At the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, Justin Suh shot a 6-under 66 and then stopped several times to talk to the media. He carried his putter the entire time, which was probably a good idea.
He may not want to let it out of his sight after the way it behaved on Friday when he holed eight putts from a distance of at least ten feet.
Suh’s final birdie on the 18th gave him a one-shot advantage over Hideki Matsuyama, the previous winner, and Patrick Cantlay, the two-time Memorial champion, who was another shot back.
“I sank a 12-footer for par on the opening hole’s fringe. I just kind of kept my putter confidence flowing.” Suh stated.
On another beautiful, hot afternoon at Muirfield Village, he needed two of his longer putts to save par, but there were plenty of birdies along the way.
The morning round included Matsuyama and Cantlay, two golfers who rank the Jack Nicklaus-designed course among their all-time favorites. Suh’s putting performance in the afternoon was comparable to Matsuyama’s, who rolled in huge birdie putts en route to a tournament-best 65.
“Making those putts at 7 and 8 was crucial. Today, I made a few putts that saved me a par. The course is challenging, particularly the greens. This weekend will be difficult if the greens continue to get harder than they now are. But today, the putts were successful, so I’m happy.” Matsuyama said.
Cantlay once again displayed exceptional play while playing Muirfield Village’s preferred style of golf, from tee to green, and he made enough putts for a score of 67. Several of them scorched the cup’s rim. On hole No. 17, he also sank a 50-foot birdie putt from the back of the green.
The course was fairly balanced, but it played around one stroke easier. The morning wave on both days was comparatively quiet and mild, whereas the afternoon wave experienced wind and heat.
Suh, who is attempting to win his first PGA TOUR championship, entered the week at 8-under 136.
In 2019, the PGA TOUR paired him with a potent college class that included Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa from Cal, and Suh, who won the U.S. Amateur while competing at Southern California and reached No. 1 as an amateur.
Morikawa became a PGA TOUR winner only a few weeks after becoming a pro. Hovland wasn’t far behind either. Suh decided to go a new way after suffering a wrist injury. He claimed that it wasn’t challenging to observe their quick triumph.
“I believed that their success would virtually benefit me. These are my contemporary people. I’m capable of doing it if they can. Consequently, it increased my confidence a little bit. I didn’t really consider what they were doing for the three years that they were doing it. Since I was in college, I’ve consistently done the same things since I knew what I needed to do to improve. Everyone, in my opinion, is largely traveling their own road.” Suh said.
Suh came in at No. 1 on the season-long 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, and he’s been on a roll. He competed at The Honda Classic, finished in the top 10 at THE PLAYERS Championship, and was two shots off of the lead at the PGA Championship before fumbling.
This ought to be a tough challenge once more.
Matsuyama’s return ignites an emotional flame in a year that has been hampered by a neck ailment. He won his first PGA TOUR championship at Muirfield Village in 2014. Cantlay has a game that works anyplace, but it’s clear that he adores the Memorial.
At 6-under 138, David Lipsky (69) joined Cantlay. Jon Rahm (70) and Rory McIlroy (68) were in the group four strokes back.
McIlroy was largely pleased with his performance. On Thursday, he performed admirably, but he received a terrible break when his ball hung in long grass on the slope of a bunker, resulting in a triple bogey on the 18th hole, undoing all of his hard work and giving him a score of 72.
This time, he had a great finish to finish with a 68, putting him in contention going into the weekend.
Regarding what I accomplished yesterday, I felt good. At 18, I suffered one bad break. My perception is that I am one shot away from taking the lead in this golf event. Everything else was going pretty well, so I can’t let that one bad break stop me.
Rahm started the round with two consecutive bogeys but persisted, waiting for birdie possibilities that eventually materialized. He continued without making a bogey the rest of the way, made two birdies on par 5s, and finished with a birdie on the 18th to put himself in reach.
“You have to go to work and take advantage of the holes that are coming up because you have to assume that very few guys in the afternoon were going to play bogey-free,” Rahm said.
Scottie Scheffler made the cut, which was set at 3-over 147.
Scheffler, who has reclaimed the top spot in the official world golf rankings, has never had a year-long finish worse than 12th. It will take some effort and putts to keep that streak going. Among the 66 players that made the cut, he had the lowest putting score.
