Jordan Spieth walks with Rory McIlroy on the 13th hole during
the first round of The Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf
Club (Getty Images)
DUBLIN, Ohio — Talk about sweet symmetry. When the final
putt had dropped and Round 1 of the Memorial Tournament was in the books
Thursday evening, you could assess the productiveness of golf’s “Big
Three” by the order in which they sit in the Official World Golf
Ranking. No. 1 Jason Day posted 6-under 66 in a tidy, low-stress effort (10 fairways, 15 greens hit in regulation). No. 2 Jordan Spieth birdied three of the four par-5s to get in with a 70. And No. 3 Rory McIlroy broke par, but just barely, his 71 hardly
looking like the sort of golf he played in winning the Irish Open so
impressively two weeks ago. Put it all together and it was a serious mixed bag for these young
stars, all of whom came into the Memorial having won their last starts.
Day at The Players Championship, Spieth at Colonial, McIlroy in Ireland. No surprise, their reactions ran the gamut, too. “I feel good about my game,” Day said. “I’m pleased because usually I come into this event and start pretty poorly.” Good memory, mate, because Day has gone 74, 72, 72, 72 in each of his
last four opening rounds in a tournament that represents a “home game.”
The Aussie lives not far from Jack Nicklaus’ Muirfield Village and
plays here a few times a week, when he’s home. Chasing Day in the World Rankings, Spieth was a bit wild off the tee (6 of 14
fairways) and only hit 11 greens, but the most important club in his bag
again was the putter. “I putted the ball great,” Spieth said. “I felt
awesome on the greens.” Those sentiments were hardly echoed by McIlroy as he needed 37 shots
to play the first nine holes, Muirfield’s watery back, and only got into
red numbers thanks to a birdie, birdie finish. “Six birdies is great, but the five dropped shots was the rest of the
story,” McIlroy said. “I’m putting myself in good position off the tee
and I’m making the birdies. I just need to limit the mistakes.” He also seems to need a commitment to a putting grip, because after
weeks of going left-hand low, McIlroy flashed a conventional grip on the
greens. First reaction: Hey, you won the Irish Open with left-hand low,
so what gives? McIlroy explained: “I had 127 putts the week that I won the Irish Open. I
won that golf tournament with my ball-striking alone. I just felt like
it was time (to go back to a conventional grip) and focus on the basics
like set-up and eye position and ball position and stuff like that.” McIlroy required 26 putts and was 2.734 in the strokes-gained-putting
category, which is fairly impressive. But he wasn’t gushing like
Spieth; instead, McIlroy conceded he was settling into a firm commitment
to conventional. Yes, he’s here at the Memorial, but it’s all about
what lies ahead in two weeks. “Going to Oakmont (for the U.S. Open), the greens are so fast there
and you have to have so much feel and touch,” McIlroy said. “I felt like
just going back to conventional was going to give me the best chance
here and obviously there.” SCOREBOARD Pare 72
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