Power rankings: the Memorial Tournament

The PGA Tour honors Jack Nicklaus this week with the annual Memorial Tournament at Nicklaus’ Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. Sporting a dramatically increased purse, the tournament has the top three players in the world in the field, as well a list of other world-class players vying for one of the most prestigious non-major championships on the schedule.

David Lingmerth is defending champion this week after defeating Justin Rose, who withdrew this week with a back injury, in a playoff.

Here are our top five players for this week:

1. Jason Day — I know, I know. Jason Day doesn’t have the best results here. However, he’s got playing privileges at Muirfield Village and won in his last start. He’s a different golfer than a year ago.

2. Jordan Spieth — Spieth had a very Craig Perks finish to win at Colonial, and it shows what Spieth can do with his short game magic. Not that he left, but he’s back to winning and hopefully that helps him move on from Augusta.

3. Matt Kuchar — Kuchar has the best record at Muirfield Village in the last five years of any player in the field. He’s also on fire of late, including a pair of third-place finishes in his last five starts.

4. Rory McIlroy — McIlroy is absolutely majestic when he’s playing his best golf. It’s the prettiest of the Big Three. He has a solid Memorial record and he’s feeling very confident.

5. Hideki Matsuyama — Matsuyama is a former winner here and he’s been flexing his ballstriking muscle of late. Putting is the knock on him, but he’s middle of the Tour this year. Good enough for us.

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

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