Dustin Johnson made birdies on the first three holes and didn’t stop until he had a total of 10.
Johnson, who added four birdies in a row on the back nine, shot 8-under-par 64 to grab a one-stroke lead over Brendan Steele after the first round of the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio.
“With me, it has everything to do with the putter,” said Johnson, who is trying to win on the PGA Tour for a ninth consecutive season. “I rolled it well today. I’ve been working pretty hard on the putter, and I felt like it’s finally starting to pay off.
“I felt like I played well right out of the gates. I hit it close on the first three holes and made all of them, so that’s always a good way to start your day.”
Steele found a great way to finish his day.
The UC Riverside graduate from Idyllwild in the Southern California mountains holed his second shot from 154 yards for an eagle on No. 18 to finish with a 65 that included five birdies in six holes through No. 7.
“I had the perfect distance for an 8-iron (on his final shot),” said Steele, whose only PGA Tour victory came in the 2011 Valero Texas Open. “We picked a really aggressive line, made a great swing and it paid off.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever finished a round like that.”
Top-ranked Jason Day of Australia, who lives 20 miles from Muirfield Village, sank an eight-foot eagle putt on the 15th hole en route to a 66 and was tied for third with Matt Kuchar, Danny Lee of New Zealand, Hudson Swafford and David Hearn of Canada.
Jason Bohn made three birdies down the stretch to shoot 67 and was tied for eighth with Luke Donald of England, Kevin Streelman, Emiliano Grillo of Argentina and Ryan Ruffels of Australia.
Phil Mickelson totaled 68 and was in a tie for 13th that included Jason Dufner, Patrick Reed, Keegan Bradley, Patrick Rodgers of Stanford and defending champion David Lingmerth of Sweden.
Second-ranked Jordan Spieth, coming off a victory last week in the Dean & DeLuca Invitational opened with a 70 and was tied for 44th, and Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, who won the Irish Open in his last start, was tied for 51st at 71.
