Highlights from the first round of the Memorial tournament – Part 5
A five-way tie was seen at the 13th spot on the leaderboard, which included Hunter Mahan, Phil Mickelson, Ben Curtis, Bo Van Pelt and Brett Wetterich.
World number five Mickelson composed a score of 5-under par in the final round after teeing off from the front on a rain-struck course. The American reeled three birdies in the front to prepare himself for the tougher nine holes of the course. Relying on
his driving accuracy, the veteran clamped two more birdies at the back, alongside an eagle and wrapped the day in 13th place.
Despite meeting failure in winning the tournament, Mickelson said that he was pleased with his game. The player revealed he had been working on the iron-play and it finally began to show results.
Mickelson said while speaking to reporters, “No, the only difference I'm trying to make is I'm trying to get a little more touch, a little bit softer, softer transition, trying to get a little bit more feel in the swing on those iron shots where I'm taking
five, seven, eight yard shots off of a full swing. And my iron performance has been much better this year trying to create more feel. Now I'm trying to carry that over onto the greens. I tried today to get a much softer feel and touch, and I putted a lot better
today doing that.”
Meanwhile, Curtis also gave a spectacular performance which changed the number of zeroes added to his cheque. The player was seen struggling on the fairways in the start of the tournament, but as he became familiar with the course, he became comfortable.
This ease earned him seven birdies in the day. The final round was by far his best round of the session. Curtis entertained the spectators with a success rate of 89 percent in Green Hits in Regulation in this round.
The worst score of the group was composed by Mahan, who despite having familiarity with the course, could not conquer it. World number 18 dropped three shots in the back against four bogeys and wrapped the day nine strokes behind the winner.
When asked to comment on the reason behind the failure, he explained that the greens were extremely slippery, which made it nearly impossible for the ball to roll into the cup in the first attempt.
Similar sentiments were shared by Wetterich, who teed-off from the front as the greens were softer there and reeled three back-to-back birdies to compose a score of 3-under par 33. The start was brilliant, but the finish was defined by rain, which forced
the player to bogey a hole and leave the course in the 13thplace.
Article continued in Part 6…
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