DUBLIN, Ohio (WCMH) — The opening round of the 2025 Memorial Tournament from Muirfield Village in Dublin ended up being another chapter in the incredible run of Ben Griffin.
The 50th edition of the central Ohio PGA Tour event began Thursday morning at 7:50 a.m. and the course proved to be difficult for most. Only 13 of the 72 golfers ended the day with a score under-par with none better than Griffin, who shot a seven-under 65 to take the early lead of The Memorial.
The 29-year-old from Chapel Hill, North Carolina won last week’s Charles Schwab Challenge and is in the form of his life trying to win back-to-back PGA Tour events. A 31 on the front nine that included an eagles on the par-five 7th hole set the tone before sinking three birdie putts on the last four holes.
Right behind Griffin is Collin Morikawa, who shot five-under, while Max Homas sits with a four-under score after his first 18 holes. Defending champion Scottie Scheffler shot a 70 to sit at two-under heading into the second round.
The second round of The Memorial tees off at 7:50 a.m. as the field will get cut down for the final two rounds over the weekend.
2025 Memorial first round gallery
You can see an archived blog below from the first round of The Memorial.
First round in the books
After the first round, 13 players are under par. The majority of the field is at even par or worse with tough conditions getting the better of them.
Ben Griffin is in the lead. The two-time PGA tour winner was great from the start, going five-under on the front nine with three birdies and an eagle. But he was a little shaky to begin the back nine, dropping a couple of shots. He rebounded to birdie four of the final five holes, shooting a seven-under 65 for the round, holding a two shot lead heading into Friday.
“It’s an incredible day kind of building on what I was doing last week, making a ton of birdies, staying aggressive,” Griffin said. “This is one of the toughest golf courses we play on tour, and you’ve got to kind of be on your game to make birdies and give yourself a lot of looks.”
Fan favorite Shane Lowry is paired with Griffin for the first two days, which means he watched someone play better golf today. But compared to the rest of the field, there are many who would love to trade spots with the Irishman.
Lowry is three-under with three birdies, an eagle and two bogeys. He’s hoping to do better than tied for sixth, his career best in 2021.
“I told them when we finished, I said, Keep it going. You know, things will turn around for you pretty soon,” Lowry said. “Yeah, pretty much all everything you looked at today. Yeah. It was good that we bounce off each other. We both played really nicely, and it’s nice when you get a good group like that.”
Scheffler making steady moves
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is slowly making his way up the Memorial leaderboard. The 2024 champion birdied the par-four 14th hole and the par-three 16th-hole to pull himself at two-under par for the round.
His tee shot on hole No. 17 went straight into the right side bunker in the middle of the fairway before hitting his second shot into the bunker in front of the green.
Strong finish for Max Homa
American Max Homa was able to end his opening Memorial round strong and find himself in the top-five. The 34-year-old birdied both the 17th and 18th holes and find himself at four-under for the round and in third place.
Homa hit six birdies in his first 18 holes of the tournament and is in striking distance of leaders Ben Griffin (-7) and Collin Morikawa (-5) going into tomorrow.
Who can catch Ben Griffin?
Ben Griffin is in the form of his life after shooting a 65 in the opening round of the Memorial as he chases back-to-back PGA Tour wins.
Among players currently on the course, it seems no one is in reachable distance to catch him. Nick Taylor and Jacob Bridgeman have gotten off to good starts with two-under starts on the front nine. Scheffler sits at one-under through 10 heading into the 4 p.m. hour.
Ben Griffin, your Day 1 leader… for now
Outside of a minor hiccup on the back nine, Ben Griffin was on cruise control in Dublin, Ohio.
Griffin posted three birdies and an eagle on the front nine and closed with four birdies over his last five holes to card a 7-under 65 to take an early lead in the opening round of the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village.
Griffin ran into minor trouble on holes 11 and 12 with consecutive bogies, but drained birdies on holes 14, 16, 17 and 18 to finish three strokes in front of Collin Morikawa, who is currently 4-under through 15 holes.
Shane Lowry is the lone golfer at 3-under with a 69 and a host of golfers are in the midst of their first round sitting at 2-under par.
Just under half of the field has finished Day 1, so Griffin’s lead is potentially only temporary. Among those who have only recently teed off to start their rounds are Tommy Fleetwood (-2), Keegan Bradley (-1), Justin Thomas (E) and Scottie Scheffler (E).
Finau, Fowler all even
Tony Finau and Rickie Fowler finished their opening rounds right where they began, at even par, though they took different routes in completing the full circle.
Fowler, who sparked a run of four birdies on the front nine with a 127-yard approach on the No. 3 par 4, got his score as low as 3-under through 11 holes. But Fowler ran into trouble on the 16th with a double bogey, and a bogey on the final hole to close with a 38 on the back nine and a 72 for the day.
Finau carded 14 pars with a birdie and a bogey on each side to maintain even-par on Day 1.
The duo find themselves four back from the lead as of 1:30 p.m.
Rose, Berger tumble
A recent Top Five finisher and former Memorial Tournament champion have stumbled out of the gate and are in immediate danger of missing Friday’s cutline.
Daniel Berger, who finished fifth as recently as 2022 at Murifield Village, shot a 9-over 81 and is currently bringing up the rear of the field after Thursday’s round. Justin Rose, a 2010 Memorial Tournament champion carded a 6-over 78, which included a 43 on the back nine, after making the turn at 1-under par.
Other familiar faces and Memorial Tournament favorites struggling on Day 1 include Cameron Young (+5), Wyndham Clark (+6), Hideki Matsuyama (+3) and Brandt Snedeker (+3). Of those four, only Snedeker has finished his opening round.
Fowler’s 127-yard birdie sparks hot start, early lead
Rickie Fowler, attempting to grind out a par on the 387-yard Par-4 No. 3 hole, took a more direct route. After driving his ball into the thick rough and a punchout shot into the fairway, Fowler was still a short iron away from the green. His approach caught the back of the green before spinning back and to the right for a 127-yard birdie.
That shot brought Fowler to even par before he birdied three of four, between holes six and nine, and closed the first half of his round with a 34.
Fowler is tied with an early lead of 2-under-par, along with Ben Griffin, who has two birdies through his first four holes.
Fast start for Justin Rose
2010 Memorial winner Justin Rose has found his groove early on the Muirfield Village front nine. Since a bogey on the Par 4 third hole, the Englishman knocked in birdies on the next three holes to take an early lead at two-under par.
Multiple favorites will be starting their rounds in the 10 a.m. hour, including Xander Schauffele, Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Aberg, and Collin Morikawa.
Welcome to the 50th Memorial!
PGA Tour golf is back in central Ohio as the top players in the world have teed off the 50th edition of The Memorial at Muirfield Village.
NBC4i will be providing live coverage each day of the tournament with live updates for all four rounds in what should be a memorable tournament in Dublin.
Players started their opening rounds just before 8 a.m. with a handful of golfers out on the front nine to begin Thursday. A majority of the contenders will tee off this afternoon, including defending champion Scottie Scheffler.
At 9 a.m., 12 golfers were on the course with no one under par.
Notable first round tee times: Xander Schauffele and Jordan Spieth (10:05 a.m.), Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg (10:15 a.m.), Collin Morikawa (10:30 a.m.), Patrick Cantlay and Justin Thomas (1:20 p.m.), Scottie Scheffler (1:30 p.m.)