WASHINGTON (AFP) — Ben Griffin, fresh from his triumph in Texas last week, fired a seven-under-par 65 to grab a two-shot lead after the first round of the Memorial Tournament at Dublin, Ohio on Thursday.

Griffin carried on his fine form from his second PGA Tour win of the season reaching the turn at five under.

He produced an eagle on the par-five seventh where he drove his approach shot 260 yards and left himself a 12-foot putt which he calmly drained.

The 29-year-old ran into some trouble on the back nine where he made bogey on the par-five 11th and the par-three 12th, finding water on both those holes.

But he ended his round in superb style with three straight birdies which left him with a two-stroke advantage over fellow American Collin Morikawa.

“A couple of water balls. I really need to go to the range and work on my game to clean that stuff up. But, no... it was an incredible day,” Griffin said.

“I was kind of building on what I kind of was doing last week, making a ton of birdies, staying aggressive. 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. I felt like I kind of did that,” he said.

His breakthrough win came last month at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, where he partnered with Andrew Novak to win the team event.

It was just reward for the North Carolina native who after turning professional in 2018, stepped away from golf in 2021 to work as a mortgage loan officer due to financial pressures and burnout.

But his return to professional golf through Q-school and the secondary Korn Ferry Tour has now yielded success, with his two PGA Tour victories in 2025 and other top-10 finishes moving him to fifth in the FedEx Cup rankings.

Griffin took time to thank those who had helped materially, morally and in terms of opportunities to get back into the game.

“I’m really extremely grateful and blessed. Not many people necessarily have those opportunities, and I’m so grateful that I had those, and also I’ve done the right things to take advantage of ‘em and be in positions like I am now being a couple time tour winner now, shooting 65s at Memorial,” he said.

Morikawa, a two-time major winner, is looking for his first win on the PGA Tour since his sixth victory at the tour sanctioned event in Japan in October 2023.

His last victory on US soil was at Bradenton over four years ago but he said he retained the belief that he could get back to winning ways.

“I’ve got to trust myself that I can go out and win. Not that I don’t, but when I’m teeing it up even when things don’t feel perfect or they do feel perfect, just got to trust that I can get it done,” he said.

American Max Homa was three strokes back of Griffin with a trio of players on three under - Ireland’s Shane Lowry, Canada’s Nick Taylor and USA Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley.

Australian Adam Scott struggled after making a triple bogey on the par-four third where he found water and ended up with a seven-over 79 while England’s Justin Rose shot 78 with a triple bogey on the par-three 12th.

sev/rcw

© Agence France-Presse