Inconspicuous finale to Memorial 2nd round
COVER PHOTO: J.T. Poston tees off during the second round of the 51st annual Memorial Tournament. He carded the lowest round of the day to take the lead. Picture by Angie Greenwood/Columbus Wired.
Usually the Memorial Tournament can’t be called unexciting. And this year hasn’t necessarily been a snoozefest but it feels like it’s lacking some of the excitement than it has in years past. It’s kind of been like eating the same meal you had last week. You wanted a burrito but instead got a slice of leftover pizza.
Okay, you can’t argue with leftover pizza. Some actually prefer it and as far as you’re concerned, you like it just fine and it’ll do. But it’s leaving you wanting more. And that’s sort of been the feel to the 50th anniversary of Jack Nicklaus’ event.
Guys like world Nos. 1 and 2 in Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, respectively, have had sub-par rounds. But not the good kind of sub-par. Scottie went one-over on Thursday and even-par on Friday while Rory finished with an opening round one–under 71 but followed it up with a 74. Both are currently tied for 19th at one-over par.
Two-time Memorial champion Patrick Cantlay and two-time Major winner from two years ago, Xander Schauffele, have played well enough to stay in contention at 2-under but at seven strokes off the lead, it feels like a comeback for either might not be in the books.
The world’s third-ranked golfer in Cameron Young, teetered near the cut line (5-over) at 3-over par and is currently tied for 33rd place.
And one of the more popular guys on the Tour who’s also world No. 6 in Justin Rose, was in contention in sixth place after Thursday with a 69 but followed it up with a 76 and is currently tied with Scottie and Rory in 19th place.
However, after day two of the 51st annual Memorial Tournament, there was some moderate excitement as somewhat-known J.T. Poston had the best round of the day with a 65 and jumped up seven spots to sit atop the leaderboard at 9-under par. Ryan Gerard also made some waves by following up his opening round 67 (which tied him for the lead on Thursday) with a 3-under, 69, to put him squarely in second place at 8-under. The other three names in the top five are: Sam Burns (-6), Tommy Fleetwood (-4) and Eric Cole (-3).
Of those five, only Fleetwood ranks inside the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings at No. 8. Burns is the next-highest ranked at 34th; Gerard is slightly behind him at 38th while Cole ranks 69th and Poston is close to triple digits as the 94th best golfer in the world.
Cole is making his fourth straight Memorial start with his best finish coming in his inaugural tourney (2023) where he tied for 24th. Poston is playing in his eighth straight Memorial, missing the cut only twice, with his best finish tied for 22nd two years ago.
But that’s what makes the Memorial great in a sense, too. Getting a chance to see some names you’re not accustomed to can be exciting.
“A day like today is going to give me a lot of confidence going into the weekend and the rest of the season and hopefully (I can) kind of carry that momentum,” said Poston.
“I knew I was hitting it well and I knew (the wind) was going to blow a little harder today and play a little tougher,” Poston said. “I just told myself (to) keep doing what I was doing yesterday and keep giving myself looks.”
He carded eight birdies to one bogey with six birdies and the bogey coming on the front nine while going bogey-free on the back with two more birds.
Burns followed up his 3-under opening round with another 3-under and said the last two days have worn out he and caddie Travis Perkins, who was a former Tour player and had one year of experience on Jack’s course in 2008.
“Travis and I were just saying how tired we were, just because every single shot it takes so much focus and intensity and making sure that you're committed to what you're doing. It feels that way like a U.S. Open,” said Burns.
He finished with three birdies, two bogeys and an eagle on par-5, No. 7 after drilling his second shot from the fairway to within 10 and-a-half feet of the hole and was able to knock in the putt from there.
Fleetwood’s second round was a little more conspicuous than his first round after going bogey-free on Thursday with five birdies. He began Friday with a bogey but followed it up with a birdie on the next hole. Four holes later it was another bogey on par-4, No. 6 but yet again, followed it up the next hole with a birdie. He closed out the back nine going birdie-less with a third bogey of the day.
“I still think I got a good score out of that today,” he said. “I made a bogey on 1 and 6, where I didn't really feel like I had done anything wrong whatsoever. It's like you get on the edge of those greens and you get the lies -- like, yesterday, like, my lies were sort of manageable or very readable. Today they were a little bit different.”
Saturday’s tee times and pairings can be seen here.
OTHER NOTABLES
Scottie Scheffler: The back-to-back defending Memorial champion went even-par for his second round after going 1-over on Thursday. He carded three consecutive bogeys on Nos. 9, 10 and 11 but made up for it by birdieing Nos. 13, 15 and 16. The world No. 1 is looking to become only the second three-peat winner of the Memorial Tournament, second only to Tiger Woods, who did it in 1999, 2000 and 2001.
Rory McIlroy: The world No. 2 and future hall of famer is making his 14th start on Jack’s course and it’s the most starts at any event he’s played in his 19 professional years without a win. After going one-under on Thursday with four birdies, a bogey and a double bogey, he followed it up on Friday with a mish-mash of three birdies, three bogeys and another double bogey.
J.J. Spaun: After ending Thursday’s round tied for the lead with a 5-under, 67, the world’s 9th-best golfer followed it up by shooting 10 more strokes than that on Friday to put himself even for the tournament. The sixth-year Memorial participant made only his second cut of the tourney, the first coming three years ago where he finished tied-for 30th, and currently sits tied for 12th along with six others.
Wyndham Clark: The 2023 U.S. Open champ is making his seventh straight appearance at the Memorial and posted his best round ever on Jack’s course with a 67 on Thursday, which tied him for the lead. However five bogeys to only two birdies on Friday pushed him down the leaderboard a smidge but he still sits in contention at two-under and tied for sixth with Xander Schauffele and two-time Memorial winner Patrick Cantlay.
Justin Thomas: The former world No. 1 and current No. 16 made the cut by the skin of his teeth after following up a 2-over opening round with a 3-over on Friday. The 12-time Memorial participant made his third consecutive cut and will be the first player off the tee for Saturday’s round at 8:50 a.m. all by himself.
Ben Griffin: Last year’s runner-up to Scottie won’t be around for the weekend after missing the cut at 7-over. Carding only two birdies for the event, he went birdie-less on Friday and will miss his third cut in his fourth straight Memorial appearance.
Rickie Fowler: Making his 17th straight Memorial start, the world No. 39 golfer will be missing his sixth cut on Jack’s course after finishing dead-last at 17-over. His final round was birdie-less and consisted of eight bogeys and a double bogey.