Scottie Scheffler returned to a familiar place Friday in Muirfield Village: atop a PGA Tour leaderboard.
Scheffler fired a 4-under 68 to move to 9 under, where he leads the Memorial Tournament by three shots over defending champion Viktor Hovland and Adam Hadwin at the halfway mark.
On a windy day in Dublin, Ohio, Scheffler hit 13 greens, finishing second in the 73-player field. He carded an eagle on the par-5 15e hole and four birdies, including on the par-4 closing hole, where Scheffler drained a 12-footer. On No. 15, Scheffler hit a 3-iron from 235 yards to 8 feet to set up his eagle.
“It was pretty windy out there,” Scheffler said. “I just did my best to execute it. [Caddie] Teddy [Scott]I think I did a really good job of getting most of the wind right for the day and that’s quite a challenging task, I think, around this golf course, especially when the wind is up just because you have so many of those types of trees have it or block it and if it is gusty it can be quite a challenge and sometimes start to blow in directions where it doesn’t quite belong.”
This marks the first time Scheffler has finished a lap in the lead since winning the RBC Heritage for his fourth title in five starts. He finished eighth at the PGA Championship, a tournament overshadowed by Scheffler’s arrest prior to the second round (the charges have since been dropped), and tied for second at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson two weeks ago.
“I try to forget those days [when I feel off], and so now I’m fortunate enough that I don’t really remember it,” Scheffler said. “The only one I can really remember was Saturday at the PGA, but that was a different caddy, so we blame him for that (laughs).”
Keegan Bradley and Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who fired the round of the day (67), are tied for fourth at 5 under. Ludvig Åberg is one stroke back, at 4 under. Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Tony Finau and Akshay Bhatia are all tied at 3 under.
Jordan Spieth and Wyndham Clark, who will defend the US Open at Pinehurst next week, were among those who missed the cut.
