Scottie Scheffler chases a rare Memorial three-peat as Rory McIlroy returns and a loaded 72-player field heads to Muirfield Village.

The 2026 Memorial Tournament arrives this week with one of the strongest fields left on the PGA Tour calendar, and the spotlight starts exactly where it should: on Scottie Scheffler chasing history at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio.

The 50th anniversary edition of Jack Nicklaus’ signature event runs June 4-7 and carries major weight as the penultimate signature event and final player invitational of the season. The 72-player field will be trimmed after 36 holes to the top 50 and ties, plus anyone within 10 shots of the lead.

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Scheffler enters as the clear betting favorite at 3-1, and that number makes plenty of sense. The world No. 1 has won the Memorial in back-to-back years, taking the title in 2024 and 2025 after finishing third in both of his previous two appearances. Now, he has a chance to become just the 18th player in PGA Tour history to win the same tournament three straight times.

That’s rare air. Tiger Woods did it multiple times, while Steve Stricker and Stuart Appleby also pulled off PGA Tour three-peats this century. Legends like Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Johnny Miller are also part of that club, which shows the kind of company Scheffler is trying to join.

Rory McIlroy is back in the field at 9-1 after skipping last year’s Memorial because of scheduling. The world No. 2 has played a lighter PGA Tour schedule this season, with just six starts entering June, but he remains one of the biggest threats whenever he tees it up. McIlroy’s best Memorial finish in recent years is a tie for seventh, and controlling his driver will be a major key on a demanding 7,569-yard, par-72 layout.

Cameron Young sits at 13-1 despite never finishing better than tied for 25th at Muirfield Village. Xander Schauffele follows at 18-1, while Ludvig Åberg comes in at 20-1 with strong recent strokes-gained numbers and a chance to win another player-hosted invitational after capturing the Genesis Invitational.

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Matt Fitzpatrick is listed at 21-1, Si Woo Kim at 23-1, and Russell Henley and two-time Memorial winner Patrick Cantlay are both 26-1. Cantlay hasn’t won since the 2022 BMW Championship, but his record at Muirfield Village keeps him firmly in the conversation.

With a $20 million purse, a historic anniversary and Scheffler chasing a three-peat, the Memorial has plenty of reasons to feel like one of the biggest non-major weeks of the season.