Kenny Perry compiled six successive birdies on his way to the clubhouse lead during the opening round at the Memorial tournament on Thursday. Perry enjoyed an unusually good putting round, using his putter just 22 times on his way to a six-under-par 66 on a stunning spring day at Muirfield Village. He headed fellow American Brett Quigley by one stroke with half the field back in the clubhouse, while Englishmen Justin Rose and Luke Donald both shot 68. Perry is more renowned as an outstanding driver, a facet of the game very important here on a course with juicy US Open-like rough. He strayed from the fairway only three times, but bogeyed each time, strong evidence of the importance of staying in the short grass. Phil Mickelson, coming off his sensational victory at Colonial on Sunday, carded 72, as did Sergio Garcia, in the Spaniard's first competitive round since winning the Players Championship. Strange fires 63 In Newport, Wales, Australian Scott Strange covered nine holes in just 28 strokes to fashion an eight-under-par 63 and lead the Wales Open first round by a stroke on Thursday. Although achieved with preferred lies over a soaking course hit by heavy rain, Strange's back nine – his opening nine, which included five successive birdies – took him a stroke better than the early leader Edoardo Molinari of Italy. India's Jeev Milkha Singh shared third place on six-under with Spaniard Alvaro Velasco. Tournament favourite Padraig Harrington, the British Open champion and world number 12, had a disappointing 70 as he warms up for next month's US Open. Wie chasing Reis In Berlin, American teenager Michelle Wie hit three birdies in the first five holes on the way to a four-under-par 68 in the opening round of the Ladies German Open in Munich on Thursday. The 18-year-old from Hawaii, making only her third competitive appearance of the season, finished four strokes adrift of leader Nina Reis of Sweden at the Golfpark Gut Hausern. “I would take another three-under-par on the first five holes any day,” Wie told the tour's official website. Wie, who is studying full-time at Stanford University, has been affected by a wrist problem for more than a year and says the injury is still troubling her. “I'm still in the rehab process, just really building up to what I had before,” said the player tipped to become one of the best female golfers of all time.
