Memorial Tournament Notebook: Hole outs, Birthdays and Determination

The shot thus far of the Memorial Tournament may be one that was never seen unless you were on the grounds of Muirfield Village Golf Club.

Justin Rose, was at +7 after a bogey on the first hole and with 107 yards to play, hit a 56-degree wedge to perfection, holing it for eagle, giving the 2010 Memorial Tournament winner a highlight to remember that jump started into a six-under 66 in consistently wet conditions.

“I thought I hit it in the hazard on No. 2,” he reflected. “I just ran out of fairway, looked like it disappeared, ended up finding the ball, being able to make par. So, walking off the second hole 7-over because I bogeyed 1, it was like, ‘oh, yeah, this is not the momentum start I was looking for.’

“Holing the shot at No. 3 kick-started things, suddenly I was in the red for the day, plugging away. I knew the course was super tough. Things really started flowing. I actually felt like I didn’t play that well today. I didn’t really hit my irons all that well, but I did everything today that I haven’t been able to do the last few rounds. I just haven’t been able to score. I kind of hung in there with some good chips, some good short game at the right time, made some good putts to keep momentum going, and that’s exactly what you need.”

BURNS OFFERS BIRTHDAY PRESENT TO OHIOAN

Anytime Travis Perkins is back at the Memorial Tournament it is a present, especially considering he is from Lewis Center, which is a 25-minute drive from Muirfield Village Golf Club, but a rainy Friday may have been one of the best memories he has experienced.

It was Perkins’s birthday Friday and Perkins was on Sam Burns’s bag as he has been for the entirety of the 2017 Jack Nicklaus Award recipients PGA Tour career and Burns shot a 65, matching the round of the tournament and his best in his sixth appearance by six shots.

“It’s always fun to try to get him a little extra sleep tomorrow,” he beamed. “I think other than the rain the golf course being soft I think helps a lot. Typically, this place, especially the greens, get really firm and you have to be really precise, kind of going into the greens where you’re landing in. I think if you drove it well and got in position you could be a little more aggressive, and I think we did a good job of kind of attacking when we could and then trying to fight for par whenever we were out of position.”

The focus after Thursday’s 4-over round was on Burns’s takeaway with the club being more inside and the club getting too deep.

Burns’s best finish at the Memorial was last year when he tied for 15th place.

“I think this golf course the more you play it the more frustrating it can be at times,” concluded Burns. “I think I’ve just tried to learn to really just focus on executing that shot and whatever happens after that is out of my control. I think my first few years here I think I let that get to me a little bit. Hitting good shots and then ending up not where I thought they should. So really just trying to focus on my process, execution, and then whatever happens just let it be.”

SCOTT BATTLES BACK

Adam Scott was +9 through his first three holes of Friday’s round, with the cut bouncing between +3 and +4 and settling in at +5, it looked like it would be a short week for the Australian, but instead he improved 10 shots in a day with his 3-under par 69, making the cut on the number.

“I think there’s some experience and the fact I feel like I’m playing quite well, and I’ve really gotten nothing out of my golf the last few weeks,” he determined. “If you give up you are definitely not going to get anything out of it, so I kind of stuck in there. Yesterday it was probably as good a result as I could have had after that start. Today wasn’t that much better start. I was over early. So, I’m happy to (make) the cut.”