Memorial Tournament news: Opening round finishes with six-way tie for lead
World No.3 Cameron Smith enjoyed a strong start in Ohio, but wasn't able to break away from five others in the opening round.
After an action-filled first day at the Memorial Tournament, Australia's Cameron Smith, Canada's Mackenzie Hughes, South Korea's KH Lee and the American trio of Cameron Young, Luke List and Davis Riley all find themselves topping the leaderboard on five under par.
The leading group finished on 67, but just two strokes separated the top 20, leaving it all to play for in Friday's play.
Cameron Smith split seven birdies with two bogeys en route to sharing the lead, and the winner of March's Players Championship was happy to "hang in there".
"I had to make a few good pars on that last nine - for me, the front nine," said Smith.
"It was just good to kind of hang in there, make a few birdies, see a few putts going in. I think this is about as easy as this place is going to get today.
What a touch from Cameron Smith
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"I think it's going to be a lot of stressful golf and a lot of grinding over the weekend. It's nice to kind of take the box there early in the week."
Shane Lowry kept pace despite a slow start, with the Irishman making four birdies on the back nine to finish on 69.
Rory McIlroy was far from his best but ended on two under-par despite suffering from inconsistency throughout the day.
Japan's Hideki Mastuyama saw his tournament cut short after the 2021 Masters winner was disqualified for using a non-conforming club.
Bryson DeChambeau and Harris English both had days to forget after finishing on 76 and 77 respectively, although both were returning from long absences due to injury.
The former was playing his first round on the PGA Tour since the Masters after recovering from wrist surgery in April, while English was making his first start since his hip surgery in January.