Scheffler takes control in Ohio, McIlroy six off lead

Rory McIlroy is six shots off the lead held by world number one Scottish Scheffler at the halfway stage of the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio.

Shane Lowry, meanwhile, just made the cut and Seamus Power is in a tie for 15th after Friday’s second round.

McIlroy followed up Thursday’s 70 with a one-under 71, featuring four birdies, which leaves him three under overall in a four-way tie for seventh alongside recently crowned US PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele.

“I scrambled well, made a ton of pars, stayed patient,” McIlroy said.

“I made a couple of bogeys after making birdies and just stayed as patient as I could, which was important.

“This is probably more US Open like than the US Open’s going to be next week. I think that mindset of being patient and making as many pars as possible, I think that’s going to be the MO for next week as well.”

Power, who had been well placed after an opening 69, has slipped back to two shots behind McIlroy, after a 74, with a double bogey on six particularly costly for the Waterford man.

With the cut mark at four over, Lowry just ensured that he will the play weekend after a 73 kept him above water on three over.

LEADERBOARD

At the summit, Scheffler eagled the 15th hole and birdied the last to build a three-shot advantage as he seeks his fifth win of the season. In his past seven starts dating to March, the American has won four tournaments and tied for second twice.

Scheffler’s four-under 68 was the second-best round of the day as Muirfield Village Golf Club played tougher in the second round than the first.

At nine under through two days, Scheffler has a healthy advantage over Norway’s Viktor Hovland (69 Friday) and Canada’s Adam Hadwin (72) back at six under.

South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout posted the round of the day early on Friday, a five-under 67, to jump up the leaderboard. He is tied for fourth at five under with Keegan Bradley (69).

Scheffler started the day one shot off Hadwin’s pace and made three birdies on the front nine to climb to eight under, alone in the lead. A few poor shots at the par-5 11th led to a bogey, which he duplicated two holes later after a bad drive and an even worse approach.

But it was all smiles at the par-five 15th, where his second shot rolled up to about nine feet from the pin to set him up for eagle. Despite missing the fairway at the par-4 18th, Scheffler went from bunker to green and sank a 12-foot, right-to-left birdie putt.

Though the Memorial is a $20 million signature event, its status as a player-hosted invitational means that it retains a 36-hole cut to the top 50 players plus ties.

Jack Nicklaus’ event will not see the likes of Jordan Spieth, Wyndham Clark (both five over), Patrick Cantlay (seven over), Justin Rose (nine over) or Rickie Fowler (14 over, last place) on the weekend.