the Memorial: Round 1 notes

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MATTHEW GOGGIN
Mathew Goggin leads the Memorial Tournament presented by Morgan Stanley after the first round thanks to a 65 (-7). Goggin is making his first start at the Memorial Tournament. No player in the history of this event has won in his first start (other than Roger Maltbie, who won the first Memorial in 1976, of course).

Three players have made the Memorial Tournament their first PGA TOUR victory: Keith Fergus (1981); Kenny Perry (1991); and Tom Lehman (1994).

Including Thursday, Goggin has held a tournament lead a total of four times in his career, all after the first round.

The only player in the Memorial Tournament's history to lead after the first round and go on to win the event was Ernie Els in 2004 (68-70-66-66--270). The tournament has never had a wire-to-wire winner.

KENNY PERRY
Two-time Memorial Tournament Champion Kenny Perry opened with a 66 (-6) Thursday and is looking to join Tiger Woods as the only players to win the Memorial Tournament three times.

Perry, who has won nine times on the PGA TOUR, is looking for his first victory since winning the 2005 Bank of America Colonial, 72 starts and just over three years ago. The Kentucky native has had a very successful season in 2008. In his second start of the year he finished T3 at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. He carded rounds of 68-70 to hold the 36-hole lead at THE PLAYERS Championship and was in the final pairing on Sunday with Paul Goydos. Two weeks ago, Perry lost in a one-hole playoff to Ryuji Imada at the AT&T Classic.

Of the players who have won several of the "Legends" events (Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, the Memorial Tournament -- Jack Nicklaus, Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial -- Ben Hogan, EDS Byron Nelson Championship -- Byron Nelson) - Kenny Perry is currently T4 for the most wins, tied with Jack Nicklaus. More than half of Perry's wins have come at these events, with five. A win this week would put him T3 with Ben Hogan. If Phil Mickelson wins he will become the first player to collect all four trophies.

JERRY KELLY
Jerry Kelly's first-round 66 (-6) is his best in 39 career rounds at the Memorial Tournament. His best finish in 11 previous starts is a T9 in 2002.

Kelly is looking for his third PGA TOUR win. His two other victories -- Sony Open in Hawaii and Advil Western Open -- both came in 2002.

BRETT QUIGLEY
Brett Quigley is searching for his first victory on the PGA TOUR in 312 starts as a professional. He is currently ranked ninth on the list of active players who have the most PGA TOUR starts without a win. Two players who were in the top-10 on the list at the start of the 2008 season have gone on to win this year. In late February, Brian Gay won the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya his 293rd career start, and in March, Greg Kraft won the Puerto Rico Open in his 379th career start. Below is a list of active PGA TOUR players without a victory.

Quigley made the Memorial Tournament field as an alternate. He got in on Tuesday when Tim Clark withdrew. Quigley is paired in the first two rounds with two other alternates: Marco Dawson, who replaced Jose Coceres, he shot 81 today; and Justin Bolli, who replaced Jesper Parnevik, he shot 79).

Quigley's first-round 67 matches his career-best at Muirfield Village. He shot 67 (-5) in the final round of last year's event to move into a T11, his best finish in six starts here.

LUKE DONALD
Luke Donald's 4-under 68 is a career best for the Englishman at Muirfield Village Golf Club. Donald is making just his fifth career start at the Memorial Tournament with his best finish coming last year, T35. Donald won the 1999 Jack Nicklaus Award, which earned him a spot in the field at the 2000 Memorial Tournament, where he finished T51 (as an amateur).

MISCELLANEOUS
• While the Memorial Tournament has always had an international field, only six different international players over the 32-year history have won the event, including three of the last four winners. The six: K.J. Choi (South Korea, 2007); Carl Pettersson (Sweden, 2006); Ernie Els (South Africa, 2004); David Graham (Australia, 1980); Greg Norman (Australia, 1990, '95); and Vijay Singh (Fiji, 1997).

• There are two international players among the top-5 on the leaderboard through the first round of the Memorial Tournament, both from Australia -- Matthew Goggin (1) and Rod Pampling (T4).

• The par-4 18th played as the most difficult hole on Thursday with an average of 4.550, giving up only 10 birdies. The closing hole at Muirfield Village Golf Club has played as the hardest hole in 14 of the 32 years of the Memorial Tournament.

• Rod Pampling recorded the only bogey-free round of the day. He made five birdies for a 67 (-5) and is currently T4.

• Brian Bateman withdrew after the round due to sickness.

• Paul Azinger was the first to claim both the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Memorial Tournament trophies and Tiger Woods was the first (and only) one to win both in the same season. In fact, he did it in consecutive years. The list of players who have accomplished the double-dip is a distinguished one indeed:

This week, three more players who have won Arnie's event will have a chance to join the six listed above in winning both tournaments.

You might want to keep on eye on Fred Couples this week at the Memorial Tournament presented by Morgan Stanley. Fred Couples, who is making his 19th appearance in Dublin, Ohio, opened with an even par 72. In his last 10 starts in the event, Couples has six top-10 finishes, including a victory and two seconds. In his last 12 rounds at Muirfield Village, Couples has broken par 11 times.