With all due respect to Jim Furyk, Justin Thomas wants more than simply to become the second player to go bogey-free over an entire PGA Tour event held at Muirfield Village Golf Club.
Thomas wants to become the first player to win at Muirfield Village in a Tour event not named the Memorial Tournament; doing so without a bogey would simply be a bonus.
“Last time I was bogey-free? I’ve done that many times,” Thomas said. “But I’ve never won the tournament. I’d rather win the tournament than go bogey-free.”
He is on his way to doing both. The No. 5 player in the world leads the Workday Charity Open by two shots over Viktor Hovland entering Sunday’s final round. Another 18 holes without a bogey – and a handful of birdies and eagle tossed in for good measure – and the 27-year-old could become the first three-time winner on Tour this year, as well as the first player to win at Muirfield Village with a clean scorecard.
Only Furyk has finished an entire tournament at Muirfield without a bogey, in 1997. But he failed to win, tying Greg Norman for second, two shots behind Vijay Singh. And if asterisks are your thing, Furyk accomplished the relatively rare feat over a rain-soaked Memorial that was shortened to 54 holes.
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How hard is to complete 72 holes without triggering at least one bogey booby trap? Tiger Woods has never done it.
Bogey-free finishes have happened twice this season: Tyler Duncan at the RSM Classic and Troy Merritt at last week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic. Neither won. J.T. Poston was the last to win without a bogey, at the 2019 Wyndham.
It takes some luck to avoid fours on par-3s, fives on par-4s and sixes on par-5s. But it also helps to have challenging course conditions, like the windy weather that descended on Muirfield Village for most of Saturday.
“Sometimes, like when you play out in Palm Springs or Phoenix, it’s so still that you know that the shot is going to do exactly what it’s going to do,” Thomas said after finishing a third-round 66 that included six birdies. “Having a little bit of breeze kind of makes a shot-maker … focus more on the shot that I’m hitting and the yardage I’m trying to hit because you do have to pay attention.”
Even though he began the day three shots behind 36-hole leader Collin Morikawa, Thomas never had a number in mind that he would need to shoot to move into the lead. Instead, he used knowledge gained from playing the Memorial the past six years to work on not being overly aggressive. The trick in taming Muirfield is play smart and let the birdies come to you.
Thomas mentioned how even missing the fairway by a little, and having to hit approach shots from the first cut, means there is no going for the pin.
Morikawa, 23, and Hovland, 22 are still learning that lesson. But doing so quickly.
“You’ve got to keep it simple, don’t try and do anything that I don’t think I can do,” said Hovland, who matched Thomas with a 66. “Just hit the shots that I’m comfortable with.”
Morikawa struggled – if shooting even-par 72 can be considered a struggle – in part because it is his first time playing Muirfield, which meant that adjusting to the breezy conditions proved challenging.
“First time I saw it with actual wind,” he said. “A few holes with some front pins played a little tougher today, just not being able to stop it right there on the front edge of the green.”
Weather has messed with the Workday schedule twice in three days. After Friday thunderstorms forced 33 players to finish their second rounds on Saturday morning, the threat of more inclement weather bumped Sunday’s tee times earlier – 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. – with players going off both tees.
Sounds a lot like the Memorial, which begins on Thursday. Speaking of which, if Thomas finishes bogey-free, Furyk won’t cry that he has to share his spot as a Muirfield Village footnote.
He won the 2002 Memorial by two shots – enough cushion to bogey the 71st hole and win.
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