Golfers get extended stay at Muirfield

Yogi Berra had it right, at least regarding back-to-back PGA Tour events at Muirfield Village Golf Club, where it is deja vu all over again for Patrick Cantlay and Collin Morikawa.

Berra, who famously philosophized that “90% of putts that are short don’t go in,” would have fit right in with the confusion surrounding the who … won … where … when of Muirfield Village. It’s the host

venue of the Memorial Tournament this week and also was the site of the Workday Charity Open last week, making

Muirfield the first course to house backto-back tour events since 1957.

Cantlay, who won the 2019 Memorial by two shots over Adam Scott, returned to Muirfield last week not as defending champion but as part of the field teeing it up at the Workday event, which moves to San Francisco next year.

Morikawa, meanwhile, won the Workday on Sunday and returns to Muirfield four days later not as a defending champion but simply one of 132 players aiming to win the 45th Memorial, which begins

Thursday with a field that includes nine of the top 10 players in the world.

Make sense? No worries, it puzzles players, too.

“It’s kind of a weird scenario being at the same tournament, or the same tournament site two weeks in a row,” said Cantlay, who is one of 89 players to play the Memorial after playing the Workday. “I’m sure I’ll feel a little more like defending champion this week.”

Cantlay shot a final-round 64 on Sunday at the Workday to match his winning score from a year ago at the Memorial, where he made up a fourshot deficit on the final day.

“A nice rehearsal for next week,” he said. “Coming back on-site (last week) and seeing all the guys in the locker room and obviously being on the same golf course kind of reminded me of last year’s win.”

As for Morikawa, the 23-year-old rising star said it feels strange to return to the same course where he won four days ago, defeating Justin Thomas on the third playoff hole.

“It’s really weird,” he said, explaining it felt odd to remain in Dublin and not head to the next tour event. “But it almost helps me in a sense because, say you won on Sunday and then you’re on a plane Monday morning. I didn’t have to get on a plane. I’m just staying in my hotel room relaxing and I can show up here. I know where everything is. I know what to do. I know the practice green, practice area, so everything is really familiar for me. So I think that helps me.”

Yet the course he just won on is not exactly the same course. It holds the same shape in terms of routing, but not in terms of playing conditions.

“This week is going to feel different, just with the elevated feel of the tournament and the course being back in that classic Memorial setup with the greens real fast,” Cantlay said.

If dry weather continues – don’t hold your breath, it is Memorial week after all – Muirfield should play firmer and faster than it does when contested in its traditional spot of late May and early June. The tournament was moved from June 4-7 to July 16-19 when the PGA Tour was forced to rework the schedule because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Memorial also will be staged without spectators due to COVID-19, just as the Workday was last week, which almost certainly impacted player performances. Nowhere was that more evident than on the 18th green Sunday, when on the first playoff hole Justin Thomas made a 50-foot birdie putt. Needing to make his 24-foot birdie putt to extend the playoff, Morikawa quickly and calmly drained it.

“If we had fans I think everything would have been a little different,” said Morikawa, who moved to No. 13 in the world ranking with the win. “I would have had to almost wait another two minutes just to even hit that next putt because of the fans, just roars and everything and mumbles after making a 50-footer.”

Morikawa will need to contend with a powerhouse field that includes No. 1 Rory Mcilroy, No. 2 Jon Rahm and No. 3 Thomas, as well as Tiger Woods and Cantlay, who is ranked No. 10.

“I figured an extra week here at Muirfield Village was good for me, so I took it as a positive. I enjoyed it,” Cantlay said.

He’ll like it even more if he can successfully defend his title. roller@dispatch.com @rollercd