At the halfway point of the Memorial Tournament, world number one Scottie Scheffler led by three shots thanks to a brilliant finish.
Scheffler shot a front nine of 33, then made bogeys on the 11th and 13th to try to win for the fifth time this season.
He then holed from eight feet for eagle on the 15th and 12 feet for birdie on the last to shoot a second round of 68.
That gave the Experts champion a mostly complete of nine under standard, with reigning champ Viktor Hovland and Canada’s Adam Hadwin on six under following rounds of 69 and 72 separately.
The tie for 17th was Scheffler’s worst finish of the season, but the two-time major winner insisted he was still having trouble with the game.
Scheffler laughed and said, “Easy is definitely not the right word.” The game’s difficulty strikes me as its greatest asset.
“Competing against the best golfers in the world on the best courses is one of my favorite things to do here, and this course is obviously quite challenging.
“I simply love contending over here and I don’t actually contemplate whether it’s simple or hard.
Aside from that, I’m just out here trying to compete, and there are days when I play well and days when I don’t.
Other than that, I don’t really know how to describe it. To be honest with you, I’m going to try not to think much about it.
After rounds of 71 and 73, Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele, winners of the US PGA, are six shots behind the leader.
McIlroy shot four birdies and three bogeys at Muirfield Village. Schauffele shot a 73. McIlroy stated, “I scrambled well, made a ton of pars, and stayed patient.”
“I stayed as patient as I could and made a few bogeys after making birdies, which was important.
This is probably closer to the US Open than the US Open that will take place next week.
I believe that the mindset of being patient and attempting as many pars as possible will also be the focus for next week.
