Rain has been the main feature on the second day of the Memorial. Some players teed off at the 1st with their umbrellas open and couldn’t close them at any point. Others, it’s true, those who came in the later groups, were spared many litres from the sky and surely appreciated it. The course, already long, felt endless because the balls fly less with so much water and don’t roll at all on the fairway. Controlling the spin became a puzzle on such wet greens, and the rough, so damp, was even more penalising, which is saying something.
A day for tough and sharp types. And nine were more so than the rest, capable of signing rounds under seventy strokes coming from the worst side of the draw and, therefore, after playing hours and hours in the rain. Nick Taylor (-7), for example, signed a flawless 68 to seize the co-lead. Or Sam Burns (-3), who delivered the best score of the day, a 65 that didn’t seem possible this Friday in this corner of Ohio, to climb nearly fifty places on the leaderboard and position himself as a contender for victory. Other tough and sharp types: Justin Rose (PAR), who we had already written off yesterday (just like Burns) and who started today with a bogey and finished with a 66; Adam Scott (+4) and Russell Henley (-2), with rounds of 68; or Akshay Bhatia (-5), Tom Hoge (-2), Ryan Gerard (+1) and Justin Thomas (+5), with rounds of 69 strokes. Others like Jordan Spieth (-3) or Xander Schauffele (-2), also delivered a 69, but in significantly less demanding conditions.
Scottie Scheffler (-4) didn’t go below seventy strokes, but he was also on the bad side of the draw today and managed to play under par (70), reducing the deficit with the tournament leaders and, ultimately, positioning himself brilliantly for the weekend. Be careful because, for now, the Texan hasn’t managed to shine particularly on the greens and is only three strokes off the lead (in the SG:Putting statistic, he is in 50th place after two rounds, in a field of 72 players). If he starts to feel more comfortable, we all know what can happen… It’s incredible that almost every week, this man naturally earns the favourite tag before the tournament starts, after the first round, the second, and the third. He is an insatiable competitor.
Ben Griffin (-7) remains at the top after playing level with the course today and shining in recoveries around the green, surely the strongest point of his game. It’s not a bad result, even though he was in the later groups and played without rain for more than half the round. Make no mistake: with or without rain, Muirfield Village was a minefield today.
