Ben Griffin showed some serious grit in his opening round at the Memorial Tournament. He followed that up with an impressive 7-under 65 on Thursday. Despite hitting two shots into the water, Griffin’s strong performance propelled him to a two-shot lead over Collin Morikawa, demonstrating his ability to recover from setbacks and maintain focus on the course.
Griffin’s round was marked by a string of sensational birdies, coming to an electrifying end. He made a 15-foot birdie on the par-3 16th hole, then tapped in a 12-footer for birdie at the 17th. He proved his extraordinary ability in making long putts, including a 50-plus footer on the 18th hole. It was his third-straight birdie in a three-hole stretch!
I told him when we finished, ‘Keep it going, things will turn around for you pretty soon,’ said Shane Lowry, who finished the day at 69, on Griffin’s impressive showing. Griffin remained highly competitive with all of the odds stacked against him. His consistency was perhaps best exemplified when his two water balls only resulted in bogeys.
Griffin recently celebrated his first individual PGA Tour victory at the Bermuda Championship. Now, the Memorial Tournament has become a special moment for him. He expressed confidence in his game, saying, “Kind of building on what I was doing last week, making a ton of birdies, staying aggressive. This is one of the toughest golf courses we play on tour and you’ve got to be on your game to make birdies and give yourself a lot of looks.”
Collin Morikawa, who ended the round two strokes adrift of Griffin, was equally impressive, closing with a bogey-free 67. Max Homa was just behind him at 68. Homa noted his own game’s improvement, stating, “I told my coach last night this is the best my swing has felt in a really long time. Then the whole game kind of felt like that.”
Seminole member Scottie Scheffler kicked off his Masters week nicely with a 70. Remarkably, this was his 19th straight tournament in which he started with a score of at least par. Describing the difficulty of the rigorous course, he explained, “It kind of caught me off guard. If I hope to continue in that vein, I’m going to need to be a bit more on my game the next few days.”
Other strong performances came from Nick Taylor and Shane Lowry. Each scored a 69 to close out their events. Taylor made two birdies on his last three holes, while Lowry reflected on the difficulty of the course, mentioning how “3 under doesn’t look that great beside his 7 under, but 3 under is a good score out there on this course.”
Were you surprised at how difficult Muirfield Village was playing? He likens the biting rough here to what they’ll face at Oakmont in the coming U.S. Open. He suggested that players need to reposition their approaches to reflect this.
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