Scott Stallings leads the Memorial Tournament on day one
Scott Stallings fired a six-under par 66 in the opening round of the Memorial Tournament to take a one-stroke lead over Spencer Levin and Erik Compton on Thursday, May 31, 2012.
Stallings got off to a slow start and carded a bogey on the second hole to go over par early in the round.
“I hit a great drive on No.2 and had 125 yards and hit a gap wedge in there, hit it behind the hole and kind of spun down the right in the rough and I was about 15 feet from the hole, but I had a terrible lie and didn't get it up-and-down,” Stallings said.
However, he bounced back strongly with two consecutive birdies on the fourth and fifth holes followed by an amazing eagle at the par-five seventh hole.
Through 11 holes, he was four under for the round. Thereafter, he suffered a bogey on the 12th hole followed by three birdies on the final four holes to end his day on a high note.
“It was a great start. You know, I definitely haven't played very good up to this point. It's been a very -- lackluster would be an understatement, to the season,” he said. “I stayed positive all throughout being injured and stuff like that. I kept telling
myself that it was only a matter of time before a round like this was coming around”.
Overall, it was a high scoring day and only 34 players in the field of 120 succeeded in the breaking the par.
Stallings was really happy for his late charge in the round that took him to the top of the leaderboard early in the tournament.
He told that he, along with his caddie, drove across the course using a cart several times during the practice rounds that allowed him to get comfortable with the conditions very quickly.
According to the golf commentators, it was an amazing display of game by Stallings, as the course was really difficult to play on the opening day and most of the players failed to clear the challenge offered by it.
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