Max Homa Among the Leaders at The Memorial Golf Tournament
Former Cal golfer Max Homa continued his recent run of good golf on Thursday in the first round of The Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio.
Homa had six birdies on the Muirfield Village Golf Club course and finished with a 3-under-par round of 69. That left him two shots off the lead of 5-under held by six players -- Cameron Young, Luke List, Cameron Smith, Davis Riley, Mackenzie Hughes and K.H. Lee.
Four more golfers, including Will Zalatoris, are tied at 4-under.
Currently ranked 28th in the world, Homa has finished in the top 25 in each of his past four PGA events, and that includes a victory in the Wells Fargo Championship on May 8. He is currently eighth on the PGA Tour money list for the 2021-22 season with over $4.6 million in winnings.
Homa started out on fire Thursday, carding consecutive birdies on the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh holes to get to 5-under and share the lead briefly. That run ended abruptly when he recorded a double bogey on the eighth hole.
Homa finished with two birdies and one bogey on the back nine and currently is tied with nine other golfers in 11th place.
Homa's scorecard:
Another Cal alumnus, Collin Morikawa, is trying to break out of semi-slump this week, and recorded a solid round of 1-under-par 70, leaving him tied for 35th, four strokes off the lead.
He parred every hole until the 14th, which he bogeyed, but he responded with birdies on the next two holes.
Despite his recent struggles Morikawa is still ranked No. 4 in the world.
Morikawa's scorecard:
A third former Cal golfer in the field, Brandon Hagy, is in danger of not making the cut. He had four birdies, but he also had seven bogeys and a double bogey to finish at 5-over-par 77. He is tied for 108th.
The top 65 players and ties after Friday's second round will make the cut. That will reduce the 120-player field by almost one-half.
Also of note, 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama was disqualified from the Memorial Tournament during round one. Matsuyama, the No. 5-ranked player in the world, was ruled out after an illegal marking was discovered on the face of his driver. He was at 3 over par after nine holes when he was disqualified.
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Cover photo of Max Homa by Kyle Terada, USA TODAY Sports
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