|
|
|
|
Printable Page
06/04 18:33 CDT Fleetwood part of 4-way tie for the lead at Memorial in a tough
opening round for Scheffler
Fleetwood part of 4-way tie for the lead at Memorial in a tough opening round
for Scheffler
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
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.
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
|
| Copyright DTN. All rights reserved. Disclaimer. |
|
