With more than six inches of rain falling in central Ohio over the past few weeks, conditions are predictably soft at Muirfield Village Golf Club for Thursday’s opening round of the Memorial Tournament. That means mud balls that can make a straightforward shot a significant challenge.

Rickie Fowler offered a glimpse into his thought process in handling the challenge when he encountered mud caked on the left side of his golf ball AND on the back of it at the short par-4 14th hole. “It was probably the worst one of the day, and it was, uh, interesting,” he said.

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Playing on a sponsor’s exemption, the popular Fowler was in no way complaining. He was simply answering a question. Yes, mud sometimes was getting caked on the ball. Then he proceeded to talk through the tricky shot at 14.

With mud on the left side of the ball, he said he was factoring in that the ball was likely to curve to the right. Well, that was no good with water lurking front and right of the narrow green. Then he had to contend with the mud on the back of the ball where his wedge would make contact on a shot 134 yards from the pin. “Will it come out dead or with no spin?” he wondered.

Rickie Fowler. Luke Walker

He not only was worried about the penalty area on the right, but also the bunkers on the left. A ball with no spin might fly the green, leaving a pitch shot from deep and lush rough above the hole with the green sloping away and toward the water.

“People watching were thinking, ‘It’s just a simple wedge shot.’ But there was a lot there,” he said.

In the end, the ball had no spin and did leak to the right, but he was able to find the green about 30 above the hole. He wasn’t unhappy with the result. He two-putted for one of his seven pars in an up-and-down round of even-par 72.

“I guessed right on that one,” he said, grinning.

Sometimes it is just a guessing game. As if golf wasn’t hard enough.

Main Image: Michael Reaves