Good morning, golfers. The Memorial Tournament is back and we’re teeing up 10 quick-hitting facts about the four-day PGA Tour Tournament our hometown plays host to.
The Memorial Tournament in Dublin | Photo by The Memorial Tournament
1. The Memorial Tournament was started in 1976 by iconic PGA champion Jack Nicklaus, who was born in Columbus.
2. The tournament has always taken place at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, which was also designed by Jack.
3. Seven golfers have won this tournament multiple times — most recently Scottie Scheffler — but Tiger Woods stands at the top with five total wins.
4. The first tournament winner received $40,000 which is 100 times less than what this year’s winner will be awarded at $4 million.
5. Par for the course is 72, and the record for lowest score over the course of the tournament is held by Tom Lehman, who set it in 1994 with a score of 268, or -20 under par.
6. The Memorial Tournament has supported Nationwide Children’s Hospital since 1976 and has raised nearly $32 million for the local hospital.
7. The overall distance of the course is 7,543 yards, or 4.2 miles, and it sits in a total of 220 acres.
8. The course is home to “Jack’s Place” — a clubhouse bar famous for its milkshakes since 1976 because Jack liked “giving the guys whatever they’d like.”
9. There have been 22 aces, or holes-in-one, since the tournament started, but Bob Tway is the only golfer to do it twice (and he did it during the same tournament).
10. The Muirfield Village Golf Club was ranked the second most difficult PGA Tour golf course by Sports Illustrated with the average score of two strokes over par for the pros.
