Jack Nicklaus had just turned 35. For a number of years he insisted to his friend and rival Arnold Palmer that he would quit playing competitive golf by then. It just took him 30 years to finally feel his age.

So the 31st Memorial Tournament, which Nicklaus founded and hosts in Dublin, Ohio, will not have the Golden Bear as a competitor for the first time in its history. “I’m going to struggle with this a little bit,” says Nicklaus, 66, who suggested that he might return as a player in his event in the future. “I’m not one for sitting on the sidelines. It’s going to be a bit strange for me, but I’ll still be busy.”

Indeed, and just because Jack, who retired from competitive golf last July, is assuming solely a host role doesn’t mean he won’t have a bearing on the outcome. Muirfield Village Golf Club, one of his best designs, continues to evolve under his watchful eye, and the 106 players in the invitational field are going to find new tweaks and a few more yards this week. The par-72 gem now measures 7,373 yards from the Memorial Tees, but it’s the little turns of the screw here and there that make Muirfield Village a continually fresh and daunting test.

To wit, check out the bunkers. Some of the new ones are yawning and deep, like the trap left of the fairway at the long par-4 10th. Now look at the sand. Both in the fairways and around the greens the bunkers aren’t smooth patches of reprieve but potential spots of bother.

With the use of long-toothed wooden rakes, furrows are being gouged into the bottoms of the bunkers to make recoveries more difficult. The Memorial is the only tournament to thus far institute the measure, though it has been discussed for other PGA TOUR venues. The move is not unprecedented; it was a setup feature in the event’s early years.

Nicklaus tested the new sandy lies on Friday and hit several terrific shots with a borrowed wedge and while wearing loafers. He liked the added challenge it presents. The ball sits down, meaning it’s harder to spin and control. “The good player won’t mind this,” Nicklaus said. “I don’t even play golf anymore and I can handle it.”

Well, he is only 35. Or so.

Last year: Bart Bryant broke from a four-player logjam after 54 holes to beat Fred Couples by one stroke with a closing 4-under-par 68. Bryant’s par save from out of the left hazard on the home hole, capped by a 15-foot putt, left him at 16-under 272, one better than the ’98 Memorial winner, Couples, who closed with 69 for a 273 total and his second straight runner-up finish.

How he did it: By employing the all-around air-tight precision game that tournament founder and host Jack Nicklaus believes should be the regular litmus test for success on the PGA TOUR. Bryant led the field in driving accuracy and putting and was third in greens in regulation. All that effort added up to a tournament-best 24 birdies and an eagle – and his second TOUR title.

Strange but true: There hasn’t been a playoff to decide the Memorial Tournament since 1992. Only THE PLAYERS Championship has gone on longer without one (1987).

Fred Couples won the Memorial Tournament in 1998. (Feldman/WireImage)

True but not so strange: Only seven players have posted four rounds in the 60s in the history of the Memorial Tournament. Fred Couples (2004) and Steve Elkington (1995) are the only ones who did not go on to victory. Couples is the only player to do it twice; the other came during his ’98 win.

If the course could talk: “I get bigger every year because of the golf ball, which my designer insists time and again is going too far, but I’m still all about managing shots into the greens.”

Worth knowing:

•Look for a player with pedigree to emerge with this week’s crown at the Memorial Tournament. Nine of the last 16 winners won a major championship before capturing Jack’s tournament: Paul Azinger, Fred Couples, Ernie Els, Greg Norman, Tom Watson and Tiger Woods account for those victories. In addition, Tom Lehman (1994), Vijay Singh (1997), and Jim Furyk (2002), won majors not long after capturing their Memorial titles.

•Azinger is in the field as an add-on thanks to a new exemption category for former Memorial champions more than 10 years removed and who are not otherwise eligible. Azinger, who won the ’93 title with a spectacular bunker shot on the 72nd hole, has finished in the top 10 at Muirfield Village five times in 18 appearances.

• Ernie Els would have to feel his chances are better than most places to end his victory drought on the PGA TOUR. Els hasn’t won since the 2004 Memorial, a tournament that he’s played 12 times without missing the cut. He’s been in the top 10 five times.

• David Duval was a late entry in the Memorial to make his first appearance in suburban Columbus since 2003. Duval, who has 10 rounds in the 60s this year, more than double from a year ago, finished fourth or better five times in his nine starts at Muirfield Village.

•Jason Gore, forced to withdraw from the Bank of America Colonial after injuring his right elbow, won’t make a determination on traveling to suburban Columbus, Ohio, for the Memorial Tournament until Monday or Tuesday, according to his agent Ralph Cross. Gore, the feel-good story of the 2005 U.S. Open at Pinehurst, has had pain in the elbow for a couple of years but has played through the problem.

•With Jack Nicklaus sitting this one out, the dean of the field is Jay Haas, making his 29th appearance, just one behind the host. Coming off a playoff victory in the Senior PGA Championship, Haas has finished in the top 10 on nine occasions at the Memorial, including joint eighth in 2004, and has made a tournament record 26 cuts, four more than Nicklaus, who is second.

TOUR Insider’s strength of field index: No Golden Bear for the first time, but plenty of gems. 9.0.

TI’s power ranking for the Memorial Tournament: 1. Ernie Els, 2. Fred Couples, 3. Jim Furyk, 4. Trevor Immelman, 5. Stephen Ames.

Parting shot: “I grew up going to The Memorial Tournament every year; it was about two hours from my house. I played with Tiger on Sunday (at last year’s Memorial), and we both had a chance to win (but) finished tied for third. I felt like I was there stride for stride, and that showed me a lot.” – Indiana native Bo Van Pelt on his improving play on the PGA TOUR.