Workday Charity Open preview: What to know for the week at Muirfield

The PGA Tour heads to Dublin, Ohio, for the Workday Charity Open - the first of two consecutive stops at Muirfield Village Golf Club.

The John Deere Classic was originally slated for this week, but after it was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, Muirfield Village stepped up to host an event prior to next week's Memorial Tournament, a staple on the PGA Tour's schedule.

There will be differences between this week's and next's week's tournaments, though. The Workday Charity Open will have a field of 156 golfers - headlined by Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka, and Jon Rahm - and Muirfield will be set up with shorter rough and slower greens. Next week's Memorial is an invitational hosted by Jack Nicklaus.

When: July 9-12
Where: Muirfield Village Golf Club, Dublin, Ohio

How to watch

Featured-group coverage can be streamed online wherever PGA Tour Live is available in your area from the first tee shot until 3:00 p.m. ET daily.

The field

Five of the top 10 ranked players will be in attendance for the first leg of the Muirfield doubleheader. Patrick Cantlay - who won last year's Memorial - and Patrick Reed join Thomas, Koepka, and Rahm as the class of the field.

Other notables such as Xander Schauffele, Hideki Matsuyama, Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler, and Viktor Hovland help generate a strength-of-field rating comparable to the first three events of the PGA Tour's restart.

Featured groups (all times ET)

Group: Jon Rahm, Gary Woodland, Viktor Hovland
Thursday - 7:34 a.m.
Friday - 12:59 p.m.

Group: Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka, Jason Day
Thursday - 7:45 a.m.
Friday - 1:10 p.m.

Group: Patrick Reed, Matthew Wolff, Rickie Fowler
Thursday - 12:59 p.m.
Friday - 7:34 a.m.

Group: Patrick Cantlay, Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson
Thursday - 1:10 p.m.
Friday - 7:45 a.m.

The course

Muirfield Village is a 7,456-yard, par-72 course designed by Jack Nicklaus. It's the annual stop for the Memorial Tournament and considered one of the toughest courses in the PGA Tour's rotation. Players will be forced to find fairways in order to be able to attack the smaller-than-average greens. Muirfield rewards elite iron play - part of the reason why Tiger Woods won here five times - because missing greens leads to extremely difficult up-and-down situations.

While the setup for the Workday Charity Open will be slightly easier than next week's Memorial, don't expect a winning score of 20-under as in two of the last four PGA Tour events.

Past winners (Memorial)

2019: Patrick Cantlay (-19) over Adam Scott
2018: Bryson DeChambeau (-15) over Byeong Hun An, Kyle Stanley
2017: Jason Dufner (-13) over Rickie Fowler, Anirban Lahiri
2016: William McGirt (-15) over Jon Curran
2015: David Lingmerth (-15) over Justin Rose
2014: Hideki Matsuyama (-13) over Kevin Na
2013: Matt Kuchar (-12) over Kevin Chappell
2012: Tiger Woods (-9) over Andres Romero, Rory Sabbatini

Betting corner

Here are the odds to win for the top portion of the betting board:

Justin Thomas +1000
Brooks Koepka +1000
Jon Rahm +1200
Patrick Cantlay +1200
Hideki Matsuyama +1600
Xander Schauffele +1600
Viktor Hovland +2000
Justin Rose +2200
Rickie Fowler +2500
Field +3000
Patrick Reed +3000
Collin Morikawa +3500
Gary Woodland +3500
Joaquin Niemann +3500
Sungjae Im +4000
Byeong Hun An +4500
Jordan Spieth +4500
Matt Kuchar +4500
Adam Hadwin +5000
Bubba Watson +5000
Marc Leishman +5000
Matthew Fitzpatrick +5000

(Odds source: theScore Bet)