Course more difficult for Memorial
Last week, Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas turned the Workday Charity Open into more of a playday tournament.
They combined to shoot 38 under at Muirfield Village Golf Club before Morikawa prevailed in a playoff.
It was hardly a secret that the setup for the Memorial Tournament would be more difficult, and those two served as exhibits A and B on Thursday.
Morikawa stumbled to a 4-over-par 76 while Thomas shot a 74.
Morikawa said he noticed a difference in the course during a practice round Tuesday.
“You already saw the greens get about a foot, foot-and-a-half faster, and today when we stepped on the course, even though it was morning, you could start seeing a little shine,” he said. “So you know the first bounces were skipping a little more, getting a little firmer.
“The rough has obviously just kept growing. They’ve put some water on them. You miss in some spots, sometimes you’ve got to chip out and you never know what kind of lie you’re going to get, but for the most part it’s not going to be good.”
Add swirling wind Thursday, and it was tough going.
“It’s not even remotely close to the same,” Thomas said. “You’ve still got to hit the shots, and I don’t want to say it was a disadvantage, but it was a totally, totally different golf course.
“The course is in fantastic shape right now. It’s very tough.”
Thomas struggled from the start with bogeys on the first two holes. He was at 4 over through 13 before he birdied two of the next three holes.
Morikawa’s round started well enough. He began on the back nine and birdied No. 12. But he sandwiched double bogeys on Nos. 14 and 16 around a bogey on 15.
Morikawa, a second-year PGA Tour player, has missed only one cut in his young career.
“Just clean things up for tomorrow and we’re perfectly fine,” he said. “If we can make a few birdies, hopefully no one takes it too deep. It looks like the wind is going to stay up, so we’ll see what the scores are like.”
Morikawa and Thomas weren’t the only ones who tore it up last week and struggled Thursday. Viktor Hovland, who finished third last week, shot a 76. Ian Poulter, who tied for fifth, shot a 76.
Steele sets the pace
Brendan Steele shot a 4-under 68 to take the early lead Thursday.
“I hit a lot of good shots, but when I got into trouble I was able to make some really good saves,” Steele said.
He had only one bogey and eagled the 11th hole, draining a wedge shot from 111 yards.
In eight previous Memorial appearances, Steele hasn’t finished better than tied for 20th.
His 68 was tied for the third-best in his 29 Memorial rounds. He tied for 52nd at the Workday Charity Open.
Steele missed the cut at the Charles Schwab Challenge in his first tournament since the PGA Tour resumed, but he believes his finish at the Travelers (tie for sixth) is more reflective of the state of his game.
“I’m excited about things moving forward,” Steele said.
17th time a charm?
In 16 previous Memorial tournaments, Charles Howell III has never finished better than tied for 15th, and that came in his first appearance, in 2001.
Last year, he missed the cut after a second-round 78.
But Howell keeps coming back for more, and on Thursday he shot a 3-under 69, just one stroke off the early lead. He was bogey-free until the 18th hole.
Asked what motivated him to keep returning to a place where he’s had little success, Howell said, “Well, I love the golf course. I don’t have a top 10 here, but I love the golf course. I love being here. I might have first fallen in love with the milkshakes here, and then the golf course was really close behind.
“But I love it here. I remember the first year I came here, I played with Gary Nicklaus and Jack Nicklaus, and it was a day I still remember, walking around this golf course playing with Jack and Gary and him walking me around it and what he was doing and his thoughts and design.”
Singh’s up-and-down round
Vijah Singh, at 57 the oldest player in the Memorial field, had one of the strangest rounds of the day.
Singh hasn’t made a PGA Tour cut in seven tournaments this year, but he had consecutive birdies on Nos. 4, 5 and 6 to get to 3 under. He parred the next five holes before a double bogey on No. 12 and a triple bogey on No. 14.
That put Singh at 2 over par. He birdied three of his four final holes to finish with a 1-under 71.
And locally …
Westerville resident Jason Day, who tied for seventh in the Workday tournament, shot a 73 Thursday. Former Ohio State golfer Bo Hoag shot a 75. brabinowitz@dispatch.com @brdispatch