Jack Nicklaus discusses the Memorial, Merion, and the state of the game

Jack Nicklaus, host of the Memorial at Muirfield Village, held his annual press conference to discuss a wide range of  topics Wednesday. He was asked about this week's tournament, the upcoming U.S. Open at Merion, and touched on the various hot topics going on currently in the golf world.

Here are a few segments:

Q.  Mr. Nicklaus, with Merion coming up, players have played Merion and said they only have to hit driver on two or three holes, how important is it to you in design a setup that the driver be used a lot during a round of golf?
JACK NICKLAUS:  Well, if they're only using it two or three times, you're not going to win a golf tournament.  That's my opinion at Merion.  You've got 2, 4, 5, 6, 14, maybe 15, but 16 and 18 you're going to use your driver.  That's a number of times.  And you have holes that you're going to back off on maybe.  You may try to drive the green on 1, you may hit the driver.  But I think that Merion will do very well for the U.S. Open.  I think it's‑‑ I was there last spring.  And I think it will do very well.  It's going to have some holes that they're going to abuse the golf course with, but they're also going to have some holes on the golf course that are going to abuse them.  It's not one of the golf courses that are in the middle road.  It's either tough or they'll birdie the hole.  Merion is a great golf course.  I'd love to still have the golf game to go play it.

The Memorial 2013: Top Pairings and tee times

The Memorial begins Thursday and host Jack Nicklaus has put together some pairings that will feature players from the upcoming Presidents Cup which will also be held at Muirfield Village Golf Club in October.

Tiger Woods, Keegan Bradley, Fred Couples 1:16pm Thursday

Hunter Mahan, Webb Simpson, Matt Kuchar 1:05pm Thursday

Adam Scott, Charl Schwartzel, Ernie Els 8:15 am Thursday

Rory McILroy, Bubba Watson, Justin Rose 8:26am Thursday

Full Tee times

Muirfield Village to host 2013 Presidents Cup

Along with hosting the annual PGA Memorial tournament this May, Muirfield Village will also host the 2013 Presidents Cup beginning this October.

The Presidents Cup is a competition held every two years featuring a team of 12 Americans vs. a team of 12 International players not from Europe. Fred Couples will captain for the United States while Nick Price will captain the International squad.

The U.S. has dominated this competition and holds a 7-1-1 record. The Americans won in Australia in 2011 with a score of 19-15 and won at Harding Park in 2009 with a score of 19 1/2 to 14 1/2.

Muirfield Village, designed by Jack Nicklaus, will play much different in October than it will for this week's Memorial tournament. The course will feature shorter rough and shorter holes for the match play event designed for players to be more aggressive.

"It's a totally different experience," Nicklaus said. "It'll be something because it's a totally different type of event."

In the fall, the idea is to set up the course for the every-hole drama of match play. That's why Nicklaus said the course will have shorter rough, and some par-fours and par-fives will play from shorter tees to encourage players to go for the green in the name of winning a hole.

The Design of Muirfield Village Golf Club

Muirfield Village Golf Club was designed by Jack Nicklaus. The golf course sits on 220 acres, which includes an 11-acre driving range. On Memorial Day, May 27, 1974, the course was officially dedicated with an exhibition match between Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf. Nicklaus won with a 66, which stood as the course record until 1979.

The layout presently plays at 7,265 yards with 75 bunkers and water hazards on 11 holes. The course annually hosts the PGA Memorial tournament.

The Memorial: Betting Odds

World number one Luke Donald will try for his third victory of the season at The Memorial (Getty images / Warren Little) 

The Memorial, hosted by Jack Nicklaus, begins Thursday at Muirfield Village with a great field including defending champion Justin Rose. Luke Donald, new world number one and fresh off his win at the BMW PGA Championship last week enters as the tournament favorite. Several top Americans are in the field, including Mickelson, Kuchar, Watney, and Mahan as well as Keegan Bradley, who won his first PGA Tour event last week at the Byron Nelson.

Notable player betting odds:

Luke Donald: 9-1
Phil Mickelson: 12-1
Matt Kuchar: 18-1
Nick Watney: 18-1
Rory McILroy: 22-1
Hunter Mahan: 22-1
Steve Stricker: 22-1
KJ Choi: 25-1
Rickie Fowler: 33-1
Justin Rose: 33-1
Charl Schwarzel: 50-1
Keegan Bradley: 100-1
Camillo Villegas: 100-1
Mike Weir: 250-1
Todd Hamilton: 400-1

Number one ranking on the line again

For the third straight tournament, Mickelson can potentially overtake the top spot in the world rankings from Woods, something he's never held.

As the two will be vying for the top spot in the world, more important will be preparing for the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in two weeks.

Woods won the last Open held at Pebble in 2000 by a record 15 shots.

“It would be nice to get four rounds in and be in contention and hopefully win this thing,” Woods said. “That’s kind of where I’d like to be. I’d like to see where my game is going into the Open, and I should get a full tournament in, which I haven’t had since the Masters.”

Mickelson will be looking to win his first U.S. Open, the tournament he has finished runner up in a record five times.

“It would be cool,” Mickelson said about the ranking. “I don’t want to discount it. Right now, my goal is to play well here and get ready for the Open next week.”

Photos - AP / Tony Dejak