DUBLIN, Ohio — Ben Griffin resumed the good play that introduced him his first particular person PGA Tour victory final week, hitting two pictures within the water and nonetheless posting a 7-under 65 on Thursday within the Memorial on a course with tough as dense as a U.S. Open.
Griffin is not taking victory laps after successful at Colonial. He simply saved making birdies, together with an eagle on the par- 5 seventh gap with a 3-wood into 12 ft. He led by two pictures over Collin Morikawa, with Max Homa one other stroke behind.
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler wasn’t at his finest and nonetheless managed a 70, his nineteenth consecutive match through which he opened with a spherical beneath par.
Griffin was taking part in so properly that his two water balls — on the par-5 eleventh and par-3 twelfth — solely led to bogeys when such errors punished so many different gamers.
“Yeah, a pair water balls — really want to go to the vary and work on my sport to scrub that stuff up,” Griffin mentioned with amusing.
Muirfield Village was comfortable sufficient from rain the previous two days that good scores had been obtainable supplied pictures got here from the golf green, and never from tough that Justin Thomas had mentioned was akin to what they may face at Oakmont within the U.S. Open.
“Mainly a U.S. Open we’re taking part in,” Keegan Bradley mentioned. “I’ll be taking part in back-to-back U.S. Opens right here. However the course could be very truthful, setup good. Only a robust check.”
The numbers bear that out, whether or not it was solely 13 gamers who broke par in a mild wind, or the eight gamers who made triple bogey on seven of the holes at Muirfield Village.
Griffin set the tempo early by going out in 31, after which bumped into just a few issues with the water. He tried to succeed in the inexperienced on the eleventh, got here up brief and into the water, and missed a 10-foot par putt. On the twelfth, his tee shot bounced again down the slope into the water. He saved bogey with a 6-foot putt.
However what a end — a 15-foot birdie on the par-3 sixteenth, a 12-foot birdie on the seventeenth and holing out from simply over 50 ft up the ridge on the 18th for a 3rd straight birdie.
“It was an unimaginable day,” Griffin mentioned. “Sort of constructing on what I used to be doing final week, making a ton of birdies, staying aggressive. This is without doubt one of the hardest golf programs we play on tour and you have to be in your sport to make birdies and provides your self a whole lot of appears.”
Shane Lowry performed alongside Griffin and had a 69, one in every of solely six gamers to interrupt 70. It may not have felt that good the best way Griffin was taking part in.
“I advised him once we completed, ‘Maintain it going, issues will flip round for you fairly quickly,'” Lowry mentioned with a smile. “He just about holed every thing he checked out immediately. It was good. We bounced off one another, all of us performed actually properly.
“My 3 beneath would not look that nice beside his 7 beneath, however 3 beneath is an effective rating on the market on this course,” he mentioned. “It is fairly tough.”
Homa retains attempting to piece collectively his sport that allowed him to succeed in No. 10 on the planet when he performed the Memorial final 12 months. Now he’s at No. 87 and faces an extended week — a troublesome check at Muirfield Village, after which 36 holes of U.S. Open qualifying Monday.
“I advised my coach final evening that is one of the best my swing has felt in a very very long time. Then the entire sport type of felt like that,” Homa mentioned. “I did not have to shoot a low quantity to validate that, nevertheless it simply feels good.”
Nick Taylor had one of many 10 double bogeys — two others made triple bogey — on the par-3 twelfth, however the Canadian rallied with two birdies on his final three holes for a 69.
Scheffler received the PGA Championship and tried to get as a lot relaxation as he may forward of Colonial, the place he nonetheless tied for fourth. He labored just a little extra within the days heading into Memorial and spent an excessive amount of time within the tough and battling for pars.
He did that properly, too, dropping solely two pictures regardless of hitting six of the 14 fairways and twice failing to transform birdie possibilities on the par 5s on the again 9.
The final time he was over par to start out a match was the U.S. Open final 12 months.
“I felt like I scored fairly properly. If I need to preserve doing that, I am going to should be just a little sharper the subsequent few days,” Scheffler mentioned. “However total, an excellent job posting a rating. Yeah, 2 beneath on this place any day is fairly good.”
No want telling that to Thomas (80) or Daniel Berger (81). After which there was Adam Scott, who was 7 over for his spherical by six holes. He performed even par the remainder of the best way for a 79.
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