Goggin takes lead in the Memorial
DUBLIN, Ohio - Mathew Goggin needed only nine putts over his final nine holes on the way to a 7-under 65 and a 1-shot lead over Jerry Kelly and Kenny Perry in the Memorial yesterday.
DUBLIN, Ohio - Mathew Goggin needed only nine putts over his final nine holes on the way to a 7-under 65 and a 1-shot lead over Jerry Kelly and Kenny Perry in the Memorial yesterday.
Goggin holed out a bunker shot for birdie on the par-3 fourth, then ended his round with a 12-footer for par from off the green, giving him only 22 putts for his round. Perry ran off six straight birdies on his way to a 66, also taking 22 putts. Kelly birdied four of his last six holes.
Most everyone else hung on for dear life on the lightning-fast greens. Shaun Micheel had a 55-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole that traveled 35 yards back into the fairway. Boo Weekley watched a wedge shot land near the hole at the par-5 11th, only to spin off the green and into a creek for a triple bogey.
Some players said the greens were the fastest they have seen all year, including that tournament at Augusta National last month. That was largely a product of spectacular weather at Muirfield Village.
Phil Mickelson, coming off a victory at the Colonial, had a 30-foot birdie putt on No. 9 that went 12 feet by and onto the fringe, leading to a final bogey and an even-par 72.
Thirteen players managed to break 70, a group that included Colonial runner-up Rod Pampling (67), former Memorial champion Carl Pettersson (68), and former U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy.
Noteworthy
MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. - Annika Sorenstam's even-par 72 left her 7 shots behind coleaders Karrie Webb and In-Kyung Kim at the Ginn Tribute, hosted by Sorenstam at the RiverTowne Country Club.
NEWPORT, Wales - Scott Strange made five straight birdies and shot an 8-under 63 to take a 1-stroke lead over Edoardo Molinari in the first round of the Wales Open at Celtic Manor.
MUNICH, Germany - Michelle Wie shot a 4-under 68 in the first round of the Ladies German Open to share seventh place, 4 strokes behind leader Nina Reis of Sweden at the Golfpark Gut Haeusern.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Kyle Stanley shot a 4-under-par 68 to help Clemson to a 1-stroke lead over UCLA at the halfway point of the NCAA men's Division I golf championship on Purdue's par-72 Kampen Course.