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Published: Friday June 5, 2009 MYT 8:06:00 AM
Updated: Friday June 5, 2009 MYT 12:22:18 PM

Donald takes early lead at the Memorial, Woods trails at fourth

DUBLIN, Ohio (AP): Luke Donald took only 20 putts in tying a tournament record by opening with an 8-under 64 for a three-shot lead at the Memorial on Thursday.

Among the four players on 67 were former champion Jim Furyk and Jason Day, who bogeyed his last two holes.

What seemed like a normal round at Muirfield Village turned extraordinary for Donald when he rapped in a 12-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the par-3 eighth hole, starting a streak of six consecutive birdies.

He one-putted nine straight holes until a routine par on the 18th hole to match the lowest opening round at the Memorial.

"That doesn't happen very often," Donald said.

Even rarer is the sight of Tiger Woods spending so much time in the middle of the fairway.

Woods went with a slightly higher loft in his driver (10 degrees) and continued to make strides with his swing.

He didn't miss a fairway until his 3-wood on the 18th hole deflected off a tree and landed in a bunker.

Scoring starts with the putter, however.

Woods missed an 8-foot par putt on the final hole, and his other bogey came on a three-putt at the 13th. He had to settle for a 69, and few complaints.

"Everything felt pretty good to some degree," Woods said.

"My swing felt good. Even my putting stroke felt good. A couple of bad pitches here and there, but overall, I felt like I controlled the ball well all day. With the wind blowing like this, you have to hit it flush. I did that all day. I didn't miss any shots."

Furyk, who won the Memorial seven years ago, birdied three of his final four holes for a 67. He was joined by Ted Purdy, Thomas Aiken and Day, the 21-year-old Australian who missed a playoff by one shot last week at Colonial.

Day was at 7 under with three holes to play, but made bogey from the bunkers on his final two holes.

All of them were chasing Donald throughout a day that began cool and breezy and became warm and blustery.

Donald, who had only two sub-70 rounds at Muirfield Village, hit the opening tee shot and made bogey.

He was headed for another bogey on the second hole until he chipped in from 80 feet short of the green.

"It was just kind of a normal, everyday round until I got to the eighth and made a nice putt from the fringe," he said. "Just really got on a hot streak."

He made eight birdies over the last 11 holes. And his score was an eyesore for those teeing off in the afternoon.

"That's rough when you walk to the first tee and you're already eight behind," defending champion Kenny Perry.

He finished the day eight shots behind after two late bogeys have him a 72.

Stewart Cink was among those at 68, while those at 69 with Woods included Mike Weir and British Amateur champion Reinier Saxton.

Donald felt putting was his weakness when he joined the U.S. PGA Tour. He has been working on fundamentals, and even switched to a mallet putter.

He now is No. 1 in putting on the tour, and his success is no secret.

"You start putting well, and you start believing in yourself a little bit," Donald said.

"Confidence on the greens breeds confidence. You keep making more putts. I think putting is very mental. Once you feel like you're a good putter, then it becomes easier."

Woods has a streak of 16 consecutive top 10s in stroke play, but scrutiny followed him home from The Players Championship last week because he played in the final group and couldn't break par.

He has said he was still making adjustments because of surgery last year on his left knee, and has said for the last month that he was still missing his power.

But he was back to hitting balls on the range, which was where he could be found late Thursday.

And he painted an optimistic view of his immediate future.

"The swing is starting to come around," he said.

"I'm starting to feel good now. It's been a long time. I'm starting to get my power back. Everything is starting to come around now."

Even so, hitting 13 fairways can be misleading because Muirfield Village is known for its generous fairways. The key is putting on some of the purest greens on tour, and Donald had solved that part just fine.

Scores Thursday from The Memorial, a $6 million US PGA Tour event at 7,366-yard, par-72 Muirfield Village Golf Club:

First Round=

Luke Donald 34-30_64

Jim Furyk 33-34_67

Ted Purdy 32-35_67

Jason Day 31-36_67

Thomas Aiken 34-33_67

Steve Marino 34-34_68

Stewart Cink 35-33_68

Mark Wilson 34-34_68

Troy Matteson 35-34_69

Johnson Wagner 31-38_69

Kevin Sutherland 35-34_69

Nicholas Thompson 36-33_69

Rod Pampling 35-34_69

Tiger Woods 33-36_69

Mike Weir 33-36_69

Jonathan Byrd 34-35_69

Reinier Saxton 33-36_69

Steve Stricker 35-35_70

Will MacKenzie 36-34_70

Ernie Els 37-33_70

Ryuji Imada 34-36_70

Bubba Watson 34-37_71

David Duval 31-40_71

John Senden 32-39_71

Charley Hoffman 36-35_71

Camilo Villegas 34-37_71

Chez Reavie 36-35_71

Martin Kaymer 36-35_71

Kevin Na 35-36_71

Zach Johnson 36-35_71

Ben Curtis 34-37_71

Tom Lehman 34-37_71

Tom Pernice, Jr. 35-36_71

Matt Bettencourt 34-37_71

Jerry Kelly 36-36_72

Robert Allenby 37-35_72

Davis Love III 38-34_72

Geoff Ogilvy 37-35_72

Stuart Appleby 37-35_72

Mark Calcavecchia 36-36_72

Erik Compton 37-35_72

Michael Letzig 37-35_72

Kenny Perry 36-36_72

Daniel Chopra 36-36_72

Marc Turnesa 37-35_72

Lee Janzen 34-38_72

Charl Schwartzel 34-38_72

Rocco Mediate 37-36_73

Paul Casey 36-37_73

Y.E. Yang 36-37_73

Todd Hamilton 37-36_73

Carl Pettersson 35-38_73

Steve Flesch 36-37_73

D.J. Trahan 34-39_73

Mathew Goggin 34-39_73

James Nitties 37-36_73

Webb Simpson 37-36_73

K.J. Choi 35-38_73

Dustin Johnson 34-39_73

Nick Watney 34-39_73

Chris DiMarco 37-36_73

Shaun Micheel 36-37_73

Nick O'Hern 35-38_73

Bart Bryant 36-37_73

Matt Kuchar 36-37_73

Alex Cejka 37-36_73

Jose Maria Olazabal 37-37_74

Hunter Mahan 35-39_74

Scott McCarron 37-37_74

Richard Sterne 35-39_74

Brett Quigley 33-41_74

Bill Haas 37-37_74

Billy Mayfair 35-39_74

Greg Owen 38-36_74

Marc Leishman 37-37_74

Jeff Quinney 38-37_75

Lucas Glover 38-37_75

Padraig Harrington 36-39_75

Vijay Singh 36-39_75

John Mallinger 38-37_75

Ryan Moore 37-38_75

Tim Herron 36-39_75

Ian Poulter 36-39_75

Charles Howell III 39-36_75

Woody Austin 35-40_75

Mark Brooks 38-37_75

D.A. Points 38-37_75

Jeff Klauk 37-39_76

Billy Andrade 38-38_76

George McNeill 37-39_76

Steve Lowery 37-39_76

Tim Petrovic 38-38_76

Ken Duke 39-37_76

Jeff Overton 36-40_76

Sean O'Hair 39-37_76

Richard S. Johnson 37-39_76

Fredrik Jacobson 38-39_77

Jason Dufner 38-39_77

Peter Lonard 41-36_77

Charles Warren 41-36_77

Adam Scott 38-39_77

James Driscoll 34-43_77

Chris Stroud 37-40_77

James Kamte 38-39_77

Kevin Streelman 37-40_77

Brian Davis 38-40_78

Aaron Baddeley 38-41_79

Danny Lee 40-39_79

Cliff Kresge 42-37_79

Scott Piercy 37-42_79

Chris Wilson 38-41_79

John Rollins 43-37_80

Ryan Palmer 40-40_80

Justin Rose 41-39_80

Jesper Parnevik 40-41_81

Bo Van Pelt 40-41_81

Parker McLachlin 39-42_81

J.B. Holmes 40-42_82

Brad Faxon 41-42_83

Kevin Chappell 42-44_86 - AP


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