The best front nine of the day belonged to J.L. Lewis who shot a 31. But, he a horrendous triple-bogy on 18 to end the day off the leader board with an overall 2-under 70.

Is It Finally His Time?
Ernie Els, who has yet to win the Memorial Tournament, carded a 4-under par 68 to take an early lead. It was an up and down first round for Els. He birdied hole #3, eagled #7, bogey on 10, birdies on 11 and 13, bogeys on 14 and 15, and then would birdie 16 and 17. “I had a very solid start to my round, making three birdies through the turn,” he said. “Then I three-putted on 10 for a bogey, and from there it was kind of a roller coaster ride.” The bogey on 15 was his toughest hole and one that might have cost him. “15 has got to be the easiest hole on the course today, and I managed to make 6 there," Els commented.  "I hit my drive a little bit right and then I was trying to get a 7-iron cutting out of the rough, came out straight left, on the left side of the green on 15 there, and I managed to make 6.”


Mud Balls Anyone?
It’s not the rain, but the mud balls. Many of the pros were commenting on the condition of the course, especially the soft fairways. Many calling the balls that stuck, mud balls. “It is very wet and soft, said Lee Janzen (3-under 69). “I had a couple embedded balls off the tee, not rolling anywhere.” But, he is not complaining, nor hoping for the ‘lift and place’ rule for tomorrow. “Just because you have mud on the ball doesn't mean it's unplayable, it just adds a little challenge to it,” he said.

“We all got a couple mud balls all day,” said Stephen Ames. “They said it was borderline if it was a good call or not a good call (lift and place rule). I'm not going to make that decision on that.”

This past year, Jack Nicklaus hired Paul Latshaw, Jr. to take over grounds keeping duties from Mike McBride, who moved to another position in Jack’s organization. One of his first duties was to oversee fixing the thatched fairways, but it will take time. “We haven't had a fast golf course here. The fairways have been like a sponge, and you've got grass growing like peat moss and it holds water every time it rains,” Jack said.

“Hopefully the course will dry out a bit and I won’t get so many mud balls,” said fan favorite John Daly.


18 Still Holds Strong
18 has always been the hardest hole to play at Muirfield and this year was no exception. Jack Nicklaus did a few minor changes including lengthening the farthest bunkers and taking out the large tree on the left hand side. This created more wind and also tougher conditions when trying to out drive the bunker.

“Before, they just hit it up onto the hill and past the bunkers. We put four bunkers and made them deep enough to where they should penalize you,” Nicklaus said.

John Daly attempted to hit past the new bunkers on 18 and ended up with a bogey on the hole for a 72. “I didn’t hit that drive very good in 18. I thought it was enough to get it over,” he said. Asked if he would try it again, he said it depends.

It also spelled the end of what could have been a pretty good day for both Stephen Ames and J.L. Lewis. Lewis was leading most of the early part of the day, but after carding a triple bogey on 18, wound up with a 2-under 70, putting him off the top page of the leader board.

Stephen Ames, a Calgary resident and avid hockey fan, stayed in contention until the 18th hole as well. He would lose two strokes carding a double-bogey 6 to end his round at 3-under 69.