Frazar defies wind to take 3 shot lead

Harrison Frazar heard the sound of swirling wind and felt right at home today in the first round of the Memorial.

On a blustery day that made Tiger Woods play conservatively, Frazar never blinked in a bogey-free round of 6-under-par 66 that gave him a three-stroke lead at Muirfield Village and continued a run of solid performances in the month of May.

"I'm used to hearing the wind whistle through your hat and your ears," said Frazar, who grew up in West Texas. "The panic mode doesn't come on as much."

Tom Scherrer, who had only three pars on a wild back nine, and Kenny Perry were at 69.

Greg Norman, back from a five-week hiatus during which he swam with the sharks, looked sharp in a round of 70. He was joined by Justin Leonard, who won the 1992 U.S. Amateur at Muirfield and is trying to emerge from the deepest slump of his career.

Woods, trying to successfully defend his first title in a tournament where no champion has ever repeated, played it safe and had no regrets. He had two birdies, a bogey on the par-5 fifth hole and had a 71, along with Hal Sutton.

"Any time you play the first round, you don't want to put yourself out of it," Woods said. "Under these conditions, it's very easy to go out and shoot a whole bunch over par."

Seven players knew the feeling by failing to break 80.

Jack Nicklaus was not among them. One day after an emotional ceremony in which he was honored by the Memorial, Nicklaus looked ragged on the course he built until finishing in style with birdies on three of the last four holes for a 75.

And he wasn't the only Nicklaus making some noise.

Gary Nicklaus, his 31-year-old son who used to romp around Muirfield as a kid, made his Memorial debut by taking a share of the lead early in the day before he three-putted two of the last three holes for a 72.

Rounds of 75 and 72 were hardly disgraceful. The course average was 74.35, the highest for a first round in the Memorial since 1990, when the gusts were 40 mph and temperatures dipped into the 50.

The wind blew only about 20 mph today under gorgeous, sunny skies -- unusual for a tournament so plagued by rain. Still, it was enough to cause players to stare at the tree tops and fiddle through their irons looking -- hoping -- for the right one.

"I hit some solid shots that looked like I didn't know what I was doing," said David Duval, who often was well short of the pin and wound up with a 73.

Norman, after holing an 8-foot birdie putt on No. 15 that put him in the lead, hit his approach right at the flag on the 215-yard 16th. It caught a blast of wind and sailed into the bunker. One hole later, he stood in the fairway staring at the trees, then left his approach 40 feet short.

"I was happy with the way I played," Norman said. "I hit a lot of solid shots, and given the conditions of the swirling wind, you had to hit the ball solid."

This made Frazar's round that more impressive. He missed only one fairway and three greens, and he saved par the two times in was in a bunker.

What wind? Frazar grew up in Abilene, Texas, where he's used to hearing the wind rattle through the trees.

"Well, that's not true. In Abilene, there aren't any trees," Frazar said. "A calm day is 30 (mph). Then in high school I moved to Dallas, where a calm day is 20. If I'm playing well, I'm comfortable with it."

The only unsettling news to Frazar is that no first-round leader has ever gone on to win the Memorial. Frazar, a former University of Texas Longhorn with Leonard who took a year off to work in real estate, is still searching for his first PGA Tour victory.

If it happens, this is as good a month as any.

He has been runner-up in New Orleans each of the past two years, and also had close calls in the GTE Byron Nelson Classic and MasterCard Colonial in 1998.

"October, November, December is my time. That's my time to go hunting, to go fishing, spend time with my family," said Frazar, whose first child was born six months ago. "I start up in January, and it takes me a couple of months to knock the rust off and get ready."

Frazar is coming off a serious disappointment in New Orleans, where he was in the lead until making a double bogey on the 71st hole with an aggressive play at the pin. He missed the playoff by one stroke.

"If I'm going down, I want to go down in flames," he said. "That's the way I am."

If he wins this week, or goes down in flames, he probably won't blame the wind.

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