DUBLIN, Ohio (WCMH) — When the top golfers in the world, including Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and defending Memorial Tournament champion Viktor Hovland tee off on the course at Muirfield Village Golf Club, they’ll encounter a different 16th hole than in years past.

“It’s been talked about a lot and it’s it’s one of the hardest par threes we play all year,” Hovland said.

The numbers tell the story. Less than a third of the golfers hit the green off the tee in last year’s Memorial Tournament. And that made an impact on tournament founder and legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus.

“It’s not shame on them anymore. It’s shame on me,” Nicklaus said.

In addition to removing the front right bunker, the tee box has also been moved about 30 yards to right as you play the hole. The move allows golfers to access the right half of the green without going over water. If the pin is back left, they can still aim for part of the green without taking on the risk of a penalty stroke.

The work on reconfiguring the 16th hole started last summer.

“We started in early August and the member that actually played it in October,” Muirfield director of grounds operations Chad Mark said. “So it took six weeks to move some dirt and get the team seed and have everything grown and well enough that the members could play a little bit before the winter arrived.”

The changes will also be noticed by the fans in attendance.

“Because of the change in green, we’ve changed the orientation of how we present the hole from a hospitality and patron standpoint, and I think it’ll be a centerpiece for the week,” Memorial Tournament Executive Director Dan Sullivan said.

The hole still has teeth, maintaining its difficulty with the new tee box being placed 215 yards from the middle of the green.

“The back positions will be just as difficult as they ever were, but they can get the ball in the front part of the greater in the middle of the great fairly safely. So that that that’s a lot of the players will like that but but most of them are greedy anyway,” Nicklaus said. “They’ll want to get back to the third. So they’re going to still fire back and have trouble but at least have government, you know, and giving them an avenue of to to play it a different way.”