Featured Group: Schwartzel, Donald, Mickelson
By PGATOUR.COM staff
At each PGA TOUR event this season, a featured pairing will be highlighted prior to the first round. Here is the featured group for Thursday and Friday at HP Byron Nelson Championship.
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DUBLIN, Ohio -- You want star power? Well, you've got it at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance.
First and foremost, there's the overwhelming presence of the legendary Jack Nicklaus as the tournament host. His Muirfield Village Golf Club is among the favorites on the PGA TOUR, and the game's best annually turn out in abundance.
The 2011 renewal is no exception. Look no further than our Featured Group for the first two rounds, which consists of four-time major winner Phil Mickelson, reigning Masters champ Charl Schwartzel and the enormously consistent Luke Donald, who ranks second in the FedExCup.
As testament to that steady play, Donald has put together a string of 21 consecutive rounds of par or better dating back to the third round of The Honda Classic. He missed the cut in his 2011 TOUR debut at the Northern Trust Open but hasn't finished lower than 10th in his seven starts since -- which leads the TOUR in that category.
Included in those is a win over Martin Kaymer at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship that ended a five-year victory drought. Donald also came close to another TOUR win at The Heritage before losing on the third hole of sudden death to Brandt Snedeker.
Donald arrives at Muirfield Village with added momentum after winning a European Tour event Sunday. He beat Lee Westwood in a playoff at the BMW Championship and switched places with the man from Worksop, England, at the top of the world rankings.
Nicklaus says Donald's solid short game is what has made him a force.
"I'm very happy for Luke," the World Golf Hall of Famer said. "Luke's game has come a long way, but I will have to tell you that Luke is a member down at the Bear's Club down in Florida and he's there all the time, and there isn't anybody who spends more time working on his golf game than I've seen in Luke Donald.
"And he spends his time chipping and putting, chipping and putting, and I mean, he wears out the practice greens. ... And I think that the effort he has put into it has been rewarded."
Nicklaus expects Donald to play well at Muirfield Village this week, too. The Englishman tied for 14th in 2009 -- opening with a 64 -- and sixth in 2008.
"I think the golf course is a blend of power and a blend of accuracy and preciseness, and that's sort of what I like," Nicklaus said. "I don't think we're a stand back and hit-it-as-hard-as-you-want-type golf course.
In fact, I think most of the players we actually take the drivers out of their hands on a great number of occasions, which I think gives you pretty much any type of golfer. ... Luke Donald should do very well on this golf course because power is not the main factor. It's a combination."
Of course, Schwartzel and Mickelson, among others, might have something to say about that.
Mickelson picked up the 39th victory of his career earlier this year at the Shell Houston Open. He also was second at the Farmers Insurance Open in his 2011 debut and has a total of four top-10s to rank sixth in the FedExCup.
Mickelson, who ranks third on TOUR in birdies and ninth in scoring average, has never won the Memorial Tournament in 12 appearances, but he does have two top-10s at Muirfield Village. His best finish was a tie for fourth in 2006.
Schwartzel is making his fourth start at the Memorial and his second on TOUR since winning the Masters with birdies on the last four holes on Sunday. He credits a one-of-a-kind skull session with Nicklaus, where the six-time Masters champ talked about how he played each hole at Augusta National, as being instrumental in his first major title.
Schwartzel, who is a rookie on the PGA TOUR, ranks second to Donald with 11 straight rounds of par or better. He currently ranks 18th in the FedExCup.
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| Statistical comparison | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Key stats from Donald, Mickelson and Schwartzel from the 2011 season (TOUR rank in parentheses) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Career at the Memorial | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Interview: Luke Donald | |
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| SwingPlex: Luke Donald | |
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| SwingPlex: Phil Mickelson | |
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| Mickelson: Is this the year? | |
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| Interview: Charl Schwartzel | |
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EXPERT PREDICTIONS: We asked some of our PGATOUR.COM experts to predict which player will fare best this week at Muirfield Village:
Stan Awtrey: Luke Donald. He's been the most consistent player in the world all year. A win at Muirfield Village is a great step toward winning his first major.
Craig Dolch: Phil Mickelson. Phil has finished no worse than 11th in four of his last five starts at Muirfield Village.
Melanie Hauser: Luke Donald. Forget about the jet lag, he can handle that. He's as sure a bet as there is right now. Plus, he's got a great record here and he's ready to validate that step up to No. 1.
FANTASY FORECAST: Rob Bolton has Luke Donald second and Phil Mickelson eighth in the Power Rankings.
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