COVERAGE: Memorial Tournament Golfers Critical of Muddy Conditions

DUBLIN, Ohio — Justin Thomas exhaled for the first time a good 5 to 10 minutes after his third round at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, as his 1-under par round quite possibly could be one of the better rounds of the day.

An inconsistent wind gusted 15-20 miles per hour wreaking havoc on practice routines and club suggestions, but really it was something else which strongly drew Thomas’s ire.

“The mudballs today are going to be out of control, without a question the worst round we’ll play of the year,” Thomas told PGN and Golf Digest. “I don’t get it, I really don’t. I had it on basically every single hole, had it on three or four balls out of the rough. Everybody’s going to get them today. It sucks.”

Thomas admitted the course is difficult enough as is, especially with the wind and contended that he was unsure why the field was not allowed to ‘up,’ also known as lift, clean and place. He understood the reason of playing it ‘down’ but opined that it was not the same for everyone.

“(You) get up on a hole like 5 and I hit the fairway and have a mudball, all of a sudden it’s like I can’t really go for the green because if you miss the green, you’re going to be in a bad place and make five,” analyzed Thomas. “It’s the same with laying up, you can’t necessarily aim at the water and then mud comes off and goes in the water, but if not, it goes in the rough.

“Now all of a sudden, the person that misses the fairways is potentially at an advantage because they’re chipping out into the fairway without a mudball and having to deal with the situation. It’s tough, I don’t understand it. I don’t think it’s going to make the tournament any better.”

Thomas, who hit five fairways on the round, further cited No. 3 and if there is a mudball, the approach to the back pin you cannot bail out more left of the green because if the ensuing chip is in the water hazard, then you would have to go back to the fairway since it is a hazard marked with yellow paint.

Another tour pro in Michael Kim also took to social media to voice his displeasure, detailing a similar experience.

This course today is… just not fun haha. Idk how else to describe it. Wasn’t sure if I was going to break 85 after the first 4 holes.

Gotta hit the fairway or chop out rough, mud ball, changing winds and quick greens. Pretty proud of bringing it back to a 74

— Michael S. Kim (@Mike_kim714) May 31, 2025

All of Thomas’s remarks came after the 71, which he was very proud of.

Thomas was experiencing some momentum after making the cut Friday, feeling that he had a breakthrough.

“I’ve really struggled on harder golf courses,” he determined. “I feel that they fit my game very well, I would think the harder the course the better it is for a good iron player, a good ball striker, but I seem to not play them as well. Look at all of the majors, some of the firmer, tougher events and I feel like some of those rounds I’m trying to do what I think is the right thing, trying to be someone that I’m not really.

“I’m looking at too many things, and a day like yesterday I had nothing to lose. This course is so hard, and I make more bogeys with good shots than probably any golf course I’ve ever played.

“I’m not a stupid aggressive player, but I’m an aggressive player. When I’m hitting it well and playing well, I feel like I’m hitting into a majority of pins, especially when greens are on the softer side like these. I feel like I’ve gotten away from that a little bit on harder golf courses. Yesterday I was more myself of playing well to have a chance during the weekend.”

Keegan Bradley would later be asked about mudballs after his round of 68, and said his group got a lot of them and pretty much each time you hit the fairway you got one.

“If we don’t play the ball up yesterday, I don’t know when we play the ball up,” he offered. “It was pouring rain. We had mudballs the day before. If we don’t play the ball up on a day like yesterday, I don’t know where you would ever play it up. I thought they’d play it down today if we didn’t play it up yesterday.”

Not everybody was upset with conditions out there, with Sepp Straka shooting a bogey-free 66, bouncing back from three double bogeys.

Still, the mudballs were absolutely the talk from the morning wave of golfers, with Thomas making one last declaration.

“I think it’s going to be a storyline today without question,” he closed.