DUBLIN, Ohio — Davis Riley opened with a 67 at the Memorial to finish atop the leaderboard after the opening round for the second straight year. And that’s where the similarities end.
Riley birdied three of his last four holes Thursday afternoon when the turf was firm and the wind was swirling and the bad breaks led to big numbers, as Rory McIlroy found out.
Riley was in a six-way share of the lead last year. On Thursday, he led by one over Matt Wallace. Jordan Spieth was in the group at 69, ending his hopes for a bogey-free day by hitting into two bunkers on the 18th hole and saving bogey from the second one.
It was hot. It was hard. And at times, it was tough to watch.
Chad Ramey hit four shots that went into the water on the ninth hole, which featured a front pin and a stream in front of the green. He made a 13, the highest score ever recorded on any of the holes at Muirfield Village.
He posted an 88, still shy of the record high score of 92 that Roger Maltbie shot in 1979 in a second round that featured 30 mph wind and a wind chill index of 13 degrees.
Dry and hot is the weather that tournament founder Jack Nicklaus always wanted but rarely gets, and there were plenty of comparisons to a U.S. Open except for the generous fairways.
Defending champion Billy Horschel has been in a slump, and Muirfield Village was no place to try to snap out of that. Horschel had four 6s on his card of 84.
“My confidence is the lowest it’s been in my entire career. I think ever in my entire golf career,” Horschel said. “So it’s funny, as low as it feels, it feels like I’m not that far off at the same time. Which is insane to see when you see me shoot 84 today.”
Wallace, who needs a victory this week to avoid U.S. Open qualifying, posted his 68 in the morning before the wind and the temperatures picked up.
McIlroy was 3 under for his round playing the 18th when his drive went right – not unusual for the shape of that hole – and was tumbling toward the sand until it stopped. That was very unusual. The ball was nearly belt-high and he could barely take a stance. He did his best to chop it out, and it just cleared the bunker into thick grass.
From there, his 9-iron caught a flyer and sailed over the green to the shaggy hill. His flop shot came out clunky and over the green and its front pin. His chip was weak. He missed the putt. And his triple bogey wiped out an otherwise good day.
LPGA: Two-time NCAA individual champion Rose Zhang made her professional debut and gave the LPGA what was expected and needed, a solid opening round in the Mizuho Americas Open that put her in position to wow women’s golf on one of its biggest stages.
The 20-year-old from Stanford who has dominated the women’s amateur rankings for more than two years shot a 2-under-par 70 on the Liberty National Golf Course in Jersey City, New Jersey. The California resident was five shots off the early lead held by Lauren Hartlage.
Aditi Ashok, the first player from India on the tour, was at 67 in a tournament where the focus shifted to Zhang last weekend with her announcement she was turning pro.
Zhang didn’t dominate in her first round as a pro, but she showed enough, making five birdies and three bogeys on a day when her putter didn’t help her.
“This was definitely a round that could have been better, and that kind of gets me excited to work on more and to develop my game even further,” said Zhang, who was among 14 players at 2 under. “I felt like I left a couple shots out there, and I think there is a lot of room for improvement.”
EUROPEAN TOUR: Maximilian Kieffer delighted home fans at the European Open with a 4-under 69 for a share of the lead after the first round in Hamburg, Germany.
The 32-year-old Kieffer, bidding to be the first German winner on home soil in 15 years, carded five birdies and an eagle – offset by three bogeys – to match Simon Forsström.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
