Memorial:Rocky start for Tiger Woods

Report by Anand Datla

June 4, 2015: Any hopes of a dreamy restart for Tiger Woods were put to rest no sooner had the iconic golfer took to the tee at the demanding Muirfield Village Golf Club for the Memorial Tournament. Back from a lengthy break to nurse his injuries, Woods started on the back nine and turned his card into a blood stained mess before recovering with three birdies on his second nine for a 73. Woods was six off the pace set by a four way group that included Ryan Moore and Brendon Todd.

Ken Duke and Harris English also shot 67 in the first round of the PGA TOUR event in Ireland. Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose, Keegan Bradley and Francesco Molinari were all lurking close behind, just one behind the leaders.

Woods made three bogeys in his first four holes to get off to a miserable start. Just as birdies at the 14th and 16th offered him renewed hope, he went bleeding again.

The former world No.1 made bogey at the 17th before adding a six at the par-4 18th hole to take 40 shots for his first nine holes. Perhaps walking back to the first hole, allowed Woods the time he needed to clear his head.

The 14 time major champion was suddenly a different golfer as he made a birdie at the 2nd before adding two more at the 6th and 7th holes to restore some dignity to his card. But with younger lot defying the unique challenges of Muirfield, Woods will need a much superior performance overall on Friday to ensure he does not miss the cut.

“I didn’t have much with my game. I need to work on it here a little bit,” Woods said after the round. “But I fought hard to get back. And to get it back on a golf course like that, it was pretty good work. Physically, I feel good. Mentally, I feel beat up.”

“It’s the pattern we work on; we’re trying to change it. It’s kind of what you have to go through,” Woods said. “And unfortunately, I can hit it either way, because of this move we’re working on. But it’s so much more flush, and so much more solid and a lot easier on my body, when I seem to do it right.”

Duke made six birdies to take control at the head of the board, where he was joined by three other golfers. Moore made five birdies, an eagle and a double bogey at the 16th to account for his score of 67.

Todd made five birdies on the back nine to earn a share of the first round lead. Spieth, who started on the tenth was spotless till the 6th hole with a share of the lead, but a bogey at the 7th saw him drop into T5 with Rose and Bradley.

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