Griffin hits opening 65 to lead the Memorial

First-round leaderboard for Memorial Tournament

-7 B Griffin (US), -5 C Morikawa (US), -4 M Homa (US), -3 S Lowry (Irl)

Other notables include -2 S Scheffler (US), -1 H (US), -1 H (US), R (Sco), E J Spieth (US), and T Fleetwood (Eng).

At the Jack Nicklaus Memorial Tournament in Columbus, Ohio, Ben Griffin shot a seven-under-par 65 to take the lead.

Collin Morikawa and fellow American Collin Morikawa shot up Griffin’s lead after the latter’s win, which was his first PGA Tour victory last week.

Robert Griffin, 29, took control of the seventh hole with an eagle and four birdies in the final five holes.

In the end, Morikawa, who twice finished second in this competition, went round in five under Max Homa, who was a shot further back.

Rory McIlroy, the previous masters champion, will miss the event because he chose to compete in the Canadian Open the following week.

The 36-year-old from Northern Ireland skipped The Sentry and the RBC Heritage for the third time this year that he hasn’t participated in one of the PGA Tour’s signature events.

Nicklaus and PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan both defended McIlroy’s decision, and Nicklaus said he understood it.

“Rory McIlroy has participated in this tournament every year since 2017,” McIlroy said. And you consider the competitions he supports, Monahan said.

“I don’t have any concerns because, in the long run, his support for our tournaments and our partners is extraordinary.

Look at Rory’s entire season. He has a transformative season.