Memorial has busy first day

DUBLIN, Ohio — Erik Compton considers the Memorial a special week no matter how he plays, knowing his second heart transplant came from a donor in Ohio.

Down and dirty: Tiger Woods hits out of a sand trap on the 12th hole during the first round of the Memorial on Thursday. AP

The opening round was even sweeter with three birdies on the back nine late Thursday afternoon at Muirfield Village for a 5-under 67, leaving him one-shot out of the lead after a day that featured a timely rally by Rory McIlroy and a surprising departure by Phil Mickelson.

When the day ended, Scott Stallings was atop the leaderboard with a 66 and hardly anyone noticed.

Compton has been an amazing story as long as he has played golf. He had his first heart transplant at 12, played in the Walker Cup after a solid career at Georgia, nearly died from a heart attack on his way home from the golf course in 2007, had a second transplant in May 2008, and earned his PGA Tour card for the first time last year through the Nationwide Tour.

"It's just a great story, obviously, and it's a great place — for me, it's a special place," Compton said. "For me, there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about my donor. To be able to play here, regardless of whether I play good or bad, it's just always a nice week."

It could have been another bad week for McIlroy.

Coming off back-to-back missed cuts that cost him his No. 1 ranking and ramped up the scrutiny, McIlroy took a quadruple bogey on his third hole of the tournament when he went from the bunker to the water, back over the pond to the drop area on a forward tee, and then into another bunker. He blasted onto the green and took two putts for a 7, and there were murmurs from the crowd to see him at 4-over par so early.

The next 15 holes were much better, and he rallied for a 71.

Tiger Woods, playing in the group behind him, chopped up the 18th hole for a double bogey and still managed a 2-under 70.

"I didn't do anything great and I didn't do anything poorly," Woods said. "I was just very consistent. And I think with the golf course being the way it's set up, you just have to be that way. . . . Over the next three days, hopefully I can play as well as I did today."

Mickelson wasn't anywhere near those scores, and when his round ended, he was nowhere near the golf course. Mickelson walked out of the scoring hut after signing for a 79 — his worst score ever at the Memorial — and said he was withdrawing because of mental fatigue.

He said playing three straight weeks, followed by a trip to Europe for his wife's 40th birthday, took too much out of him and he needed extra rest with the U.S. Open only two weeks away. "I feel like it's the responsibility of a player to see through your commitment and finish the tournament and so forth," Mickelson said. "And I'm kind of overruling that just a touch, because I'm trying to think big picture on what's the best way for me to get ready for the Open."

The bigger picture might have been the fans in the gallery using their cellphones for photos of Mickelson, Masters champion Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler. Mickelson has a peculiar way of sending a message, though he danced around a question of whether distractions played a role. He said only he struggled to focus from a busy month.

Watson and Fowler painted a different picture.

"It took Phil out of his game," Watson said.

Fowler, a little more diplomatic, said the players had to restart their pre-shot routines because of the phone cameras.

"You could see Phil was a little fatigued and was having trouble blocking it out a bit," Fowler said.

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Stricker clings to lead at Memorial

Hanging on: Steve Stricker hits from the sand to the first green during the third round of the Memorial at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio on Saturday. AP

DUBLIN, Ohio — Steve Stricker went from doing everything right to having just about everything go wrong as his lead was cut in half over the final five holes at the Memorial on Saturday.

The good news for Stricker is that he had a six-shot lead at one point, and his 3-under 69 at Muirfield Village still kept him three shots clear of Jonathan Byrd going into the final round. He was at 12-under 204 as he goes for his 10th career victory.

Stricker holed out for eagle from 113 yards on the second hole, made another eagle with a 3-iron into 6 feet on the par-5 fifth and looked as though he might run away from the field when he rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-3 eighth.

But he missed three putts inside 7 feet — one of them for par — over the final five holes, and his tee shot on the 18th landed in the middle of a sand-filled divot, sending his approach beyond the green in thick rough. Stricker chipped out to 3 feet to escape with par and leave himself some decent vibes going into Sunday.

"All of a sudden, things seemed pretty hard, when at the start of the day, things were really going my way," he said. "But I understand that, and I understand that's the nature of this game. So you add them up at the end, and it was a 69. And it was a good score."

Byrd made birdie on the 18th hole for a 69 that will put him in the final group on Sunday with a chance to win for the second time this year. Thanks to the late fade by Stricker, several others have a chance that at one time didn't look possible.

"I'm doing everything pretty well," Byrd said.

Matt Kuchar, who made six birdies in his opening nine holes, had a 68 despite two bogeys in his last four holes. He was four shots behind, along with Brandt Jobe, who shot a 69.

Rory McIlroy couldn't get the clean round he wanted. Making a rare U.S. PGA Tour appearance, McIlroy chopped up the par-3 fourth hole for a double bogey, hit into the water on the par-5 11th for a bogey and was falling back until he rallied with an eagle putt on the 15th. He wound up with a 71 and was five shots behind, along with Mark Wilson (66) and former U.S. PGA champion Shaun Micheel (67).

"Even though I didn't play my best stuff today, I'm still in a decent position going into tomorrow," McIlroy said. "And that's all you can ask for."

Luke Donald, in his debut as the No. 1 player in the world, was trying to make a charge on the back nine until he made two careless bogeys and had to settled for a 73. Donald was at 4-under 212, eight shots out of the lead. About the only thing Donald can likely achieve on Sunday is to go for his 10th straight finish in the top 10. Donald was tied for 17th.

An amazing start gave Stricker strokes to burn toward the end of his round.

After an 8-footer to save par from a bunker on the opening hole, Stricker had 113 yards on No. 2. He reached into his pocket for a tee to clean out a chunk of dirt in his 53-degree wedge, set up over the ball and hit a perfect shot that spun into the cup for an eagle. Three holes later, he hit 3-iron over the water with just enough draw to catch the ridge and settled 6 feet away for another eagle.

Going back to the second round, it was his third eagle in seven holes. And he became only the 13th player on the U.S. PGA Tour since 1983 to make an eagle on a par 3, par 4 and par 5 in the same tournament.

He had it going so well that his lone bogey on the front nine came on a shot that was about a yard away from being an easy birdie, his wedge just hopping into a buried lie beyond the green instead of rolling down the ridge. But he answered with an 8-foot birdie on the seventh, and a 25-foot birdie on the eighth to go out in 31.

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