Adam Hadwin carded a 6-under 66 in spite of a pair of bogeys at the par-3 8th and the par-4 18th to take a one-shot lead at the Memorial Tournament.
“It always stings a little to end a round with a bogey. 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.
“It’s only Thursday, a lot of golf left. 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.
“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.”
The Canadian has recorded four top-10s so far this season but missed the cut at last week’s RBC Canadian Open.
World number 1 Scottie Scheffler lies in second place having scored a 67, his 142nd score of 67 or better since joining the PGA Tour at the start of the 2019-20 season, the most of any player in that span. Sungjae Im of South Korea has the second-most with 123.
With a win on Sunday the American would become the first player with five or more wins in a season since Justin Thomas’ five in 2016-17.
Xander Schauffele of the United States carded a bogey-free 68 to take a share of third place at 4-under alongside compatriot Collin Morikawa, Sweden’s Ludvig Åberg and Canadian Corey Conners.
“I’m going to go to the range after this, after we finish talking, and hit the center of the club face a little more, find some more fairways and some more greens,” said Schauffele.
“I’m happy. I’m happy with how I played, with how I stuck in there and really happy my short game bailed me out on a day that could have been a lot worse.”
Defending champion Viktor Hovland of Norway closed with a 69 for a share of seventh place at 3-under.
