COLUMBUS – Nationwide Insurance TV pitchman Peyton Manning (he of the crawfish shorts) will undoubtedly attract one of the largest galleries at the Muirfield Village Golf Club this week, even though the two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback will not be golfing after today.
Manning (right), who retired from the NFL at the end of last season, will tee off from the first tee with world No. 2-ranked Jordan Spieth at 9:30 a.m. in the Nationwide Invitational at the Memorial Pro-Am Wednesday, which will highlight the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Patient Champion Program.
The Patient Champion Program is designed to recognize the spirit and optimistic outlook of each patient eight patient “champions” who will meet the five-time NFL MVP, as wells as PGA Tour professionals.
The field for the 40th Memorial, which begins Thursday, includes seven of the top 10 golfers from the Official World Golf Ranking, including current No. 1 Jason Day, No. 2 Jordan Spieth, No. 3 Rory McIlroy, No. 4 Bubba Watson, No. 5 Rickie Fowler, No. 8 Dustin Johnson and No. 10 Justin Rose.
The 2015 field also boasts eight of the top 10 on both the FedExCup points list and current PGA Tour money list.
In addition to Rose, seven past winners of the Memorial Tournament will be returning to Muirfield Village: K.J. Choi, Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, Matt Kuchar, Hideki Matsuyama, Carl Pettersson and 2015 winner David Lingmerth.
Schedule of events at the 40th Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide:
Wednesday
Nationwide Invitational at the Memorial (Official Pro-Am) 7:30am
Patient Champion Program 7:30am
Practice Rounds All Day
Military Appreciation Day All Day
Junior Golf Day All Day
Honoree Ceremony (Driving Range) 3:00pm
▪Johnny Miller – Tournament Honoree
Jack Nicklaus Golf Clinic (Driving Range) 4:30pm
Junior Golf Clinic (Safari Golf Club) 5:30pm
Thursday – Sunday (June 2 – 5) Tournament Play – 8:00 am start (estimated)
Trophy Presentation Following Play of Final Round