Rory McIlroy fed off a miraculous par save at the 12th to move into contention with a battling 70 in the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village in Ohio.

Playing alongside Tiger Woods, who birdied the last for a 71 in his first start for five months, the world No 1 was far from his best. 

But after making a 20 footer for par at the 12th, where he tugged his tee shot 25 yards left into a seemingly impossible position, he rallied and picked up birdies at the 13th and 15th to end the day tied for eighth on two-under, six shots behind leader Tony Finau.

Scores

"I played the wrong shot," McIlroy said of his watershed moment at the 12th. "I saw Tiger play a lovely little 7-iron in there and I tried to do the same thing. Sometimes when I try and hit like a shot that's less than full speed and trying to hit a draw, my lower body stops and my upper body just sort of smothers it and it goes left. It is what it is."

Shane Lowry deserved better than a one-over 73 but he bogeyed the 16th and 17th and did well to avoid another dropped shot at the last in a round where he again had little luck on the greens.

McIlroy was happy to play with Woods and feed off the rhythm of the 15-time major winner on a day when Graeme McDowell shot 79, Dustin Johnson 80 and Rickie Fowler an 81.

"I think he's always had a wonderful cadence with his routine," McIlroy said. "He does the same thing every single time. I've always enjoyed playing with him because you can sort of feed off that."

Woods was two-under through three holes but thereafter mixed bogeys at the sixth, eighth and 16th with birdies at the 15th and 18th for his 71.

The course played several strokes tougher than it did in last week's Workday Charity Open as blustery conditions combined with deeper rough and faster greens made it a new test.

"I sort of was thinking it's sort of like the Grand Slams in tennis," McIlroy said. "They're there for a long time, right. It's the two weeks of play, but they're usually there before that, so they're there for almost three weeks, so that's sort of probably what it feels like. 

"Especially like Wimbledon, the courts deteriorate and they get firmer and they get crustier, so it's sort of a little bit like that."

As for Woods, he was pleased to chip away some of the ring rust in his first start since the COVID-19 break.

"I was very pleased the way I drove it, my feel for my irons," he said. "I just didn't quite hit the putts hard enough. Most of my putts were dying, didn't quite have enough oomph to it.

"I would like to have started with easier conditions. Wind pumping and swirling all over the place, and it was different.

"It was hot, the ball was running, it's getting down there. When I watched last week it wasn't doing that, and certainly the practice round it wasn't doing that. But the golf course has changed. It's gotten faster, and it's only going to continue to get faster.

"It felt good. I was a little bit rusty, but felt like overall it was a good start."

As for finding playing without fans more difficult, as McIlroy suggested in the build-up, Woods added: "Well, there were still a lot of moving carts and a lot of media that were moving around, but the energy wasn't the same without the fans. That certainly was noticeable, mostly different. But there were still a lot of moving parts with camera crews. 

"I definitely didn't have any issue with energy and not having the fans' reactions out there. I still felt the same eagerness, edginess, nerviness starting out, and it was good. It was a good feel. I haven't felt this in a while."

Finau shot a six-under 66 to lead by a stroke from Ryan Palmer with Brendan Steele and Gary Woodland two shots behind in joint third after 68's.

Charles Howell III, Lucas Glover and Jon Rahm (who could become world No 1 this week) shre fifth on three-under.

Lowry is tied for 42nd after making three birdies and four bogeys in a 32-putt round.

Having started with a three-putt bogey at the first, he settled down and moved to one-under through 13 holes before faltering at the finish.

After failing to get up and down from greenside rough at the 16th, he hit a 417-yard drive at the 17th but knocked his 57-yard approach into the back bunker and made bogey.

McDowell had an even tougher day, dropping seven shots in a three-hole spell from the 14th to the 16th en route to a 79.

First-Round Notes – Thursday, July 16, 2020

Weather: Mostly cloudy, with light rain in the morning. High of 90. Wind SW 15-25 mph. 

First-Round Leaderboard

Tony Finau                         66 (-6)

Ryan Palmer                       67 (-5)

Brendan Steele                  68 (-4)

Gary Woodland                 68 (-4)

Three players                     69 (-3) 

Things to Know

• Tony Finau, in his 112th start since his maiden PGA TOUR victory at the 2016 Puerto Rico Open, led the field with nine birdies to take a one-stroke lead

• One stroke back of Finau, Ryan Palmer (2nd) posted the only bogey-free round on Thursday 

• World No. 1 Rory McIlroy (70/T8) and No. 2 Jon Rahm (69/T5) are both among the top 10

• FedExCup leader and Workday Charity Open runner-up Justin Thomas stands T59 after a 2-over 74

• Tiger Woods – playing his first official PGA TOUR round in 151 days – sits T18 after a 1-under 71

• Collin Morikawa, winner of last week’s Workday Charity Open at Muirfield Village, carded a 4-over 76, his highest round as a professional on the PGA TOUR

• Bryson DeChambeau (73/T41) led the field in Strokes Gained – Off the Tee (3.174)

The World Number One spot is within range of Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson and Webb Simpson, who each have an opportunity to overtake Rory McIroy with the following performances.

• Rahm win  -  McIlroy worse than tied 2nd with one other

• Rahm 2nd alone  -  McIlroy worse than 30th alone plus Thomas, Johnson, Simpson not winning

• Thomas win - McIlroy worse than tied 3rd with one other

• Johnson win - McIlroy worse than tied 3rd with one other

• Simpson win - McIlroy worse than 15th

Tony Finau (1st/-6)

Entering this week

Age 30 (9/14/1989)

FedExCup 37

OWGR 19

PGA TOUR starts 157

PGA TOUR wins 1

Starts at the Memorial Tournament 5

Top-10s at the Memorial Tournament 1

Starts in 2019-20 13

Top-10s in 2019-20 3

• Holds the sixth 18-hole lead/co-lead of his career; 0-for-5 to date converting to victory

• Making 112th start since earning his first PGA TOUR title at the 2016 Puerto Rico Open

• Looking for first top-10 since losing in a playoff to Webb Simpson at the 2020 Waste Management Phoenix Open

• Score of 66 was more than eight strokes lower than the Late Scoring Average (74.12)

• Leads the field in Strokes Gained: Putting with 4.416, the second-best mark of his career (best: 4.536/R4/2017 BMW Championship)

• Ranks second in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (2.111)

 

Additional Notes

• Ryan Palmer (67/2nd) leads the field in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (5.929) and was a perfect 9-for-9 Scrambling

• Five-time Memorial Tournament winner Tiger Woods is in search of his record-breaking 83rd PGA TOUR victory; opened with a 1-under 71 to stand T18

• Reigning U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland (68/T3) is making fifth start since the Return to Golf, with two top-10s in previous four starts (9th/Charles Schwab Challenge, T5/Workday Charity Open)

• Charles Howell III (69/T5) has yet to finish in the top 10 in 16 previous starts at the Memorial Tournament; his best to date is a T15 in his first start at the event (2001)

• Vijay Singh (71/T19), the oldest player in the field at 57, is playing in his 26th Memorial Tournament; Singh won the event in 1997 and is playing this week on a sponsor exemption

• Dustin Johnson’s opening 80 was his highest round since posting an 80 in the final round of the 2016 Farmers Insurance Open; in his most recent start, Johnson won the Travelers Championship to earn his 21stcareer PGA TOUR victory.

• A total of 30 players have played in all five events since the PGA TOUR Return to Golf back at the Charles Schwab Challenge (22 in the Memorial Tournament field); Viktor Hovland (74/T59) is the only player to make the cut in all five events and has earned top-25 finishes in each of these events

• Jordan Spieth’s round (70/T8) included an eagle-3 on No. 11 and a double-bogey-5 on No. 12

• Luke List (70/T8) was the last player in the field after Bill Haas’ withdrawal earlier in the week. He won the Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass in June for his third career Korn Ferry Tour title

• The only player in the top five in the FedExCup standings to break par on Thursday was No. 5 Rory McIlroy (70)

• Defending champion Patrick Cantlay posted a 2-under 70

• Nate Lashley withdrew with a back injury after 13 holes of the first round

• Jason Kokrak withdrew after the round (no reason given)

Hole statistics

              Toughest hole                    Easiest hole

R1          Par-3 16th (3.531)               Par-5 7th (4.723)

 

Scoring Averages

              Front 9                 Back 9                  Total                    Cumulative

R1          36.762                  37.162                  73.923                  --

Bogey-free rounds

R1 (1): Ryan Palmer/67