The three players atop the Memorial Tournament leaderboard are used to being overshadowed.
So Sean O’Hair, Rod Pampling and Nick O’Hern might not have been surprised that the 7-under-par 65s they carded Thursday at Muirfield Village Golf Club became afterthoughts when a wrist injury forced Phil Mickelson to withdraw.
Before the day was over, he was joined by Masters champion Zach Johnson, who was carted off No. 16 with strep throat, and Lucas Glover, sidelined after seven holes because of back spasms.
“I’m sick as a dog,” Johnson said as he headed into the clubhouse after a triple-bogey 8 at 15.
“I saw him [Wednesday] and he could hardly talk,” said playing partner Ben Curtis, who finished 2 under. “He wouldn’t let anybody shake his hand. There was a lot of fist-bumping out there.”
Because the U.S. Open is at Oakmont in two weeks, the attention focused on Mickelson, the world’s No. 2 player who had two ties for third and a Players Championship victory in his last three starts. Mickelson stood 2 over and had just bogeyed No. 11 when he was carted in from the 12th tee.
He said he would take a couple of days off but would try to play next week in the Stanford St. Jude Championship in Memphis, so he can get in some competitive rounds before the year’s second major.
O’Hair bounced back from a disastrous hole in his last outing at The Players Championship, when he quadruple-bogeyed the infamous No. 17 and its island green and went from two shots behind to finish 11th.
“I was going right for the pin,” O’Hair said. “I hit it right over the pin, hit the shot the way I wanted to, and I was shocked it went in the water.
“When people ask me about it, it’s two weeks ago. I’m trying to win the Memorial.”
O’Hair, Pampling and Ernie Els (in a group of five 1 stroke back) shot 31 on the front nine in hot, humid and windless conditions. Fifty-seven players broke par.