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June 1, 2013

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Schwartzel ahead, Guan fires even par

SOUTH Africa's Charl Schwartzel piled up 10 birdies in a 7-under-par 65 on Thursday to seize the first-round lead at the US PGA Tour's Memorial, where defending champion Tiger Woods was six adrift.

Former Masters champion Schwartzel bounced back from a double-bogey at his penultimate hole to birdie his last, taking a one-stroke lead over American Scott Piercy.

The long-hitting Piercy mixed eight birdies with two bogeys to card a 66 but world No. 2 Rory McIlroy, seeking his first victory of the year, battled to a 78 that included a four-putt for an ugly double-bogey at the par-3 12th.

World No. 1 Woods, seeking a sixth Memorial title, played in the afternoon when birdies were harder to come by. He had five birdies and four bogeys in a 1-under 71, but ended his day on a down note with a bogey that left him tied for 27th in Dublin, Ohio.

"I didn't score very well compared to how I hit it," Woods said. "I hit it pretty good. I just didn't make anything today."

Woods finished two strokes better than Masters champion Adam Scott of Australia and three-time major winner Ernie Els of South Africa, who played alongside Schwartzel in a high-profile grouping.

Chinese teen Guan Tianlang just missed out on joining the group at 1-under. The amateur sensation, who at 14 became the youngest player to make the cut in a major at the Masters last month, was 2-under through nine holes and 1-under after a bogey at 16, but closed with a bogey to lie tied for 41st on even par.

Schwartzel was delighted to avoid a disappointing end to his productive day. "The birdie on the last definitely will make my evening a lot better. I felt like I played really well, just sort of ticking the ball over and got it to 8-under. Just had a bad one on No. 8, made a double. And that was the very worst I played all day."



 

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