DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — Scottie Scheffler was 10 shots behind after two rounds at the Memorial, a tournament he has won the last two years. He felt like he could have shot 90. He hit a shank out of the bunker. He said it was as bad as he has hit the ball in some two years.
And there was part of him feeling rather pleased to sign for a 72.
“That’s maybe some of the worst I’ve hit it in a couple years out there and I still managed to shoot even par around
a golf course that requires to you strike the ball really well,” Scheffler said Friday. “Yeah, I’m definitely very proud of stuff like that. This tournament was one that definitely could have got away from me.”
That he managed a 72 was remarkable considering the places he found himself at Muirfield Village, which was practically everywhere but fairways and greens. It was an odd sight, particularly at a tournament where he is trying to match Tiger Woods as the only players to win three in a row.
He has hit 15 greens in regulation through 36 holes. He usually hits that many in one round.
He missed one green from about 15 feet away. That was the shank out of a bunker, something he hasn't done since the Tour Championship two years ago. Scheffler had to scramble to save par from 7 feet, and another key par came on the par-4 third when he missed his tee shot so far to the right his only option was to pitch back to the fairway.
But he kept saving par until he ran off three straight bogeys around the turn, and suddenly he was close to the cut line — the Memorial cuts to the top 50 and ties — with little evidence it was about to turn around. Scheffler is now at 76 consecutive cuts dating to August 2022.
“I felt like I was going to shoot about 90 today,” Scheffler said. “I don’t know if you were out there on the course, but I was going to be hard to find if you were out watching my group. I felt like I got my first birdie putt of the day on the 13th hole. I couldn’t imagine I hit more than six or seven greens today. So around this golf course, with heavy rough and deep bunkers, you got to be hitting the ball in the right spots and for a long time today that was definitely not the case for me.”
And then it was — a wedge to 3 feet for birdie on the 13th, a 20-foot birdie putt on the 15th, another birdie from 40 feet on the 16th and two tough pars to finish.
He was nine shots behind when he finished, 10 shots back when J.T. Poston shot 65 to lead.
This is Scheffler's final tournament before the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, the only major keeping him from the career Grand Slam. Muirfield Village is nothing like Shinnecock except for the punishment it can dole out if players get out of position, and how exhausting the rounds feel.
He didn't look like the No. 1 player for 12 holes but was much better over the last six. What led to the turnaround?
“I'm about to go find out,” Scheffler said.
With that, he headed to the range.
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