The Memorial “anticipated it would receive Championship Series status” considering it already operated as one of eight PGA Tour Signature Events. NurPhoto via Getty Images
The PGA Tour has assigned the Memorial Tournament “to the top-tier Championship Series” beginning in 2028. The Memorial, played annually at Muirfield Village Golf Club in late May or early June, “anticipated it would receive Championship Series status” considering it already operated as one of eight PGA Tour Signature Events “with smaller fields and richer purses.” But “nothing was official until the tour gave final approval” (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 8/17). It stood to reason that the tournament hosted by World Golf HOFer Jack Nicklaus “eventually would join the ranks” of the new Championship Series that begins in 2028, given its longtime reputation “as one of golf’s premier events.” The Memorial is the second of the three invitationals on the PGA Tour to commit to the higher of the two proposed tiers that tour CEO Brian Rolapp announced in June, joining the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Almost “certain to follow suit will be the third,” the Genesis Invitational hosted by Tiger Woods. The 2027 Memorial is scheduled for May 31-June 6. No date for 2028 has been announced (GOLF DIGEST, 8/17).