Jack Nicklaus always looks forward to the Memorial Tournament, but seldom because he plays in it.
"I always know that this tournament's hard for me. It's difficult for me to do all the other things and get myself ready to play golf," said the Memorial's founder and host and the designer of the Muirfield Village Golf Course where the tournament is played.Another golfer who was coming home was John Cook, who like Nicklaus is a former Ohio State player.
Cook said he can't believe how Nicklaus was able to take care of business while playing competitive golf.
"I just marvel at Jack . . . I'd be an absolute wreck," said Cook, who shot an opening 65, putting him one shot off the lead shared by Donnie Hammond and Davis Love III.
Nicklaus' 2-under-par 70 Thursday was his lowest opening-round score in the tournament in seven years. He has started with a score under 70 three times in his 18 Memorials, and in those he had a win (1984), a fourth (1978) and a fifth (1986).
When he's on the course, Nicklaus must transform himself from a fussy, hands-on manager to a player. Sometimes it's hard to separate the two.
"My feeling in Memorial Tournaments is: If I can get a decent first round under my belt so I don't play myself out of the tournament, then I'm able to go see if I can play golf the next three rounds," he said.
He said he will concentrate on golf and not the peripheral part of the week starting with today's second round.
"I could've shot two or three shots lower, I suppose. But with all that's gone on the last few days, to shoot 70, I'm not all that displeased," Nicklaus said.
In Meridian Township, Mich., Alice Ritzman, winless in 15 years on the LPGA tour, shot a 6-under-par 66 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Oldsmobile Classic. Colleen Walker, Helen Dobson, Lisa Kiggens, Karen Lunn and Dana Lofland-Dormann opened with 67s on the Walnut Hills course.