DUBLIN, Ohio -- Hideki Matsuyama was bracing for a rough day at the Memorial and wound up with a share of the lead Thursday.
Matsuyama made a bold start in his bid to join Tiger Woods as the only repeat winners at Muirfield Village by running off four consecutive birdies on the back nine and one strong par save on his way to an 8-under 64 that tied the Japanese star with Bo Van Pelt.
In calm conditions under an overcast sky, Van Pelt made a career-best 10 birdies for his best score in 41 rounds at the course Jack Nicklaus built.
Woods, a five-time winner of the Memorial, wasn't sure what he was going to get. He hooked his tee shot and started with a bogey for the eighth time in his last nine starts on the PGA Tour. He went so far right off the tee at the 18th that it went out of bounds and made double bogey to go out in 40. He hooked his 3-wood on the first hole. It was looking like another big number.
Instead, Woods battled to save pars and convert birdies, and he salvaged a 73 that left him nine shots behind.
Jason Dufner, the former PGA champion, was tied for the lead after making a 60-foot eagle putt on the 15th hole and was poised to join Matsuyama and Van Pelt at 64 until he pulled his tee shot into the water on the 18th and closed with a double bogey.
That put him at 66, along with Russell Knox, who fed his putts off the ridges beautifully in making seven birdies.
Harris English and Kevin Kisner were among those at 67. Masters champion Jordan Spieth, who saved the start of his round with a world-class short game, was cruising along until one mistake turned a birdie into a bogey on the par-5 seventh late in his round. He had to settle for a 68.
Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State) posted a 5-under 67 to grab the early lead. Duke's round consisted of six birdies and a lone bogey on the par-5 11th.
David Lingmerth (Arkansas Razorbacks) joined Duke and five others at 67, three shots behind Van Pelt and Matsuyama. Lingmerth had seven birdies for his round, but suffered bogeys at the 11th and the par-4 13th.
EUROPEAN PGA
Three-way tie for lead
MALMO, Sweden -- Swedish amateur Marcus Kinhult was in a three-way tie for the lead after the opening day of the Nordea Masters on 5-under-67 on Thursday.
Countryman Jens Dantorp and England's Chris Paisley were with him, one stroke ahead of nine golfers at 4 under.
Kinhult, 18, had five birdies on the back nine.
"I just want to keep on playing and hope I'll be able to accelerate. It's just the first of four rounds," he told Swedish news agency TT.
Paisley bogeyed his second hole but made six birdies at PGA Sweden National.
World No. 4 Henrik Stenson was at 2 under, while defending champion Thongchai Jaidee finished with a 1-over 73.
LPGA
Trio out front
CAMBRIDGE, Ontario -- Cheyenne Woods, Cristie Kerr and P.K. Kongkraphan matched the course record at 9-under 63 on Thursday to share the first-round lead in the Manulife LPGA Classic.
Woods, Tiger Woods' niece, and Kerr tied the Whistle Bear Golf Club record set by Matt Bettencourt and Jon Mills, in the Web.com Tour's 2005 Canadian PGA Championship. The tournament is in its first year at Whistle Bear after three years at Grey Silo in Waterloo.
Woods had an eagle, eight birdies and a bogey. The 24-year-old LPGA Tour rookie won the Ladies European Tour's Australian Ladies Masters last year.
The 37-year-old Kerr had 10 birdies and a bogey, playing her opening nine in 7-under 29. She won the Kia Classic in California in March for her 17th LPGA Tour title.
Kongkraphan, from Thailand, also had 10 birdies and a bogey.
Sweden's Anna Nordqvist, the winner Sunday in New Jersey in the ShopRite LPGA Classic, topped the group at 65 along with South Korea's Sei Young Kim, a two-time winner this season.
Second-ranked Inbee Park, the winner last year at Grey Silo, opened with a 69. Third-ranked Stacy Lewis (Arkansas Razorbacks) had a 70, and top-ranked Lydia Ko shot 71.
Brooke Henderson, the 17-year-old Canadian who was third in the Swinging Skirts in April in California, had a 71. Sister Brittany Henderson opened with a 72.
WEB.COM
Gainey jumps in front
LEWISVILLE, Texas -- Tommy Gainey took the lead Thursday at the Greater Dallas Open with a 9-under 63 in the first round.
Mark Walker and Ashley Hall are tied for second with 8-under 64s in the first-year event.
Tag Ridings (Arkansas Razorbacks) shot a 6-under 66 and is tied for seventh. Zack Fischer (Little Rock) had a 5-under 67. Sebastian Cappelen (Razorbacks) had a 4-under 68.
Andrew Landry (Razorbacks) shot a 3-under 69 and Glen Day (Little Rock) had a 1-under 71.
Sports on 06/05/2015