DUBLIN - Tiger Woods' dominance at the Memorial tournament in Dublin, Ohio, suffered a setback yesterday.
Not only was he nine strokes behind leader Bob Tway, but he could also not even beat Jack Nicklaus.
While Tway birdied four of his first five holes and had a tap-in eagle for a seven-under 65, Woods failed to break par in the opening round for the first time all year.
He three-putted for double bogey on the final hole for a 74 and was so angry he refused to talk about it.
A victory in this tournament would make Woods the first player in 75 years to win the same tournament four years in a row.
The cheers on a day of rare sunshine at Muirfield Village Golf Club belonged to Jack Nicklaus, the 62-year-old whose back has bothered him so much that he almost did not play in his own tournament for the first time.
"Obviously, it was a heck of a lot of fun," Nicklaus said after birdying four of his last five holes for a one-under 71, the first time he has broken par at the Memorial in five years.
Tway was one stroke ahead of fellow American Stewart Cink, who played a bogey-free round of 66.
Australian Stuart Appleby, needing at least a top-five finish to get into the United States Open, was another stroke behind at 67.
New Zealander Craig Perks had a four-over 76.
* Colin Montgomerie, plagued by a lower-back strain, shot an eight-under 64 for a three-stroke lead on the opening day of the Volvo PGA Championship at Wentworth, in England.
Zimbabwe's Mark McNulty and three others were second on 67.
Michael Campbell and fellow New Zealander Greg Turner, and the Australian duo of Stephen Leaney and Lucas Parsons, each finished four strokes behind Montgomerie.
Campbell, playing in the same group as Montgomery, birdied his last two holes.
Fellow New Zealander Stephen Scahill had a two-under 70.
- NZPA
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