Britain's Luke Donald produced a spectacular burst of six consecutive birdies to surge into an early three-shot lead in Thursday's opening round at the Memorial tournament. The double PGA Tour champion shrugged off a bogey at the par-four first to fire an eight-under-par 64 in the event hosted by golfing great Jack Nicklaus at Muirfield Village Golf Club. Englishman Donald covered the back nine in a sizzling six-under 30 to end an overcast morning well ahead of his nearest challenger, American Jim Furyk (67). Nicholas Thompson got to five under with two holes to play after teeing off at the 10th before double-bogeying the eighth for a 69, finishing level with fellow Americans Troy Matteson, Johnson Wagner and Kevin Sutherland. World number one Tiger Woods, bidding for a record fourth title at Muirfield Village, was among the late starters. Donald, seeking his first PGA Tour victory since the 2006 Honda Classic, expected nothing special from his day until he holed a 15-foot putt from the fringe to birdie the par-three eighth. Donald also birdied the ninth to reach the turn in two-under 34 before picking up further shots at the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 15th and 16th. British Open champion Padraig Harrington of Ireland bogeyed three of the last six holes for a 75, ending the day level with 1997 winner Vijay Singh of Fiji. Bjorn shares lead In Wales, Denmark's Thomas Bjorn underlined his return to form by taking a share of the Wales Open first round lead at Celtic Manor on Thursday. Bjorn's seven-birdie five-under 66 to hold a one-stroke advantage with South African David Frost and Britain's Nick Dougherty and Alan McLean was achieved right under the nose of the US Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin. The Dane also excelled on the course that will host next year's Ryder Cup match, the Twenty Ten. Bjorn is targeting the European team for his third Ryder Cup appearance and is delighted to be re-discovering his form with qualification for the match looming. Despite nine European Tour titles to his name, Bjorn's form dipped badly for two years, leaving him in despair of ever being able to challenge for a Ryder Cup place again. However, with a third place in the Spanish Open, a sixth finish and three top-25s recently, the 38-year-old European Tour players committee chairman is optimistic again. Pavin was shown the way by his European counterpart Colin Montgomerie. While Pavin lost a ball at the long 15th to card a one-over 72, Montgomerie celebrated with a closing 20ft birdie putt for a 69. America's captain gave a rueful account of his performance: “The reason I lost a ball was because they were not looking far enough back,” the US captain told reporters. “I wasn't very sharp today.” There were three holes in one during the round, equalling the tour record, one of them falling to Spain's Pablo Larrazabal to earn him a share of fifth place with Paraguayan Fabrizio Zanotti and Dutchman Taco Remkes.
