Still Liberated! Rory Posts 63 At Muirfield Village

Little wind, immaculate conditioning and maybe a touch more of softness from Wednesday’s rain setup up stellar scoring conditions at the Memorial. Rory McIlroy, who said after the round that his fine play is just a matter of improvement and not tied to any unburdening (noted by Dave Shedloski in this item), posted a career best 63 at Muirfield Village. Three back are Chris Kirk and Paul Casey, who is thriving after a lesson from longtime instructor Peter Kostis.

Looming are Bubba Watson at 66, and short(er) putter user Keegan Bradley at 67. (Rex Hoggard with a short item on that.)

But it was McIlroy's putting performance that proved to be statistically stunning according to the PGA Tour's ShotLink team:

ESPN first rond highlights here.

And our short first round recap from the Nationwide Digital Studio on site at Muirfield Village.

Update on 2014-05-30 02:34 by Geoff

**The highlights from PGA Tour Entertainment and there were more than normal for a Thursday.

Update on 2014-05-30 13:23 by Geoff

**According to AP's Rusty Miller, Keegan's mom initiated the short putter switch.

“I actually talked to my mom, of all people, who is a golfer, but she’s not a huge golfer,” said Bradley, the nephew of LPGA great and World Golf Hall of Famer Pat Bradley. “She said, ‘I’m going to tell you something. I don’t think you’re going to like it.’ I was, like, ‘All right.’ She said, ‘I think you should use the short putter.’”