The first 21 weeks of the 2013 PGA Tour season has given the golf world as much to talk about as some prior entire years.

Eight first-time winners have hoisted trophies. The likes of Brian Gay and Boo Weekley have broken multi-year win-less droughts. Adam Scott vanquished a decades-old curse on Australian golfers by winning the Masters in all-time thrilling fashion. Tiger Woods has played seven events, won four of them and holds a gigantic lead in the FedEx Cup points standings. The return of the U.S. Open to Merion Golf Club grows on the horizon.

With all of that as prelude, this year’s Memorial Tournament may seem destined to disappoint. Here are a few reasons why that is not likely.

The Field

The main attraction, as always when he tees it up, is the aforementioned Woods. He is the defending champion and odds-on favorite (9/4, as of Tuesday) to capture the title in 2013. Muirfield Village has bowed before his greatness four other times: 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2009. If Tiger does win this week, the Memorial will become the fifth different event Woods has won at least six times. He will play his first two rounds alongside Fred Couples and Keegan Bradley.

But contrary to what some coverers of golf may have you believe, Woods is far from the only player in the field this week. Six others from the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking will tee it up as well. In total, the field will feature 23 of the top 30 and 35 of the top 50 in the world.

Recent golf media darling, 14-year-old Guan Tianlang will also be in the field, having accepted a special invitation from the tournament. The young man from China captured the attention of the golf world by making the cut and finishing as low amateur in this year’s Masters. He is not expected to contend for the championship, but he will undoubtedly garner a sizable gallery during his rounds this week.

Click here to see inside the ropes photos from the Memorial Tournament.

 

Players to watch this week should include good drivers of the ball, as Muirfield Village tends to prime players for the U.S. Open with formidable rough. Boo Weekley, who reemerged into the winner’s circle at Colonial, could threaten to win his second Tour event in as many weeks. Rory McIlroy is one of the best drivers in the game and could well pick up his maiden victory of 2013 at Jack’s place. And don’t forget Adam Scott, making his second appearance since capturing that elusive first major championship.

The Course

What Augusta National Golf Club was to Bobby Jones, Muirfield Village is to Jack Nicklaus. The Golden Bear co-designed the course with late architectural mentor Desmond Muirhead and has been tinkering with all facets of the course ever since. There are echoes of Augusta, especially at Muirfield’s No. 12, a par 3 with a similarly shallow and water- and sand-guarded putting surface, where par is OK.

 Above: A view from the tee of No. 12 at Muirfield Village

Muirfield Village’s finish is one of the main reasons viewers should expect high drama throughout the week. The fun really begins with the short par 4 No. 14, whose narrow green is guarded by a creek on the right and bunkers on the left, bringing scores from two to seven realistically into the picture. The following hole is the extremely reachable par-5 No. 15, where many eagles will be made throughout the week but where yet more water can interfere with players’ aspirations.

No. 16, a long par 3, is the hole that has seen the most dramatic recent changes of any on the course. Nicklaus commissioned the construction of a fronting pond that echoes No. 16 at Augusta, but this time guards the putting surface of a hole that can play more than 200 yards from the back tee. Birdies are scarily rare.

The course closes in more standard fashion with a duo of lengthy par 4s where bogies will happen more often than birdies, but the chance to gain a shot is nevertheless present. In all, players three or even four shots off the pace can make up that ground over the closing stretch at Muirfield, making for a lot of potential fireworks this weekend in central Ohio.

Click here to see inside the ropes photos from the Memorial Tournament.