Day 1 — 2012 Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village

So, it was only the first round of the 2012 Memorial tournament. But I thought it was going to be pretty exciting to watch the group of Mickelson, Fowler and Watson. It was almost painful to watch and I’m sure Fowler felt the same.

Everyone was talking about how fast and slippery the greens were, the course was playing tough. The word frustrated was all I kept hearing from the announcers when both Watson and Mickelson missed fairways, found bunker after bunker and even followed each other into the water on the par 3 16th. It was really hard to watch, like watching a 4 hour car crash.

Phil had that look on his face, playing with absolutely no Mojo, no magical shots and that every present smile wasn’t on his face yesterday. He finally got back to the club house shooting a 7 over 79, did I say it was tough to watch.

Now Bubba Watson looked to out of sorts too. Frustrated with golf shot after golf shot claiming to be rusty from lack of tournament play. Again, finding bunkers, water and few fairways, bogie on the  par 5  11th – Bubba struggled to get in with a 3 over 75 -just 4 shots better than his playing companion Phil.

Yeah, the green were fast, I heard they were rolling at a 14 – but that didn’t look like either of their problems during the first round yesterday at the Memorial.

It must have been tough for Fowler to keep his focus while he watched a couple of his friends come unglued on the course. He traded birdies for bogies, had an eagle on the par 5 – 11th and then a bogie on the  other par 5 – 15th he went out in 36 coming in with a 1 under 35. That’s where he stands after the first day.

Curious as to what happened with Mickelson’s game I find out he WD — are you kidding me he withdrew because of fatigue, too much travel and a family vacation to Italy and France. That’s a first, not a wrist or back injury, but fatigue. He probably thought he wouldn’t make the cut anyway, oh well -gotta get ready for the U.S. Open.

Maybe Ricky and Bubba will gel a bit better today without Phil around, we’ll see. The second round should be fun to watch, would like to see Spencer Levin play well today he’s right in there at 6 under. Or, who knows maybe come Sunday it’ll be Tiger Woods again.