We've got five favorites, five maybes and five long shots for you to consider at the Memorial Tournament.

5 FAVORITES
	Tiger Woods Tiger's 37th place finish at The Players Championship was his worst of the season. Yet it could have been even lower if not for a final-round 67 that brought him back to even par for the tournament. Despite a double bogey on the card, that round was one of his finest all-around performances this season. This week, Tiger comes to one of his favorite tracks. Torrey Pines, Doral, Bay Hill, Augusta, Firestone. Nicklaus' Muirfield Village certainly belongs among Tiger's darlings. Woods won three consecutive titles there from 1999 to 2001. He also went T4 - 3 - T3 in his last three visits. And none of his PGA Tour peers is close to rivaling his 69.57 career stroke average. Woods' 2007 scoring average is even better. At 68.85, he is the only player under 69 for the season.
	Phil Mickelson Winged Foot won't be forgotten until he finally wins the U.S. Open, but The Players Championship must have seemed like sweet consolation. It was the best thing that could have happened to Mickelson before heading into the U.S. Open this year. Under Butch Harmon's tutelage, he has gone T3 - T3 - Win. If Phil could find a way to capture his first Memorial title this week, it would set up the perfect atmosphere for a U.S. Open showdown with Woods. At least, Tiger's prohibitive favorite status would be called into question by a lava-hot Lefty. Mickelson's record at Murifield is a checkered one. In the 90s, he couldn't seem to get a handle on it. After skipping the event regularly throughout the last 10 years, Phil returned last season to claim fourth place.
	Vijay Singh Like Tiger, Singh had his worst start of the season at The Players (T44). Vijay flew to England to play in last week's BMW PGA Championship and picked up third place, only one stroke shy of making it into the playoff. What effect all those travel miles will have on Vijay come Thursday is anybody's guess. Whatever his condition, he will definitely be in a congenial place. In 15 career starts at Muirfield Village, he has earned six top-10 finishes, including a victory at the 1997 Memorial Tournament that was called at 54 holes. With the spotlight on Tiger and Phil, Singh won't be feeling much pressure this week. The truth is that he's been playing just as well as either of them this season.
	Jim Furyk It's debatable whether what happened at Colonial was a positive or negative development for Furyk. True, he finally got his mojo back with his irons - his greens in regulation percentage (83.3) was back at the usual Furykian level. In preceding weeks, it ranged from 50 to 60 percent. Furthermore, Furyk had his best putting week of the entire season. But not being able to close the deal on the win must have been quite vexing for the No. 3 player in the world. Sabbatini and Langer put up valiant efforts to match him stride for stride, but as a player a class above each of his main competitors, Furyk burdened the weight of the favorite. He can erase the disappointment with a victory this week against a much stronger field. Furyk won the Memorial title in 2002 and has three top-10 finishes besides.
	Ernie Els In his last few tournaments, Els' potent putter has been showing some cracks. Lots of short-range putts have failed to find the bottom of the cup. This certainly factored into his tepid performances in May -- T34 at Wachovia, T37 at The Players and T24 at the BMW PGA last week. Maybe he can find the spark again this week at the Memorial Tournament. After all, it was at Muirfield Village that Els had one of the best putting weeks of his career. In 2004, Els made it through 72 holes having made only 100 putts. He collected his first Memorial title that year. The victory came after four previous top-10 finishes at Nicklaus' tournament.
5 MAYBES
	Luke Donald At No. 8 on the PGA Tour money list, Donald is the highest earner who still doesn't have a victory in 2007. He can credit his two second-place finishes and three additional top-10s for his lofty position. Luke is also one of only 10 players who has a seasonal stroke average under 70 (69.75). For all his talent, Donald has issues with closing the deal at tournaments (witness his Sunday performance at the Byron Nelson in late April). He can shut up all detractors for a while with a win at the Memorial this week. He comes off of a solid week (seventh place) at the BMW PGA Championship in his native England. Yet with the extra travel, fatigue and jet lag could figure into his energy level.
	Adam Scott You can't say Scott's limited schedule this year has had a detrimental effect on his career. In eight PGA Tour appearances, Scott already picked up a win in Houston, a runner-up at Kapalua and a top-10 finish at The Players Championship. That explains why Scott has been able to stay within the top five of the Official World Golf Ranking. Scott enjoyed his best finish at Muirfield Village last year with fourth place. On the par 5s, which are the course's four easiest holes, he went 8 under par for the week. In 2007, Scott is second only to Phil Mickelson in par 5 birdie percentage. Another prosperous week at the long holes could carry Scott into contention again.
	Zach Johnson With the exception of a poor showing at the Wachovia Championship, Johnson has been doing the Augusta boys proud since his seismic triumph at the Masters. His second victory two weeks ago in Atlanta confirmed what many suspected -- this unassuming Iowan is sticking around for a while. There's even reason to believe that Zach can pull off the trifecta this week at the Memorial Tournament. Last year, he seemed to have a great feel for Muirfield Village, especially the greens. He came up two shots short of Carl Pettersson, taking a share of second place. So in Johnson this week we have a hot player returning to a promising venue. Seems like a perfect storm to me. Don't lose track of him among the ruck of superstars.
	Stewart Cink He may not have a victory to show for the last two months of work, but few players have been as solid as Cink lately. Two top-five finishes and five top-25s stretch back to the Masters. He looked to be in tip-top shape at Colonial and would have been in the chase if not for a few rough patches with the putter. The veteran will be making his 12th consecutive start at Muirfield Village where he boasts a respectable record that includes three top-10 finishes and a 71.26 stroke average.
	Geoff Ogilvy Although he has never finished any higher than 17th place at Muirfield Village, Ogilvy is making his seventh straight appearance at the Memorial Tournament. His commitment to the event signals to me that he has a fondness for Nicklaus' creation and believes, despite past experiences, that he can do quite well there. Ogilvy's season to date has been steady, but without much sizzle. In 11 events so far, he has made it into the top 25 seven times and missed the cut just once. This week the Aussie will be getting his last taste of action before he makes his U.S. Open title defense.
5 LONG SHOTS
	John Rollins There have been 22 events so far on the 2007 PGA Tour and John Rollins has been in 15 of them. The busy schedule is what this two-time champion appears to prefer. Since getting on tour in 2000, he has played an average of 30 tournaments a season. Yet already, Rollins has more prize money than his previous seasonal best in 2002. Two second-place finishes in the first month of the season gave his coffer some good padding to start off. But Rollins hasn't rested on his laurels. Week in and week out, he's out there plying his trade and the intense workload seems to have made for some tremendous consistency. He has missed only one cut this year. His streak stands at 10 straight trips to the weekend.
	Carl Pettersson Pettersson wasn't striking his irons particularly well at the 2006 Memorial Tournament, but thanks to a magical putting stroke that stayed with him all week, he managed to capture his second PGA Tour title. The 29-year-old Swede comes to his title defense having made the cut in eight consecutive starts. His recent play has been a refreshing change from the struggles of the early season when he missed the cut in three of his first five events. Pettersson's proficiency on the par 5s -- 4.64 stroke average in 2007 -- will be a big advantage at Muirfield Village where the par 5s are easy targets.
	Steve Stricker Stricker turned 40 back in February and is playing his 14th season on the PGA Tour, but don't let the vintage fool you. Just look at the numbers that matter and you'll soon realize that Stricker is having one of the best seasons of his career. His second-place finish at the Wachovia Championship was his fourth top-10 of the year. As always, Stricker thrives with one of the most reliable putting strokes on the PGA Tour. He now stands sixth in putts per round. He leads the Tour in scrambling percentage, but that is more a testament to his gift with the flatstick.
	Aaron Baddeley Since his victory in Phoenix, Baddeley has made eight straight cuts and collected three more top-10s. It's a remarkable record when you consider how poorly Baddeley has been playing from tee to green. His 58 percent GIR average is one of the lowest on the PGA Tour. The saving grace has been one of the best putters going these days. He's sixth in putting average and fourth in putts per round. Muirfield Village has been a tough nut to crack for the talented Aussie. In five appearances, his best showing is 46th place. He needs to find at least 60 percent of his greens this week if he wants to contend in this power-packed field.
	Nathan Green Green is coming off of his best performance of the year at the Crowne Plaza Invitational. He led the field in putting average and picked up fifth place. Green's game is clearly trending upward and it can't go any higher than a maiden title. Like Stricker and Baddeley, Green is a gifted putter who is having difficulty getting his ball safely to the green on a consistent basis. Last week was a positive sign on this front. Green hit 70 percent of his greens at Colonial. This could be his breakthrough week if he can repeat a similar performance at Muirfield Village.

Handicapping the 2007 Memorial Tournament