| -9 R Palmer (US), T Finau (US); -8 J Rahm (Spa); -6 G Woodland (US), C Reavie (US), L List (US) |
| Selected: -4 D Willett (Eng), J SPieth (US); -3 M Fitzpatrick (Eng), J Thomas (US); -2 R McIlroy (NI), M Wallace (Eng); +2 P Mickelson (US); +3 T Woods (US), B Koepka (US) |
| Missed cut: +4 B DeChambeau (US), P Casey (Eng); +5 J Rose (Eng), I Poulter (Eng); +16 D Johnson (US) |
Tiger Woods’ record of never missing the cut at the Memorial Tournament was extended on Friday despite shooting a four-over-par 76 to drop to three over.
However, he is 12 shots behind joint leaders Ryan Palmer (68) and Tony Finau (69), who improved to nine under par.
Spain’s Jon Rahm had just one bogey in a 67 and is third on eight under.
World number one Rory McIlroy carded a level-par 72 to stay two under, but big-hitting Bryson DeChambeau had a 10 at the par-five 15th to miss the cut.
DeChambeau’s misery started when he drove into a creek. After a drop, he appeared to hit his next shot out of bounds so played a provisional, which did go out of bounds. His third attempt, shot number seven, stayed in bounds, but in thick rough.
Before playing his eighth shot, he looked for his other balls and found what had been his third shot, resting against a metal boundary fence.
A rules official deemed it out of bounds. “I don’t believe that,” said the American. “Can I get a second opinion please?”
A second rules official agreed with the first. DeChambeau finally asked: “I was wondering if I could hop the fence and hit it?”
However, he ended up picking up that ball and playing his eighth shot from the rough and two-putting for a 10. He eventually signed for a four-over 76 to finish on five over and miss the cut by two shots.
DeChambeau was not the only player to struggle, world number four Dustin Johnson had two triple bogeys in a second successive 80 to finish on 16 over par.
McIlroy and Woods fight hard
Northern Ireland’s McIlroy had a disastrous start, bogeying his first hole, the 10th, and then double bogeying the 11th after driving into a creek from the tee.
He rallied but a mix of four birdies, four bogeys, one double bogey and one eagle left McIlroy pondering: “I don’t know what it was.
“It was a few birdies and an eagle thrown in there and a few mistakes,” he added. “There was some good in there, some mediocre and there was some pretty poor shots. But I battled back well.”
Woods, playing alongside McIlroy and in his first professional event in five months, had complained about back problems before his round.
The record five-time winner of the event held each year at Muirfield Village dropped six shots in eight holes and was looking set to definitely miss the cut when he also bogeyed the sixth to leave him five over with three to play.
He responded with a birdie on the par-five seventh and rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt on the eighth to get to three over.
However, a wild drive on the par-four ninth meant he was unable to reach the green in two and he holed a seven-foot par putt which would ultimately see him into the weekend.
“Not very good,” was Woods’ assessment of his round. “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.”
The projected cut was two over when Woods finished his round but was pushed to three over.
Willett and Fitzpatrick go low
Overnight leader Finau dropped two shots in his first three holes but three birdies in his final five holes saw him move level with fellow American Palmer, who has had only one bogey in his opening two rounds.
Rahm leads the European challenge and a victory for the world number two this week could see him become only the second Spaniard after Seve Ballesteros to lead the world rankings.
England’s Danny Willett had the joint lowest round of the day, holing eight birdie putts in a six-under 66 to improve to four under, alongside Norway’s Viktor Hovland (66) and American Jordan Spieth (70).
Matt Fitzpatrick had a run of three birdies after an eagle on the fifth as he posted a bogey-free 66 to move to three under, one ahead of fellow Englishman Matt Wallace who posted a two-under 70.
Article courtesy of BBC Sport
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