Rose in bloom at Memorial
Perennial under-achiever Justin Rose began the Memorial Tournament in fine form yesterday, sharing the lead after the opening round with Australia's Geoff Ogilvie, and super-rookie Rickie Fowler, who was playing Jack Nicklaus' Muirfield Village course for the first time.
The three sit at the top of the leaderboard on seven-under-par 65, two strokes ahead of the chasing pack, with Rose shooting eight birdies and a bogey on the 10th while Ogilvy's round of seven birdies told a similar story, his bogey coming on the 8th. Fowler hit a bogey on the 2nd and six birdies, but the hotshot 21-year-old also carded an eagle on the 7th.
Rose has gone close at the Memorial in the past, finishing second behind Kenny Perry in 2008, and after his round the Englishman admitted that he should have won here already. Still looking for his first win on the PGA Tour, the 29-year-old would love to nab that maiden victory at the course that Jack built.
Phil Mickelson was amongst those players in hot pursuit of Rose and co, the 39-year-old coming home on five-under-par 67 - Mickelson's best first round performance in nine starts. The world No. 2 can upgrade to the No. 1 spot with a win here this week, and on yesterday's performance Mickelson looks good value for it, shooting five birdies over a flawless round.
Of course, Mickelson's bid for the top spot is also dependent upon Tiger Woods finishing outside the top four. Certainly, the usually victory-fixated Woods has revised his expectations after his opening round, the 34-year-old merely expressing the hope that he could rack up four uninterrupted rounds of competitive play after missing the cut at Quail Hollow and having to withdraw with a neck injury in the fourth round of the Players Championship.
Woods got off to a dispiriting start, bogeying the 1st and then the 6th before a recovery of sorts, two birdies seeing him come home level par. But yesterday's round marks the first time since 2004 that the world No. 1 has failed to break par here.
Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy could only manage the same score after a frustrating round that saw the 21-year-old rack up a decent five birdies - and also pick up a bogey on the 18th, adding to a couple of doubles on the 11th and 15th. That was at least better than South Africa's Ernie Els, two-over after six bogeys including a horrendous run on the back nine that saw him pick up five in the space of seven holes.
And the man they call Double D, David Duval, provided a potent reminder to Woods of just how far it's possible to fall. The American former No. 1 has endured a largely miserable decade after a brilliant start, and yesterday the pain continued, Duval finishing one place off the bottom of the leaderboard after finishing seven-over-par with a round comprised of three double bogeys and four bogeys.
By that yardstick, Woods is doing okay - hanging in there for now, maybe the 14-time major winner can start hitting the birdies in earnest again today. It feels wrong to see Mickelson having things all his own way, after all - but perhaps one of that trio currently topping the table has what it takes to hold him off.
The rarely blossoming Rose will certainly be hoping to stay in bloom today.
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