DUBLIN, Ohio – You can excuse Rory McIlroy if he’s feeling a little bit of déjà vu.
Last year’s winner at Quail Hollow is now the opening-round co-leader at Muirfield Village – and he acknowledged the two courses aren’t all that dissimilar.
“Visually it does look a bit like Quail and the greens are very similar,” McIlroy said after matching Chris Riley with a 6-under 66. “They’re undulating and they’re fast and you’ve got to really put your ball in the right positions.”
Considering his initial – and to this date only – PGA Tour victory occurred after making the cut on the number at Quail, then shooting 66-62 on the weekend, it’s not a stretch to say this type of track suits his game.
“I love golf courses the likes of here, Quail Hollow, Akron,” he said. “Golf courses that are tree-lined and give you a bit of definition off the tee. I like golf courses like that and I seem to play well on them.”
Starting on the 10th hole, McIlroy birdied four of his final seven in the first round to climb the leaderboard. In his first Memorial Tournament appearance last year, he finished in a share of 10th place.
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Tags: Memorial Tournament, Rory McIlroy
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Sobel has covered golf since 2004 and provides columns, blogs, chats for Golf Channel.
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