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Washington Post
5 hours ago
- General
- Washington Post
Ben Griffin still on a heater after his win on punishing course at Memorial
DUBLIN, Ohio — Ben Griffin resumed the great play that brought him his first individual PGA Tour victory last week, hitting two shots in the water and still posting a 7-under 65 on Thursday in the Memorial on a course with rough as dense as a U.S. Open. Griffin isn't taking victory laps after winning at Colonial. He just kept making birdies, along with an eagle on the par- 5 seventh hole with a 3-wood into 12 feet. He led by two shots over Collin Morikawa, with Max Homa another stroke behind.
Associated Press
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Ben Griffin still on a heater after his win on punishing course at Memorial
DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — Ben Griffin resumed the great play that brought him his first individual PGA Tour victory last week, hitting two shots in the water and still posting a 7-under 65 on Thursday in the Memorial on a course with rough as dense as a U.S. Open. Griffin isn't taking victory laps after winning at Colonial. He just kept making birdies, along with an eagle on the par- 5 seventh hole with a 3-wood into 12 feet. He led by two shots over Collin Morikawa, with Max Homa another stroke behind. Defending champion Scottie Scheffler wasn't at his best and still managed a 70, his 19th consecutive tournament in which he opened with a round par. Griffin was playing so well that his two water balls — on the par-5 11th and par-3 12th — only led to bogeys when such mistakes punished so many other players. 'Yeah, a couple water balls — really need to go to the range and work on my game to clean that stuff up,' Griffin said with a laugh. He knew this was a good one. Muirfield Village was soft enough from rain the past two days that good scores were available provided shots came from the fairway, and not from rough that Justin Thomas had said was comparable to what they will face at Oakmont in the U.S. Open. 'Basically a U.S. Open we're playing,' Keegan Bradley said. 'I'm going to be playing back-to-back U.S. Opens here. But the course is very fair, setup nice. Just a tough test.' The numbers bear that out, whether it was only 13 players who broke par in a gentle wind, or the eight players who made triple bogey on seven of the holes at Muirfield Village. Griffin set the pace early by going out in 31, and then ran into a few problems with the water. He tried to reach the green on the 11th, came up short and into the water, and missed a 10-foot par putt. On the 12th, his tee shot bounced back down the slope into the water. He saved bogey with a 6-foot putt. But what a finish — a 15-foot birdie on the par-3 16th, a 12-foot birdie on the 17th and holing out from just over 50 feet up the ridge on the 18th for a third straight birdie. 'It was an incredible day,' Griffin said. '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.' Shane Lowry played alongside Griffin and had a 69, one of only six players to break 70. It might not have felt that good the way Griffin was playing. 'I told him when we finished, 'Keep it going, things will turn around for you pretty soon,'' Lowry said with a smile. 'He pretty much holed everything he looked at today. It was good. We bounced off each other, we all played really nicely. 'My 3 under doesn't look that great beside his 7 under, but 3 under is a good score out there on this course,' he said. 'It's pretty difficult.' Homa keeps trying to piece together his game that allowed him to reach No. 10 in the world when he played the Memorial last year. Now he is at No. 87 and faces a long week — a tough test at Muirfield Village, and then 36 holes of U.S. Open qualifying Monday. '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,' Homa said. 'I didn't need to shoot a low number to validate that, but it just feels nice.' Nick Taylor had one of the 10 double bogeys — two others made triple bogey — on the par-3 12th, but the Canadian rallied with two birdies on his last three holes for a 69. Scheffler won the PGA Championship and tried to get as much rest as he could ahead of Colonial, where he still tied for fourth. He worked a little more in the days heading into Memorial and spent too much time in the rough and battling for pars. He does that well, too, dropping only two shots despite hitting six of the 14 fairways and twice failing to convert birdie chances on the par 5s on the back nine. The last time he was over par to start a tournament was the U.S. Open last year. 'I felt like I scored pretty well. If I want to keep doing that, I'll have to be a little sharper the next few days,' Scheffler said. 'But overall, a good job posting a score. Yeah, 2 under on this place any day is pretty good.' No need telling that to Thomas (80) or Daniel Berger (81). And then there was Adam Scott, who was 7 over for his round through six holes. He played even par the rest of the way for a 79. ___ AP golf:
BBC News
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Griffin hits opening 65 to lead the Memorial
Memorial Tournament first-round leaderboard-7 B Griffin (US); -5 C Morikawa (US); -4 M Homa (US); -3 S Lowry (Irl)Selected others: -2 S Scheffler (US), K Bradley (US); -1 H English (US), R MacIntyre (Sco); E J Spieth (US), T Fleetwood (Eng)Full leaderboard In-form Ben Griffin shot a seven-under 65 to take the first-round lead at Jack Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament in Columbus, won his first PGA Tour title last week and carried on that touch to lead by two shots from fellow American Collin eagle on the seventh hole and birdies at four of the last five holes put 29-year-old Griffin in twice a runner-up in this tournament, went round in five under to lead the chase with Max Homa a shot further Shane Lowry is the leading European challenger on three under par. 'Look at the season Rory has had' Masters winner Rory McIlroy is not at the tournament after deciding to play in next week's Canadian Open is the third time this year that the 36-year-old from Northern Ireland has not featured in one of the PGA Tour's signature events after also skipping The Sentry and the RBC said he understood McIlroy's decision and PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan also came to his defence."Rory McIlroy has played in this tournament every year since 2017. And you look at the tournaments that he's supported," said Monahan."I don't have any concern, because you look at this on balance over time, his support of our tournaments and our partners is extraordinary."Look at the season that Rory has had. He's had a life-altering season."He's won the Players Championship, you win the Masters Tournament, you win the [career] Grand Slam and you win the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am."
New York Times
10 hours ago
- Business
- New York Times
Max Homa is using a Chipotle burrito wrapper head cover at the Memorial
Spotting Max Homa's golf bag as he makes his way around Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, OH, for the Memorial Tournament this week might make you hungry. The six-time PGA Tour winner is using a new Chipotle head cover made to look like a foil-wrapped burrito. The limited-edition head cover, made as a collaboration between Homa, Cobra Golf, and Chipotle, were briefly sold for $90 each on Cobra's website Tuesday, along with a $90 Chipotle shag bag. Both items sold out shortly after being listed. The head covers have since sold for between $200 and $250 each on eBay. 'Partnering with Cobra and Chipotle to bring my two favorite things together has been a lot of fun,' Homa said in a press release. 'We wanted to create something that speaks to golf's new generation: entertaining, bold and personal.' Homa gave away 250 of the Chipotle head covers to fans through his Instagram account on Tuesday and gave others to tournament volunteers and a high school golf team local to Muirfield Village. In April, Chipotle made another golf connection when it wrapped burritos in green foil at its Augusta, GA location during the week of The Masters. It was there that Homa demonstrated his poor burrito wrapping skills. A post shared by Max Homa (@maxhoma) 'During the week of an event, it's common to see various players at the closest Chipotle because we've become a go-to meal for pro golfers,' Chris Brandt, Chipotle's Chief Brand Officer said in April. The golfer with the most particular Chipotle order is likely to be Scottie Scheffler, though. In 2022, Scheffler's wife Meredith explained her husband's highly specific order: The Masters champ's go-to Chipotle order. 👀 — Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) April 11, 2022 The key stipulation there for Scheffler: eating it with a Chipotle plastic spoon. Not a fork and not cutlery from any other source or else it 'doesn't taste the same.' It's worth noting, however that not even Scottie Scheffler, who has more than $82.3 million in career earnings on the tour, is paying an extra $2.95 for guacamole on his burrito bowl. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence in all our coverage. When you click or make purchases through our links, we may earn a commission.
Reuters
10 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
Jay Monahan on Rory McIlroy's schedule: 'I don't have any concern'
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan came to the defense of Rory McIlroy, whose tournament scheduling plan will leave him out of the Memorial Tournament this week and mark the third signature event he has missed this season. "The beauty of our model is that our players have the ability to select their schedule," Monahan told reporters on Wednesday at Muirfield Village Golf Club, site of this week's Memorial Tournament. "What Rory McIlroy has done, I think he's played in this tournament every year since 2017. And you look at the tournaments that he's supported. I don't have any concern, because you look at this on balance over time, his support of our tournaments and our partners is extraordinary." In addition to skipping this week's 50th edition of the Memorial, the world's No. 2 player also bypassed The Sentry and the RBC Heritage, both signature events. McIlroy, 36, raised a few eyebrows by opting to skip the Memorial Tournament in favor of next week's RBC Canadian Open. The native of Northern Ireland has admitted to a preference of playing the week before a major championship. The Memorial Tournament and Canadian Open flipped places on the calendar this year, with the Canadian now leading directly into the June 12-15 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania. McIlroy completed the career Grand Slam by winning the Masters last month. He earned his first green jacket and fifth career major in dramatic fashion, overcoming two double bogeys in the first round and two more on Sunday before beating England's Justin Rose in a playoff. "Look at the season that Rory has had. He's had a life-altering season," Monahan said. "He's won the Players Championship, you win the Masters Tournament, you win the (career) Grand Slam and you win the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am." --Field Level Media
