakes, Field, and Storylines
The headline story writes itself: Scottie Scheffler arrives chasing a third consecutive Memorial title. Scheffler joined Tiger Woods as the only player to successfully defend at Muirfield Village, who then went on to win three straight from 1999 to 2001. Scheffler is less likely chasing the three-peat, and more likely focused on winning period.
He’ll have his work cut out for him in a legitimately stacked field, though his biggest competition of late has been himself. The top-10 players in the Official World Golf Ranking have committed to the event, and include No. 1 Scheffler, No. 2 Rory McIlroy, No. 3 Cameron Young, No. 4 Matt Fitzpatrick, No. 5 Russell Henley, No. 6 and past winner (2010) Justin Rose, No. 8 Tommy Fleetwood, No. 9 J.J. Spaun, and No. 10 Xander Schauffele. Forty-three of the top 50 in the world rankings are in Dublin this week, and with the top 50 and ties plus players within 10 shots of the lead making the cut in this weekend’s format everyone has a shot at the top spot.
The subplot that actually shapes betting angles this week is McIlroy's return. He skipped this event entirely last year and it’s the first Signature Event of the season where McIlroy and Scheffler are both in the field since the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, where he withdrew. Seeing the two-time Masters champion in Dublin, Ohio, for the first time in two years is a story, and one that is likely strategic. He’s played in only seven tournaments in 2026, and with lifetime earnings of $115M+ and 30 PGA Tour wins over a 19 year professional career, he has earned the right to pick and choose.
The Course: What It Demands and What It Punishes
Muirfield Village Golf Club is a par-72 measuring 7,573 yards with bentgrass greens and fairways. It was designed by Jack Nicklaus and Desmond Muirhead and opened in 1974. Nicklaus has spent decades evolving the layout, with a major renovation in 2020 that rebuilt all 18 greens, repositioned bunkers, added length, and redesigned hole No. 15. The result is a course with a slope rating of 155 from the tips, and one of the most demanding numbers on Tour.
What Muirfield Village asks for is second-shot precision. The fairways are reasonably generous off the tee, but that generosity is a trap. The greens are small by modern standards, heavily contoured, and surrounded by collection areas that reward the correct entry angle and punish the wrong one by leaving brutally awkward chips from tight lies. Elevation changes and water hazards come into play on several holes, and the bentgrass surfaces can run fast and firm if conditions are dry.
Who Fits Here: Player Archetypes and Names to Know
The ideal Muirfield Village profile is a top level iron player with enough driving control to find the correct sectors of the fairway. Distance is useful on the par-5s, but this course does not hand a meaningful advantage to bombers the way some layouts do. What it rewards is the player who can control trajectory, entry angle, and spin from 150 to 200 yards, consistently, for 72 holes.
Scheffler is that player and then some when his game is on with all clubs. He has now posted five consecutive finishes of T14 or better, including three runner-ups. The course fits his game as well as any venue on the schedule, and the three-peat narrative adds a layer of locked-in focus that tends to make Scheffler more dangerous, not less.
McIlroy is the most compelling wildcard in the field. He arrives with a second straight Masters title and renewed confidence after a strong PGA Championship run. Muirfield Village suits his type of golf as well: controlled driver when locked in, and iron play under pressure being genuinely elite. The question is whether or not he’s had a chance to play more than just practice rounds over the last two years. My guess is yes, knowing how he prepares.
Patrick Cantlay is one of the most underrated fits in the field. He is also a two-time Memorial champion and one of the best bogey-avoiders in the sport. Muirfield Village has historically rewarded the patient management style he brings. He does not over-press, he does not manufacture unnecessary risk, and he knows how to score here.
Ben Griffin, last year’s runner-up, and Russell Henley, coming off of a winning weekend, both should be named in any betting conversations even if outright odds aren’t quite there across the board. Both have been playing well through April and May. Fitzpatrick, Fleetwood, and Schauffele are part of the legitimate contender tier too.
Betting Board: Odds, Angles, and Smart Plays
As of June 1, 2026, FanDuel lists Scheffler as the clear favorite at +350 to win outright. Rory is next at +1200, Ludvig Aberg at +1600, Cameron Young at +1800, Xander Schauffele and Russell Henley at +2000, and Fitzpatrick and Si Woo Kim are at +2200.
DraftKings odds are consistent with Scheffler the easy favorite +310, Rory +980, Young +1425, Aberg +1600, Schauffele +1700, Fitzpatrick +1950 and Henley +2000.
The practical angle this week is understanding what Scheffler's number actually means. +300 is a short price for a golf outright, especially for a player who can’t quite get there. But his track record here is the clearest course-specific advantage in the field. I like Ben Griffin +4000 for an overdue longshot or +600 Top 5. Henley is worth a look at Top 5 or Top 10.
One-and-Done / Season-Long Strategy
The Memorial is one of the highest-leverage weeks left on the 2026 schedule. Only the Travelers Championship remains as a Signature Event after this week, so One-and-Done players need to evaluate where they stand in their pools carefully.
If you haven't used Scheffler yet, this is arguably the single best week to deploy him on the non-major calendar. His course-specific advantage is real and proven, and the three-peat narrative adds a focus angle that his historical results support. If you burned Scheffler earlier in the season, the logical pivots are McIlroy or Cantlay with two Memorial wins and a non-consecutive three peat.
What I’m Watching When the First Tee Shot Flies
I am watching McIlroy on Thursday. His first-round approach shots will tell you quickly whether he has been doing homework or whether Dublin is going to feel like a relearn. I am watching Cantlay's ball-striking splits through the first 36 holes since and if his approach game is turning par opportunities into birdie looks. And I am watching whether Scheffler has the same command off the tee that made his 2024 and 2025 runs look like he was in a league of his own. His iron play has been mostly reliable, but both the driver and his putter have been occasionally checked out this season. If all pieces show up together in Round 1, this could be a very short weekend for everyone else.
The Takeaway and What’s Next
Muirfield Village sets up a demanding test of iron play, green reading, and the ability to avoid the one or two compounding mistakes that turn a potential 68 into a 72. Scheffler is the favorite for a reason, and that reason is one the most quantifiable course-history advantages in any field this season. With Rory back in Dublin for the first time in two years, the subplot alone is worth the price of admission.
After this, the RBC Canadian Open, June 11-14 for those who choose to play, sits as the only thing between U.S. Open fun that begins at Shinnecock Hills the weekend of June 18. For now: enjoy the best field Jack's Place has seen in years, and keep an eye on whose iron play shows up on Thursday afternoon.
If this was your kind of read, you’ll like what’s next. Get The Sandman Ticket, our free, weekly newsletter with picks, insights, and a little bit of everything we love about sports.
