The Memorial Tournament celebrates its 50th anniversary this week. It has a $20 million purse and one of the strongest fields of the season with Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and many more pros. But three golfers who really could have challenged will be watching from home.

1. Collin Morikawa

Collin Morikawa is one of the most surprising absentees at Muirfield Village. His record at the Memorial Tournament makes that absence feel worse. He lost a playoff to Patrick Cantlay in 2021 at 13-under, missed the cut in 2022, withdrew during the third round in 2023 due to illness, and finished solo second in 2024, one shot behind Scheffler.

The 29-year-old withdrew to keep recovering from a back injury that has followed him since he pulled out of The Players Championship in March. Before stepping away, he was playing some of the best golf of his season. He won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, finished T7 at the Masters, T4 at RBC Heritage, and sat third in the FedExCup standings.

2. Viktor Hovland

Viktor Hovland has withdrawn from the Memorial field. The 28-year-old won the 2023 Memorial Tournament, beating Denny McCarthy in a playoff at seven under. He followed that with a T15 in 2024 and a T25 in 2025. He has never missed a cut here in six appearances.

Hovland did not explain the withdrawal. But his 2026 season has been inconsistent. He finished T13 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship, T18 at the Masters, and missed the cut at the PGA Championship. With the US Open at Shinnecock Hills days away, skipping the Memorial feels like more of a reset than a rest.

3. Brooks Koepka

Brooks Koepka is out with a qualification issue, not an injury. He returned to the PGA Tour this season under the Returning Members Program after leaving LIV Golf, but that program has restrictions. He can’t get sponsor exemptions into signature events and has to qualify by FedExCup standing, a win, or a top-30 world ranking.

His Memorial Tournament record doesn’t read like Morikawa or Hovland. His only appearance was in 2020 when he shot 72-75-73-80 for T52. Having spent his years on LIV Golf, he had no recent history at Muirfield Village.

He needed a big finish at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial, the last event he could play to get into the Memorial field, but he WD before teeing off. He had flashes of good form in 2026. He finished T9 at the Cognizant Classic, T13 at The Players, T12 at the Masters, and T14 at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. But missed cuts at Phoenix, Houston, and the Zurich Classic kept him from reaching qualifying standards.

With Morikawa, Hovland, and Koepka absent, which missing player do you think would have had the best chance to win?