Seamus Power’s luck continues to change for the better as he moved into contention on day one of the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village.
Having birdied the last to qualify for next week’s US Open on Monday, Power seems to have the wind in his sails and he carried that on with three birdies in his last five holes to post a 69 and move to within three shots of the early lead in Ohio.
The West Waterford man started well, completing the front nine in eight pars and a birdie on the par-5 7th before a bogey on 13 paved the way for birdies on 14, 15 and 17 and he trails Adam Hadwin by three shots in a share of seventh place on three-under.
Rory McIlroy is a shot further back after a rollercoaster back nine that saw him move from two-over to two-under and card just two pars.
Standing on the tenth tee at level-par he birdied that hole before finding the water on the par-5 11th and par-3 12th costing him a bogey and double bogey respectively.
The Holywood man who is still searching for his maiden win here responded with a birdie on 13 then three in a row from the 15th to muscle his way into contention.
Canada’s Hadwin holds a one shot lead over Scottie Scheffler on six-under-par after he raced around in 66 with eight birdies and two bogeys including a dropped shot on the last.
“It always stings a little to end a round with a bogey,” said Hadwin.
“However, yeah, eight birdies around this place, the wind is always tricky, there’s not a lot of margin for error out there on a lot of holes. I took advantage of some good clubs, just good stock yardages where I didn’t have to do a whole lot, which is always a nice feeling. I was able to hit a few close and make a couple big ones — or longer putts on the front.”
There is a major championship feel to the first page of the leaderboard with PGA champion Xander Schauffele, Ludvig Aberg, Corey Conners, Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland and Tommy Fleetwood all in close pursuit.
“It’s only Thursday, a lot of golf left. Like I said, I played a really solid round of golf today. I was in play off the tee, I hit a bunch of greens, I had some good looks, and then kind of it got going on the back nine. I hit a few wedges close,” added Hadwin.
“I took advantage of maybe a little bit softer Muirfield Village with the rain overnight and we’ve got three more rounds to go, and I’ve been torn apart by this place before, so I know how quickly it can sneak up on you. So just keep doing what I did really well today.”
Shane Lowry is back on two-over after a 74.
Scoring HERE