Highlights from the first round of the Memorial tournament – Part 7
Seven players smashed a score of 3-under par to occupy the 30th spot on the leaderboard, which included Columbian Camilo Villegas and American Stewart Cink.
Villegas teed off from the front, reeled a single birdie against a bogey, and wrapped it at par. Similar results were seen at the back, where the veteran dropped two consecutive shots in the opening holes, but countered them off with an equal number of
birdies.
On the other hand, Cink tried to pull the reins of his scorecard at a very crucial time, when it was about to cross the realms of par. The 2008 US Open winner stepped in the final round with a score of 74, but clamped four birdies against a double-bogey
on the par-4 ninth and sealed it with a score of 70.
A glorious scorecard was produced by Fiji’s Vijay Singh, who posted a 65 with the help of eight birdies and one bogey. Singh relished a success rate of 93 percent in driving accuracy, which eventually reflected on his scorecard.
The 42nd spot on the leaderboard was occupied by Charley Hoffman, Bubba Watson and Scott Piercy.
Hoffman sealed the tournament with the score he posted as the runner-up of Valero Texas Open. He chose to tee-off from the front like majority of the field and reeled three birdies in the front, which later set the ground for him to catch few more. Predictions
turned out to be true when Hoffman aced the par-5 15th alongside one more birdie and sealed the day with a 69.
Meanwhile, Watson, who is the longest hitter on the PGA circuit, finished 23rd in the driving distance. The American teed-off from the front and left the first three holes at par. After engaging in a long conversation with his caddie, the player
decided to change his game plan and decided to attack the fairways in the centre.
The approach worked for Watson as he clawed three birdies in closing five holes. Just when things started moving in right direction, it started to rain and forced the player to falter. He bogeyed two holes at the back and could not hold himself high after
that.
The problem faced by the player was putting, which did not work on smooth and flat greens. The player later told the press that the greens were wet and the ball slipped most of the time, while putting. He also talked about his plans for the US Open, which
is about to hit the Congressional Golf Club in June.
Article continued in Part 8…
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