PGA Memorial Golf Tournament 2013: Tiger Woods Ranked As Favorite to Win, But Rory McIlroy To Compete

No one is hotter in the golf world these days than Tiger Woods, who has won four of his last tournaments, including the PGA Players title earlier this month.

Now, Woods looks like he'll be setting his sights on the next tourney, the upcoming Memorial Golf tournament, as the U.S. Open looms closer.

Woods, the No.1-ranked golfer in the world, is being given very favorable 9-4 odds, by Bovada, of walking out the winner of the tournament when it kicks off Thursday. The defending champion, Woods has won the tournament five times and is playing with a swagger and poise that has made him the golfer to beat at any tournament he has played in this year.

With the PGA U.S. Open coming up next month, Woods, who has not won an official PGA major despite his hot streak this year, could be looking to warm up for that tournament with a strong performance in Dublin, Ohio, where the tournament will be hosted on the greens of the Muirfield Village Gold Club.

However, Woods will not be the only big game looking to win in Ohio on Thursday. Matt Kuchar, No.9 in the world, has a 20-1 chance of winning the tournament, and has had some success on the greens of Muirfield in recent years. Rory McIlroy, No.2 in the world, will also be at the tournament, and poses one of the biggest threats to Woods in defending his crown.

The field will also feature a formidable list of other contenders including Adam Scott, Justin Rose, Brandt Snedeker, Lee Westwood, Luke Donald and more.

Woods has been gaining a lot of steam in the start of the year, and hopes to continue that streak well into November, when he will return to Turkey to play in the Turkish Airlines Open, a European Tour event. With the winner to walk away with a $7 million purse, it would seem there is plenty of financial incentive for Woods to take part in the event, being promoted by International Sports Management.

"We almost based the date around which week he could play, and this week suited the European Tour and Tiger Woods," Chubby Chandler of International Sports Management told PA Sport in London, according to ESPN.com. "The other 77 names in the field will not be familiar to Turkish fans, but Tiger Woods is. To have the world No. 1 there, it always makes it special if a European Tour player can win with Tiger in the field."