Ben Griffin picked up right where he left off as last week’s Charles Schwab Challenge winner leads the PGA Tour’s Memorial Tournament after the first round.
The 29-year-old American, who stepped away from professional golf to work as a mortgage loan officer just four years ago, fired a seven-under par round of 65 to lead by two shots from Collin Morikawa at Muirfield Village Golf Club.
Max Homa (-4), Shane Lowry (-3) and defending champion as well as world No.1 Scottie Scheffler (-2) all started promisingly, but it was Jordan Spieth who snatched the spotlight in the opening round of the tournament hosted by 18-time major champion Jack Nicklaus.
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Three-time major winner Spieth shot an even par 72 to start his tournament as broadcast microphones picked up his interactions with caddie Michael Greller on the par 5 fifth which blew up on social media.
Spieth, who was two-over at that point, blasted his drive into the thick rough and the sensible options was to pitch out onto the fairway avoiding a nearby tree.
Not that the safe play was the path he wanted to take.
“This has to be hit so hard to go 115 (yards),” Spieth said.
“Let’s just hit it right here,” Greller said while pointing to the fairway.
“I don’t want to hit it right there,” Spieth replied. “Because I’m hitting good shots and they’re getting absolutely boned so far. So I can’t accept it.”
Griffin meanwhile was seeing more of the funny side of things as he made seven birdies and an eagle, including storming home with four birdies in the last five holes.
He could have pushed for an even lower number if not for bogeys at the par 5 11th and the par 12th courtesy of dumping two balls in the water.
“Yeah, a couple water balls. Really need to go to the range and work on my game to clean that stuff up. But, no,” Griffin said as he laughed.
“Yeah, it was an incredible day. Kind of building on what I kind of 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 kind of be on your game to make birdies and give yourself a lot of looks.
“I felt like I kind of did that.”
Ben Griffin reacts after sinking his shot on the 18th green during the first round of the Memorial golf tournament Thursday, May 29, 2025, in Dublin, Ohio. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)Source: AP
Griffin, who claimed his first solo PGA Tour win last week after winning the pairs event the Zurich Classic alongside Andrew Novak earlier this year, added: “I can’t remember the last time I birdied the last three holes of a tournament.
“My dad always used to tell me, par the first and last holes, and unfortunately, I birdied the first and the last, so (laughing).
“But it’s always great to finish with a birdie and also — I mean, the birdies on 16 and 17, those are some of the hardest holes out here.
“So proud of the way I stayed aggressive on those holes, attacked, never really was trying to play any sort of conservative shots, was just trying to keep the pedal down, and you got to take advantage of that on days like today where putts are dropping.”
Min Woo Lee started best of the Australian contingent with a four-over round of 76, while Cam Davis (+6) and Adam Scott (+7).
The Australian trio will not have to fight to make the cut however, as the tournament is one of the PGA Tour’s signature events with a total prize pool of US$20 million (A$31m) and no cut.
