Luke Donald fires 64 to lead Memorial on 1st day

He had a tournament-record low of 20 putts to lead by three shots over Jason Day and three others.

By BOB BAPTIST

The Columbus Dispatch

DUBLIN — Luke Donald had matters more pressing this week than planning his strategy for Muirfield Village Golf Club. He had just “moved house,” as he put it, and needed to help his wife unpack and get situated.

Well acquainted with the course after playing in the Memorial Tournament five times, Donald decided he did not need to get to the tournament more than a day before the first round.

“Maybe I ought to fly in on Wednesday morning more often,” he said.

Wednesday was a moving day of a different sort for the 31-year-old Englishman, who has called Chicago home since attending Northwestern University.

First off the tee on a pristine morning for scoring, one of the best putters on the PGA Tour took advantage of the soft and pure greens to move out to a three-stroke lead after the first round of the Memorial. A tournament-record 20 putts paved his way to an 8-under-par 64 that was still untouched by day’s end.

Jason Day, a 21-year-old Australian in the tournament on a sponsor’s exemption, got within a stroke of the lead with three holes to play but bogeyed the last two. He finished with a 67 and is in a four-way tie for second with Ted Purdy, Thomas Aiken of South Africa and Jim Furyk, the 2002 Memorial champion.

“A little bit of a disappointment the last two holes,” Day said. “But these greens are really, really quick, you know? They’re really fast. You’ve got to make sure you put yourself in the right position.

“If you leave yourself above the hole [as he did on the last two], it can be a bit tough. You’re playing defense instead of offense.”

Three more players — Stewart Cink, Steve Marino and Mark Wilson at 68 — stood between the leader and the world’s best player.

Tiger Woods, in his final tuneup before defending his U.S. Open championship in two weeks, opened with a 69 in which he did not miss a fairway until the final hole, despite a swirling wind in the afternoon. But he did not take advantage of the par-5 holes, parring three and birdieing one.

“I was right there,” Woods said, “unfortunately [birdied] only one out of four.”

Donald had easier conditions after teeing off at 7:30 a.m. Woods went off at 12:43 p.m.

The greens were “receptive” from 0.15 of an inch of rain Wednesday, Donald said, “so you can fire. Even long irons are holding. You had to guard against spinning it too much with wedges [but] the softness made it easier to place the ball where you wanted.”

Five of Donald’s birdies came on putts of 10 feet or less. He one-putted five other greens to save par, including No. 14, where he took a penalty stroke after pulling his tee shot in the stream left of the fairway.

He also holed out for birdie from off the green twice, including a 48-yard wedge shot on No. 2 that headed him in the right direction after a tournament-opening bogey on No. 1.