The stars don’t come out at Nicklaus’ event
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UBLIN, Ohio — Shortly after breakfast time Thursday, Jack Nicklaus, the founder and host of the Memorial, sent out this message from his Twitter account:
“Showtime! Might be our strongest f ield ever and the course awaiting them is in terrific shape. Look forward to watching @ MemorialGolf unfold!’’
Well, Round 1 of the Memorial unfolded as scheduled Thursday, but by day’s end the star power about which Nicklaus boasted — eight of the top-10 ranked players in the world are in the field — was curiously and conspicuously missing in action.
As the Memorial enters its second round Friday, here’s what the top tier of the leaderboard looks like:
Joaquin Niemann, at 19 years old the youngest pl ayer in the f i eld ( and believed to be the youngest playing PGA Tour events), is tied for the lead with 2014 Memorial winner Hideki Matsuyama and Abraham Ancer at 7-under after they posted 65s.
Right behind the l eaders are Beau Hossler at 6-under, and Jamie Lovemark, Grayson Murray, Kyle Stanley and Lucas Glover at 5-under.
Where are all the big names in the field?
Ti g e r Woo d s rebounded from a 4-over start through his first seven holes to shoot 72. Rory McIlroy shot 74. Dusti n Jo h n s o n and Jordan Spieth each shot 75. Justin Thomas, who just unseated Johnson as the No. 1 ranked player in the world, shot 72. Phil Mickelson, after going 4- under t hrough his first eight holes, shot 74. Justin Rose, ranked No. 3 in the world, shot 71.
Maybe, considering the less- than-inspiring list of winners at Nicklaus’ signature event, we shouldn’t be surprised at the lack of star power at the top.
The defending champion is Jason Dufner, who posted a 3-over Thursday. William McGirt won in 2016, David Lingmerth in 2015 and Matsuyama in 2014. All are respectable players, but hardly considered stars.
You have to go back to 2012, when Woods won his f ifth Memorial, to find a winner who would be considered a legitimate star.
The moral to the story is that in golf, you rarely get the results you expect.
That said, though, Niemann, a native of Chile, is a terrific story. He turned pro after the Masters in April and finished sixth at the Valero Texas Open in his PGA Tour professional debut. Niemann, in fact, is coming off a tie for eighth at last week’s Fort Worth Invitational.
“It has been all really quick,’’ Niemann said. “Two months ago I was playing the Masters as an amateur and right now I’ve already played four tournaments as a pro and it feels really nice. I just really am enjoying what I’m doing now and still I love golf. So being out here, playing with the best players, it can’t be any better.’’
Niemann got into the game at age 4 because his father, Jorge, plays recreationally. When asked how old he was when he first beat his dad, Niemann said, “He’s not listening, right?’’
Then he said, “When I was maybe like 12, 11.’’
“When I was like 14 or 15 years old, I decided that this is what I wanted to do in the future,’’ Niemann said. “And that was it.’’
It’s working out pretty well at the moment.
One thing Niemann is l ooking forward to about as much as his first professional win (which if it comes this week would make him the f ourth- youngest player in PGA Tour history to win): Turning 20.
“Yeah, I can’t wait until November when I turn 20, so no more teen years,’’ he said.
While the age of adulthood in America is 21, in Chile it’s 18.
“So in Chile I’m a big guy,’’ Niemann said with a shy smile. “Not here.’’
Not yet.