Memorial Notebook: Bubba Watson loves 17 holes at Muirfield Village

DUBLIN, Ohio – Bubba Watson loves Muirfield Village. Well, most of it, anyway. 

 

After Watson put the finishing touches on an opening 66, he said he played really well. Except at the downwind, par-3 water hole at No. 16. 

 

"I don't mind making a bogey there because I don't like that hole," Watson said. 

 

This is the fifth year of the redesigned 16th. It used to be a relatively nondescript hole, made difficult by the winds that usually funnel as if through a chute behind the tee. The previous green had big, deep bunkers in front and back. 

 

Jack Nicklaus, the course designer, also never liked the old hole. He called it "just a way to get from the 15th green to the 17th tee." So before the 2010 tournament, he completely reconstructed it. He added a big pond in front of a green that was cut on the bias, so it looked about as wide as a blade of grass from the tee. Heavy rough awaited any shots that flew the green. There were treacherous pin positions available that are tight to the bunkers or just over the water. 

 

One of the tournament's signature moments took place at the hole. In 2012, Tiger Woods' iron shot ended up in the lush, gnarly, grabby rough over the green. Woods pulled out a 60-degree sand wedge and, with the distinct possibility of the ball bouncing through the green and into the lake, he holed it for birdie to tie for the lead. He then made a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th to lock up his fifth victory in the event. 

 

Watson said the hole remains a major problem for him. 

 

"It's the first par 3 I'm aiming off the green," he said. "If I can play it in 2 over this week I'll be pretty happy." 

 

He's already 1 over. 

 

Others felt the same way as Watson. Phil Mickelson, coincidentally another left-hander, also said he disliked the 16th after bogeying it in a 72. 

 

The 16th, measuring 201 yards, was the second-toughest hole Thursday, averaging 3.342 shots. There were only seven birdies – and eight double bogeys. 

 

Nicklaus is among those who recognizes how hard the 16th now is. 

 

"I'm glad I didn't have to play my own hole," he said after the tournament two years ago. 

 

QUOTABLE: Rory McIlroy after his 9-under 63 to take a three-shot lead after the opening round: "This has been coming." 

 

BIG MEN OFF CAMPUS: The NCAA Championship at Prairie Dunes – and college golf in general – have been a major topic of discussion this week among the pros. 

 

Alabama captured the national title with a 4-1 victory over Oklahoma State on Wednesday. 

 

A proud former Crimson Tide player, Michael Thompson, said watching his old school take the victory was an inspiration. 

 

"That definitely put me in a good mood, that's for sure," Thompson said after shooting a 5-under 67 on Thursday. "I was hooting and hollering in front of the TV yesterday afternoon, cheering those guys on. I'm really proud of the team." 

 

Thompson graduated from Alabama with a degree in accounting in 2008. He still stays close to the alma mater, and its players. 

 

"I actually spent a lot of time this spring practicing with them," he said. "It's just a treat for me to kind of go back and relive a bit of my college days." 

 

In other news around campus, the opening round of the Memorial was a banner day for former Georgia players. 

 

Bubba Watson and Chris Kirk each shot 6-under 66s and were tied for second with Paul Casey. 

 

"When I was there in school we were all very competitive with each other and pushed each other a lot," said Kirk, winner of the McGladrey last November and is ninth on the PGA Tour money list to date. "I think that continues out here." 

 

Watson, winner of his second Masters in April, still follows the Bulldogs – current and former. 

 

"Georgia just happens to be hot right now," he said. 

 

QUOTABLE II: Paul Casey, who shot a 66, hadn't played at the Memorial the past four years. 

 

"I don't know why I didn't play," he said. "The last few years have been kind of lost, so to speak, with injuries and stuff going on." 

 

STATE OF GOLF: Jack Nicklaus, who travels the world designing courses and serving as an ambassador of sorts for the game, says he believes that the game has scratched and clawed its way out of some hard economic times. 

 

"I think that the state of tournament golf is really, really healthy," he said this week. "And, frankly, I'm starting to see signs that regular golf is making a recovery." 

 

Nicklaus' design group has 15 or 20 courses under construction in China. Another just opened in Japan that had been sitting for seven years for the capital to finish it. 

 

With the U.S. economy growing, it stands to reason that people have more money to spend on recreation, including rounds of golf and equipment. 

 

"I'm starting to see the whole economics of the game of golf increasing again," Nicklaus said. "People are starting to play more rounds. They're spending more money at a lot of the clubs. The clubs are not struggling like they were three, four years ago. I think we've made a turnaround. We're headed in the right direction." 

 

DIVOTS: Phil Mickelson climbed the leaderboard with four birdies in five holes on the front side, but then finished bogey-double-double for a 72. ... Justin Leonard's 68 was his lowest competitive score at Muirfield Village since a second-round 65 in 2002. ... Derek Ernst, who won the Wells Fargo a year ago but hasn't finished inside the top 30 this season in 20 starts, continued to have problems. He had two double-bogeys and eight bogeys in an 81 and was last in the field at 120th. ... Nicolas Colsaerts had the longest measured drive of the day, a 348-yard bomb on the par-4 13th. He mustered only a par, however, while posting a 76. ... A total of 20 players broke 70, almost as many as had the past two years (22) in the first round.