DUBLIN — Mathew Goggin’s first round at Muirfield Village Golf Club ended after eight holes.
He wasn’t injured, rained out or disqualified. He was hungover.
Goggin made better use of his second trip to Muirfield, shooting a 7-under-par 65 Thursday to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Memorial Tournament. Kenny Perry made six straight birdies to share second place with Jerry Kelly at 6 under. Brett Quigley and Rodney Pampling shot 67, and Brits Justin Rose and Luke Donald led a group of five players at 68.
Goggin’s first tournament round at Muirfield was Thursday. His previous trip was as a guest of Gary Nicklaus — the son of tournament founder and host Jack — to celebrate Goggin’s 25th birthday in 1999.
“We were going to go play the course the next day and I was all fired up,” he said. “But we had a big night and I had such a bad hangover we decided to pull the pin and get out of the sun.
“So it was a little different experience playing in the tournament.”
Goggin went out of his way to throw Gary Nicklaus under the bus.
“He was a bad influence,” Goggin joked. “I better play well the next three days or they’ll disinvite me.”
Goggin, 33, is an Australian still looking for his first PGA Tour win. He has one top-10 finish this year after a few great starts.
“I learned it means absolutely nothing,” he said of the first-round lead. “But there is no reason why I couldn’t do it for another three days.”
Goggin was the best around Thursday. He hit the ball great for his first 10 holes, then used a sparkling short game to make four birdies in the last six holes. He holed a bunker shot on No. 4 (he started the day at No. 10) and used only nine official putts on the back side.
“That’s good. To miss the green was the key,” he kidded.
Perry was the story until Goggin’s fantastic finish, which came late in the afternoon after much of the gallery had left.
Perry, who won the Memorial in 1991 and 2003, said he’d never had such a birdie streak in his nearly three decades on the PGA Tour. Unlike hackers across the country, Perry wasn’t overwhelmed by the string of success.
“I knew I was on a good run,” he said. “I was like, ‘This is pretty cool.’”
Perry started the birdie binge with an iron to 8 feet on No. 11. He chipped in on 12, then made difficult putts on 13, 14, 15 and 16. The easiest putt of the stretch was an uphill 12-footer he missed on No. 17 to end the streak.
“I was making 20-footers like they were 2-footers,” said Perry, who had nine birdies and three bogeys. “I kept lagging those putts and they kept going in the hole. My speed was awesome today.”
Touch with the putter was a key for everyone as Jack Nicklaus had the greens running as fast as Big Brown in the backstretch. Joe Ogilvie (69) estimated the speed at 15 on the Stimpmeter, which is about 3 feet faster than fast.
“These are the truest, fastest greens I’ve ever seen,” Perry said.
Nicklaus always has the greens fast, but benefited this year from a new drainage system and some dry weather.
“The greens are so fast you can’t believe it,” Quigley said.
Quigley, an alternate, found out Tuesday afternoon that he’d be playing. He arrived Wednesday, heard on the driving range how tough the course was playing and decided to play a few holes. He made seven birdies Thursday, including five straight starting on No. 5 — none with a putt longer than 9 feet.
“It was a nice run, for sure,” Quigley said.
Just because there were some good scores doesn’t mean the course was easy — far from it.
Conditions were perfect, with temperatures in the 70s, sunny skies and little wind. So the course fought back with thick rough, furrowed bunkers and slick greens.
“I was on pins and needles all day,” Quigley said. “If you play well, you can shoot a good score. But it certainly can bite you.”
With or without a hangover.
Contact Scott Petrak at 329-7253 or spetrak@chroniclet.com. 

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