By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
Jack Nicklaus built Muirfield Village Golf Course outside his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, over 50 years ago, and every year since, he’s tweaked the design, mostly to make it tougher and tougher but not unfair.
That makes the layout one of the most taxing on the PGA Tour, which means more bogeys than usual for the elite field attracted each year to the tournament Nicklaus created and still hosts – The Memorial.
So among all the solid stats that Sam Burns posted in Thursday’s first round, one stands above the others: fewest bogeys. Burns had one, tying for second in the 72-player field in the signature event attracting nearly all of the Tour’s top stars.
That ability to avoid trouble helped the Shreveport native card a 3-under 69 Thursday, tied for sixth heading into today’s second round of The Memorial. Four players, including former U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark and last year’s U.S. Open winner, J.J. Spaun, share the lead at 5-under 67.
Burns had two-putt birdies on a pair of par-5s, and hit short range putts of 5 ½ feet and 8 feet to birdie the par-4 ninth and 13th holes. His bogey came on the sixth hole, just after his first birdie at the fifth.
In the first round, Burns ranked ninth in the field in shots gained on approaches to the green, 16th on shots gained off the tee, and 21st in shots gained putting. He had the second-longest drive of the day, 355 yards.
Burns, 29, tees off at 11:55 CDT today with Akshay Bhatia, who was 1-over Thursday, tied with among others, two-time defending champion Scottie Scheffler.
Burns, a Calvary Baptist graduate and two-time All-American at LSU, plays out of Squire Creek Country Club in Choudrant, where he and wife Caroline reside. She is expecting their second child next month.
He is aiming to at least extend his string of three consecutive top 20 finishes at The Memorial (16th in 2023, 15th in 2024 and 12th last year). He has five PGA Tour wins, the last the World Match Play Championship in 2023.
The Memorial will have streaming coverage today from 7:45 a.m.-6 p.m. on ESPN+, with Golf Channel providing TV coverage from 1-5 this afternoon.
Weekend plans are for streaming on ESPN+ from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and TV coverage on Golf Channel from 11:30-1:30, then shifting to CBS until 5 p.m. or completion of play.