DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — Scottie Scheffler never thought two straight victories in the Memorial would be of any value when he began his bid for three in a row. It sure felt that way Thursday in a tough start that left him exasperated by the wind and six shots behind a four-way share of the lead.
Wyndham Clark, coming off a victory in the Byron Nelson, U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun, Tommy Fleetwood and the Ryan Gerard were each at 5-under 67, among only
22 players who broke par at Muirfield Village.
Scheffler was poised to be among them until a bad wedge led to a careless bogey on the 14th, and what he thought was a great shot on the 16th bounced into the water for double bogey.
He walked 96 yards to the drop area with his palms upward when they weren't slapping his thigh, all the while seeking answers from caddie Ted Scott that neither of them had. “I don't think you understand how frustrating that is," he said to Scott, who replied quietly with the obvious answer. “I do,” the caddie said.
Six of the seven players who broke 70 started before 10 a.m. and missed out on the swirling wind on a hot, clear day that made the greens even firmer than they already were.
The exception was Gerard, who had quite the wild ride. He had a 3 on a par 5 and followed that with a 5 on a par 3. He had five straight birdies on the back nine and only five pars on his scorecard for the entire round. It added to a 67, which was all that mattered.
“The small misses often lead to big punishments at this golf course,” Gerard said “I don’t think we aimed at a flag stick on the back nine and shot 5 under. You’re picking small targets around either the edge of a bunker or a rake or some guy wearing a bright-colored shirt in the background or a TV tower or whatever it might be.”
Fleetwood's 67 was his lowest round in his fifth time playing the Memorial, and this wasn't the way he would have drawn it up. He was solid off the tee, not so much from the fairway. Fleetwood hit only seven greens and still played bogey-free.
“I got the most out of the round, totally. I got away with a couple of poor misses. Hit the pin a couple of times when it was going past. ... Shot 5 under, so it couldn't have been that bad. I was just getting a little frustrated at the end not being able to execute the iron shots that I wanted to.”
Nick Taylor wasted a good start with a double bogey on the par-5 seventh and a bogey on the next hole, only to played bogey-free on the tough back nine and finishing with one of only seven birdies on the the 18th hole.
Justin Rose and Sam Burns were at 69.
Scheffler provided the entertainment, even it didn't feel all that entertaining to him. He had changed clubs on the ninth, took the longer one and still was short. He changed clubs three times from the fairway on the par-5 11th and came up short. And then the water ball on the 16th was the capper.
What followed was a stream of frustrating lines: “I never thought that was in the water. ... I don't know what to do. ... I absolutely flushed a 7-iron and we get the wind wrong and I'm in the water. ... I'm hitting good shots and dropping from hazards.”
So when he was asked after signing for his 73 if he had any fun at any point, Scheffler gave a half-laugh as he rubbed his chin and said, “Not that I can recall at the moment.”
The 17th was kind of fun. From a fairway bunker, 182 yards to a tucked pin in the front right, Scheffler hit 7-iron to the collar 15 feet away and chipped in for birdie.
“See, that's the thing that can be so frustrating about golf,” Scheffler said. "I striped one on the hole before that and I end up in the water. That one I kind of hit thin, and you get a good bounce and I end up on the fringe and I chip in.
“Yeah, what a game,” he said. “I felt like I didn't get anything out of the round, all of a sudden you get a lucky bounce and you're like, ‘OK, well, I'm going to try to smile.' It's still hard.”
He did smile as he headed to the wind, late enough in the afternoon the wind was starting to calm. He also realized his score wasn't all that bad compared with other players from the afternoon.
It was tough all over for just about everyone. Patrick Cantlay was 3 over through holes and recovered for a 70. Rory McIlroy overcame an early double bogey to go 3 under the rest of the way for a 71. Aaron Rai played alongside Scheffler in his first start since winning the PGA Championship and shot 73.
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