Gossage's Clean Card Highlights Five-Way Tie Atop Memorial Leaderboard
The 39th Memorial Championship presented by Discraft kicked off with a historic five-way tie atop the leaderboard, as Aaron Gossage, Xaelen Nash, Codi Wood, Lucas Carmichael, and Jedd Berger all posted 11-under par 48s on the 7,398-foot Red Mountain South layout in Scottsdale, AZ. Gossage's 1043-rated hot round featured a clean card with zero bogeys, while Carmichael battled a ripping headwind to eagle the 951-foot par-5 seventh hole, the course's hardest with a 4.49 stroke average. The tournament's move to February and split-course format due to Vista del Camino construction set the stage for this congested start, with 12 players within two strokes of the lead in the 91-player MPO field.
Dramatic moments defined the round, from Carmichael's clutch par save on hole 4 after going out-of-bounds while protecting a one-stroke lead to Henry Myos burying a 39-foot Circle 2 putt on hole 2 and carding an eagle on the 510-foot 16th. The late stretch saw Gossage and Nash deadlocked, with Gossage defending a tie on hole 16 and briefly pulling ahead by one on 17 before both secured pars on the 391-foot 18th to preserve the shared lead. Four aces electrified the field, including two on the 250-foot hole 4 by Bhrahsten Waugh and Triston Harrison, plus Isaac Mangrum on hole 5 and Jonathan Bia on the easiest hole 14, which played to a 2.53 average.
Beyond the leaders, Ryan Popp delivered the day's biggest overperformance, exceeding his rating by 90 points with a 1005-rated round to sit tied for 29th at 7-under, while Mitchell Rainey shot 1034-rated (+67 over rating) to join Gannon Buhr in a tie for sixth at 10-under, just one stroke back. The field averaged 53.9 (-5.1 under par) on the desert course, where thorny vegetation punished errant shots, setting up an intense Round 2 at Red Mountain South before the finale shifts to Fountain Hills.