Tiger Woods was waiting on the edge of the 10th green Thursday when an approach shot from Charley Hoffman whizzed by his head and missed him by about a yard. Woods was about the only one who dodged illness or injury at the Memorial in Dublin, Ohio.
Phil Mickelson withdrew after 11 holes because of an injury to his left wrist, which he suspects happened at Oakmont this week as he practiced chipping out of the rough while preparing for the U.S. Open.
“I couldn’t grab the club and I couldn’t swing,” he said.
Masters champion Zach Johnson had to stop after 15 holes with strep throat so severe he turned down his first interview.
“Sorry, guys, I can’t talk,” he hoarsely whispered.
The scoring at Muirfield Village couldn’t have been better, with pure greens, stifling heat and calm conditions. Leading the way was Sean O’Hair, who played great golf for the second consecutive tournament except for a bogey on the 17th. He still managed a 7-under-par 65 and was tied with Rod Pampling and Nick O’Hern.
Ernie Els was among those at 66. He felt so sick about his putting he went to the cross-handed style and had few complaints, other than it felt weird to ditch the conventional style that carried him to three major titles.
Even so, the theme of the first round seemed to be about survival – especially those who didn’t.
For those who anticipated a duel between Mickelson and Woods, that ended before the world’s No. 1 player got to the practice range. Mickelson felt the first sting after a wedge on the second hole, and he had a message therapist holding and rubbing his hand on the back nine until he hit another wedge out of divot on the 11th.
“I’ll take a couple days off, see if I can ice it and get it ready for the Open,” he said. “I’ll go have somebody take a look at it.”
Woods’ biggest rival turned out to be par on a day in which nearly half the field broke par. He was headed in that direction after a beautiful shot from a fairway bunker and over the pond to within 10 feet to set up a birdie on the sixth hole to reach 3-under.
But he made bogey with a wedge in his hand on the next hole, added a few other sloppy mistakes and needed a late birdie for 70.
He also was knocked down by Hoffman, whose tee shot on No. 10 hit a cart path and bounced out of bounds. He went back to the tee as Woods and Bart Bryant played on, and Woods was seemingly out of the way on the front right corner of the green when a small Titleist missile missed him by 3 feet.
“If you can’t beat him, take him out,” Hoffman said jokingly after a round of 72.
LPGA: Annika Sorenstam’s return to the tour was better than she hoped. Michelle Wie’s literally went down the drain at the Ginn Tribute in Mount Pleasant, S.C.
Sorenstam was satisfied with her even-par 72 after nearly two months off the tour because of a ruptured disc and a bulging disc.
Wie withdrew after shooting 14-over for 16 holes – including a 10 on the par-5 third when her drive hit a parked car and fell down a storm drain – and saying she had reaggravated a season-long wrist injury.
Rookie Angela Park was the leader at 6-under 66, two shots ahead of a group that included top-ranked Lorena Ochoa, Paula Creamer and Pat Hurst.
Wie said she withdrew because she “tweaked” the injury and not because of an LPGA Tour rule that bans nontour members for the year if they shoot 88 or higher. Wie was two bogeys from that scenario when she stopped.
