Memorial Tournament Notebook: Five Takeaways from Round 1

By Kevin Hutchinson

DUBLIN, Ohio — Round one of the Memorial Tournament began on Thursday, as 72 golfers set out to win in the 50th year of Jack Nicklaus’ signature competition.

The Memorial is the second-to-last signature event of the PGA Tour, with only the Travelers Championship remaining. With Round 1 over, here are five major takeaways.

Takeaway #1: McIlroy stumbles early but stays within striking distance

Rory McIlroy has not won a PGA Tour event since winning the Masters two months ago. He sits at (-1) after the first round, tied for 14th in the field. McIlroy had a double bogey on the 3rd hole; but he secured three straight birdies to move to (-1). He moved to (-2) with a birdie on hole 14 but went back to (-1) with a bogey hole 18. He sits just four strokes out of first place, remaining within striking distance. 

“I felt like I played pretty well, for the most part. Especially after making that double on the 3rd hole, to play the rest of the round in 3-under was good,” McIlroy said. “I would like to hit a few more fairways, give myself a few more chances from the short grass, but overall, not a bad score to build from.”

McIlroy drew on his experience to navigate the early disappointment of the double bogey.

“I think just understanding that there’s 69 more holes to go in the golf tournament and there’s a long way to go and a lot of things can happen,” McIlroy said. “I’ve made plenty of double bogeys in my career, and I’ve made plenty of double bogeys in tournaments that I’ve won. So, you play enough events, you learn to ride the highs and the lows and not get too excited or too down either way.”

McIlroy has played in just two events since Augusta, tying for 19th at the Truist Championship and 7th at the PGA Championship. He has his work cut out for him but is well within range to still be a threat here at the Memorial.

Takeaway #2: A stellar opening round for Fleetwood

Tommy Fleetwood finished the first round well, with a tightly controlled display of high-level golf. The Brit notched five separate birdies, three in the first five holes, and never went over par on any given hole. He is in a four-way tie for first but is the only one of those four golfers without a single Round 1 bogey. 

Fleetwood was not completely in love with his performance but remains in a solid position.

“I got the most out of the round, totally. I got away with a couple of poor misses,” Fleetwood said. “I just wasn’t a hundred percent by any means with my ball control from the fairway with my irons. But still 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.”

For Fleetwood, Muirfield Village Golf Club brings its own challenges.

“I think the margins are so small and the misses are so small it just puts such a premium on your ball control, and then you don’t have to hit a terribly poor shot to be in a really tough spot,” Fleetwood said. “So, I think it just demands from the start to the finish on every hole, which then is demanding mentally as well.”

Fresh off his Tour Championship title last season, Fleetwood has yet to win a PGA event in 2026. If his performance in Round 1 is any indication, he could be well on his way to getting a win here in Dublin.

Takeaway #3: A challenging course for all competitors

Muirfield Village has been a difficult course for the field so far, as this is the first event since the PGA Championship three weeks ago where no one finished better than (-5) after Round one. Only 24 golfers are below par after the first round, with just 10 more at par. 

It comes as no surprise that Memorial, with its narrow fairways, frequent sandtraps, and irregularly shaped ponds, is giving the best golfers in the world some headaches. Scottie Scheffler, the reigning back-to-back winner, hit water on hole 16, which resulted in a double bogey.

Wyndham Clark appreciates the challenges of the course as well.

“The golf course is so demanding. I think I made three saves by chipping out and having a hundred yards in. Yeah, that’s what happens at this golf course,” Clark said. “You hit it in the rough and you really can’t advance it, so you got to be patient and take your medicine and hope you get up-and-down from a hundred yards, and I did that a couple times.”

Takeaway #4: Wyndham Clark maintains momentum

Clark won his last competition, The CJ CUP Byron Nelson, by three strokes with a (-30) score. He is tied for first after Round 1, having hit five birdies and an eagle. 

Clark has been working to set himself up for success early on in holes.

“For me, I feel really comfortable if I’m in the fairway with my iron play, and so for me if I can hit fairways, I think I’ll have success here. That’s kind of the biggest thing for me,” Clark said. “Today, every time I was in the fairway I gave myself a really good chance to make birdie and the times I didn’t hit the fairway I was trying to scramble for par.”

Clark will look to build on his momentum, and could see some separation from the field over the next couple of days.

Takeaway #5: Spieth turns heads with an unreal putt

Jordan Spieth’s last PGA win was at the 2022 RBC Heritage, but he showcased that he still has the ability to make incredible plays. 

On hole 6, Spieth hit a 63-foot putt to get his first of two birdies on the round. 

“I hit the putt a couple times yesterday. If you’re in trouble off the tee there, it is way safer to go at the right half of that green,” Spieth said. “So I hit the putt kind of around where I wanted to, and I thought it was maybe a foot or so short overall, and as it kept going down I’m, like, it might get there. It’s at the hole. And then it fell off the side of the lip, which was nice. I had decent chances on the first five holes and felt like I hit pretty good putts that just missed. And then, of course, it’s golf right there, right? So you stay patient, you get rewarded.”

Spieth currently sits just four strokes out of the lead, and could make more big-time moves to be a threat in later rounds.

Overall

Round two begins tomorrow; the storylines are set to develop and continue moving forward.