Dublin (Ohio), July 18 (IANS) Tony Finau overcame a rough start that included bogeys on two of his first three holes and only a par on the Par-5 in between in the second round of the Memorial. After that uneasy start, he made no more mistakes on a fairly sunny day with slight winds and found five birdies. Three of those came on Par-5s and he finished three-under 69 for a share of the lead in Dublin.
Sharing the lead with Finau at nine-under 135 is Ryan Palmer, who has bogeyed only once in 36 holes.
Needing to wait for quite some time after finishing second round in four-over 76, Tiger Woods could finally heave a sigh of relief as the cut fell at three-over 147 and he made it on the line.
Also making it to the weekend were Brooks Koepka (72-75) despite putting the ball in the water on his final hole. Last week’s winner, Collin Morikawa (7-76) and Justin Thomas (74-67) also got into the weekend.
As many as 74 of the 130 professionals and one amateur made the cut.
However missing that mark were a lot of big names led by Daniel Berger (73-75), Shane Lowry (73-75), Bryson DeChambeau (73-76), Justin Rose (73-76), Ian Poulter (76-73), Webb Simpson (76-74), Hideki Matsuyama (75-79) and Dustin Johnson (80-80).
It seemed Woods might miss the cut after missing a pair of 3-footers. Later he said his back felt stiff after the warm-up.
He needed two birdies and a seven-foot par save on his final three holes for a 76 saw him come inside the cut. “Not very good,” Woods said. “I three-putted two holes early, and whatever kind of momentum I was going to create, I stifled that early and fought it the rest of the day.”
In search of a record-breaking 83rd PGA Tour victory, the five-time Memorial Tournament champion is now a perfect 18-for-18 for made cuts at Muirfield Village. He squeezed in on the number with two birdies on 16th and 17th. He is three-over and Tied-64th.
Finau, 30, making his sixth start at the Memorial, is in search for his second career PGA TOUR title 112 starts after his first at the 2016 Puerto Rico Open.
Palmer, who missed the cut at Workday Charity Open last week went home to Texas to work with swing coach Randy Smith and seems to have found something that sees him in contention this week. “One little, small flaw in my back swing,” said Palmer making his first start at the Memorial since 2011. He last won at the 2019 Zurich Classic of New Orleans, paired with Jon Rahm and his most recent individual win came at the Sony Open in 2010.
Rahm (69-67), one of the four players who could overtake the No. 1 spot with a win this week, is lying third after 36 holes. If he gets to No. 1, it will be the first time in his career.
Viktor Hovland is four-under and Tied-eighth and the only player (out of 30) to make the cut in all five events since the TOUR’s Return to Golf. He shot 2-over 74 in round one and followed that with a 6-under 66 in round two. His front-nine 30 tied his lowest nine-hole score on TOUR.
Also tied with Hovland is the defending champion Patrick Cantlay with back-to-back cards of 2-under 70. Also at eighth are Steve Stricker, 53-year-old Ryder Cup captain, had a 67 after a 73 and was at 4-under 140, along with Jim Furyk (72-68), who turned 50 two months ago.
McIlroy had a bumpy ride with four birdies, four bogeys, an eagle and a double bogey. “I don’t know what it was,” he said. “It was a few birdies and an eagle thrown in there and a few mistakes. There’s some good in there, some mediocre and there was some pretty poor shots. But I battled back well,” said McIlroy.
“I don’t know what it was,” he said. “It was a few birdies and an eagle thrown in there and a few mistakes. There’s some good in there, some mediocre and there was some pretty poor shots. But I battled back well,” said McIlroy.
DeChambeau’s superb streak of seven straight Top-10 finishes came to a premature end as missed the cut after a round that included a quintuple-bogey-10 at No. 15. He shot 4-over 76 and missed the cut at 5-over 149 and it also marked the highest single-hole score of his career.
Dustin Johnson had a tough week and missed the cut following back-to-back scores of 8-over 80 and it is the highest 36-hole score of his career.
The 2020 US Open is offering an exemption to the two leading non-exempt players who finish in the top 10 (and ties) of this week’s Memorial Tournament; through 36 holes. Right now the two leading non-exempt players are Ryan Palmer and Luke List.
–IANS
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