Over its storied history, the Memorial Tournament has been known as a true test of PGA touring professional’s abilities. Usually, scores are high and mistakes are numerous.

However with the sun soaking the fairways of Muirfield Village Golf Course, and the greens soaked from an overnight rain, yesterday’s first-round scores just kept coming in lower than expected.

While the course was favorable for low scores almost all day, the players who went out early in the morning benefited the most. Texan Chad Campbell was in the first group to go off at 8 a.m. and set the tone with a 5-under 67.

“It was nice to get out early and get to a good start,” Campbell said. “There’s no doubt that the course will play tough once it dries out, but today the greens were perfect.”

But while Campbell held the lead for a portion of the morning, he was quickly shuffled back in the field by Charles Howell III. Howell teed off at 9:20 a.m. and quickly shot up the leaderboard and holds the first round lead with a 8-under 64.

“The conditions were absolutely perfect out there today,” Howell said. “The greens were soft, and you couldn’t ask for anything better.”

Howell’s round consisted of seven birdies and nine pars. His only blemish came on the par-4 sixth hole, but quickly made up for it with two birdies on the next holes. Howell topped his round with an eagle on the par-5, 503-yard 15th hole.

“I was just trying to go out there and make smart shots,” said Howell, whose top finish this season is second in February’s Nissan Open. “I really felt comfortable out there, and I can’t say enough about how well the golf course was playing today.”

But while Howell looked like he was going to run away from the field through the early afternoon, Kenny Perry had other ideas. Perry, who won last week at the Bank One Colonial Tournament, started out his round slowly, bogeying the par-4 1st.

“I guess I was a little nervous out there in the beginning,” Perry said. “But I started feeling better as the round went on.”

After paring the next two holes, Perry got back to even with a birdie on the fourth, followed by a birdie on the fifth. Perry closed out his round with six more birdies and in second place with a 65.

“I was thrilled with my round of golf,” Perry said. “This game is never easy, but I feel like I knew right where the golf club is at impact. With today and last week, I don’t know what buttons I’ve pushed, but I’m sure glad I pushed them.”

But the man everyone was following yesterday was Tiger Woods. Woods, who hasn’t played a tournament in the United States for over month, showed little rust in his return. Woods finished his round with seven birdies and two bogeys – on the sixth and 12th holes. He ended up with a 67 for the day, three back of the leader.

John Huston, who holds the single-round scoring tournament record with a 61, eagled the par-4 ninth hole and then had to make a sand save on the 17th to finish with a 66. Huston has been almost absent from the tour the past month as he has been recovering from tendentious in his shoulder and elbow.

“I putted pretty well out there,” Huston said. “I just kept giving myself some chances where I could make birdies. The course was great out there, but it’s not like you could slosh around and shoot under par. But it did play pretty easy for this course.”

Tournament host and founder Jack Nicklaus struggled with his game, firing a 4-over 76, putting him in a tie for 89th.

“I was disappointed shooting a 76,” Nicklaus said. “I wouldn’t walk over here and tell you that I was happy with it.”

Former Ohio State standout Chris Smith, who played in Woods’ group, shot a 1-over 73.