I mentioned last week that we had my home tournament coming up. Well, strap in because it’s time. I’ll admit up front, a lot of the content about the course will be from this week’s Pin Sheet, just because I did a huge breakdown on some holes. That being said, I love this tournament and I’m excited to peel back the curtain on one of my favorite places in golf.
Muirfield Village is an absolute menace. It was purpose-built to host PGA Tour events, and has done so every year since 1976, as well as the Workday Charity Open in 2020 and the Presidents Cup in 2013. The fourth-longest course on Tour is designed to give players hell, and it delivers on that promise. Playing Muirfield is like getting punched in the mouth repeatedly and loving every second of it. With an emphasis on accuracy and water everywhere, mistake avoidance is everything, and it favors technicians, especially with how much Jack Nicklaus was inspired by Augusta when designing the course. Iron play will be a defining statistic here, and with tight, tree and hazard-lined fairways, accuracy off the tee is at a premium.
I could quite honestly list off every hole here as a featured hole, but I’m going to draw attention to a few of the strategic dilemmas that Muirfield presents and how players tackle them.
3 isn’t as much a strategic dilemma as a taste of what’s to come. A fairway truncated by a water hazard means you can’t hit driver here, and need to play to set up your second shot. Unlike many courses, Muirfield cannot be overpowered. It needs to be navigated, and hole 3 displays this perfectly. Forcing a layup and then a short iron or wedge to a green that plays smaller than it is, it reminds you of the focus on accuracy early in the round.
If you read this week’s Pin Sheet, you’ll know this is my favorite hole on the property because of the strategy required. This fairway is split by a creek for the entire length of the hole, and it runs along the front of the green to add a bit of extra difficulty. Standing on the tee, you’re presented with three options. You can take the safe route, laying back and giving yourself a long iron or wood into the green, or the choice to lay up again. You can take the first aggressive route, trying to carry the water and hit the left half of the fairway. It’s actually… not that bad, as long as you can carry it about 300 yards, and it gives you a mid to short iron in. The extra aggressive route is going up the right side of the hole and straight up hitting over people’s backyards in search of the right side of the fairway. It’s a line you almost never see people take, and for good reason, because it requires a monstrous drive. If you pull it off, though, you’re hitting wedge into a par-5 with your second shot. Good luck choosing an option.
14 is actually drivable, but not for the faint of heart. You need to carry it about 285 yards downhill to clear a creek, but also avoid the same water to the right of the green and two bunkers left of it that make for a very difficult up and down. The “safe” option is lay up short in the 250-270 range and hit wedge into the green, but it’s not that much easier. Either way, it exemplifies the strategic challenge players will face this week.
Signature event once again means signature field. Here are a few players worth watching this week.
Collin has a good history here, with a win in the Workday Charity Open and two runner-up finishes, including a playoff loss to Patrick Cantlay (more on him in a bit). With excellent iron play and driving accuracy, he sets up perfectly for Muirfield this week.
Vibes: 9/10
Screw it, Spieth’s back on the list. I genuinely have no idea what he’s going to do this week, but I know it’ll be chaotic.
Vibes: ????????/10
Hideki’s had a quietly solid season, and he’s won here before. His irons are strong, and he could be sneaky value this week.
Vibes: 7/10
Cantlay’s one of the few players to have won here multiple times, and he’s been playing solid all-around golf this season. His consistency and accuracy are major assets here.
Vibes: Muirfield Merchant/10
Cauley even being here is a win. Seven years ago, he was a passenger in a car that crashed after he missed the cut at this very tournament. He was forced to take three years off to fully recover from his injuries and only made his return to competition in 2024. He’s playing genuinely great golf this year and has earned his spot not only in the field this week but as one of the best stories in golf.
Vibes: 100000/10
Model Pick to Watch: Viktor Hovland
Hovland ranks fifth on Tour in SG: APP, and has solid driver accuracy, both good signs for Muirfield Village. If his putter stays hot, he’s a big-time threat at a course where he’s won before.
If you can’t tell, I love this course and this event. It’s the genesis of my obsession with golf, and it never disappoints. From being able to watch Tiger Woods play multiple times to watching playoffs from underneath the manual scoreboard on 18, it’s a place full of memories for me. I can’t wait to see who gets to shake Jack’s hand and enjoy that victory milkshake on Sunday evening, and I hope you enjoy watching it too.
Enjoyed this? Be sure to check out my work at pinseekergolf.substack.com for more previews, analysis, and content about the game of golf.
Join our mailing list and we'll keep you posted on everything the land has to offer!
