2024 Memorial Tournament scores and results: Scottie Scheffler tops after Round 2 at Muirfield Village
Even a windy and rough day at Jack’s place couldn’t slow Scottie Scheffler down. On a day when Muirfield Village played one stroke over par and five players failed to break 80, the world No. 1 shot a 4-under 68 to take control of the upcoming Memorial Tournament weekend.
Scheffler sits at 9 under, three ahead of defending champion Viktor Hovland and first-round leader Adam Hadwin, and is in good position to claim his fifth win of the season. Sunday’s win not only marked his fifth overall this season but also marked his third special event win. Of course, this is in addition to his wins at the Players Championship and the Masters.
No player has achieved five wins in a season in as short a time as Scheffler, who aims to match the likes of Justin Thomas (2017), Jason Day (2015) and Jordan Spieth (2015) as are the players who achieved miracles last season. decade. Memorial could ultimately just be a stepping stone to further history as he could threaten the all-time PGA Tour record of nine wins in a season held by Tiger Woods (2000) and Vijay Singh (2004) If successful this week.
While it’s almost certain the 27-year-old will grab a 36-hole lead for an additional $4 million to the winner, Scheffler will still need to work hard in the second half of this tournament with hidden name.
Of course, that includes the man who conquered Muirfield Village a season ago. Hovland carded three birdies on the back nine to enter the house at 6 under and just below Scheffler on the leaderboard. After a slow start to the new year, the reigning FedEx Cup champion has continued his resurgence, making his first appearance at the PGA Championship.
Even when not at his best from tee to green, PGA Championship champion Xander Schauffele is still at minus-3. Utilize some behind-the-scenes heroes to turn unruly shots into moments great moment, Schauffele is trying his best to catch up with the world No. top in the game.
Leader
1. Scottie Scheffler (-9)
It’s not a fair fight when the best driver in the world is also the best ironman in the world and happens to have the best short game in the world. Scheffler’s Friday was impressive for many reasons, but the biggest shake-up had to come on the par-4 10th when he holed his second shot. Doing well to stay third on the green, Scheffler hit his par putt from 15 feet to avoid bogey at that point.
After a few sloppy squares, the world No. 1 sank his long iron of the day into the par-5 15th hole for an eagle and redeemed both mistakes. A birdie from a fairway bunker on the 18th produced a putt on the final stretch that took him from one behind to three ahead.
“I think I had about 235 pins,” Scheffler said of his shot on No. 15. “It was just a nice 3-iron grip and, yeah, it felt like I had a good number, and it’s great when I have a number that I want to cut it and the pin is on the right side and that’s one of those cases. So I was able to hit a really nice shot there, pretty close to the pin and holed the putt.”
Other candidates
T2. Viktor Hovland, Adam Hadwin (-6)
T4. Keegan Bradley, Christiaan Bezuidenhout (-5)
6. Ludvig Åberg (-4)
T8. Tony Finau, Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Akshay Bhatia (-3)
T11. Collin Morikawa, Si Woo Kim, Tommy Fleetwood, Sepp Straka (-2)
When looked at in the grand scheme of things, Hovland’s change in game is crazy. Having failed to crack the top 10 in the first four months of the season, Hovland returned to his old swing coach, Joe Mayo, and immediately returned to his old qualities. A podium finish at the PGA Championship could be just the beginning for the Norwegian as he opened his defensive effort with consecutive 69s. He ranked second to Scheffler in strokes gained from tee to green and third in approach.
“The important thing is to find a playable feel, something that’s going to be different and actually make you hit better, but it still has to be simple enough for you to do under the gun because it’s — you don’t have It’s time to tinker there,” Hovland said. “Only when the course is too difficult do you know where the ball is going to go.”
The number of fan favorites remains unchanged
It’s a tough time being a fan of Rickie Fowler or Jordan Spieth. Neither will be available for the weekend at the Memorial, which is just an extension of a miserable 2024 for both players. Fowler failed to break 80 on Friday and has continued a downward trend since returning to the winner’s circle last summer in Detroit. In 21 starts since then, the 35-year-old has failed to crack the top 15 and has dropped 20 places on the Official World Golf Ranking.
While Fowler may not have any excuses, it’s likely Spieth will. Perhaps he continues to drive the ball as well as ever while possibly getting absolutely nothing out of his approach play due to a lingering wrist injury. After a solid start to the year with contested tournaments at Kapalua and Scottsdale, Spieth has missed five cuts, been disqualified and has finished in the top 10 just once in his last 12 starts.
Odds and picks updated at the 2024 Memorial Tournament
- Scottie Scheffler: 1/2
- Viktor Hovland: February 13
- Xander Schauffele: 18-1
- Rory McIlroy: 20-1
- Ludvig Åberg: 20-1
- Keegan Bradley: 25-1
- Adam Hadwin: 25-1
- Christiaan Bezuidenhout: 30-1
Scheffler’s eagle on hole 15 and the closing birdie really changed the complexion of this tournament and shortened the list of potential winners (maybe to one). If you’re willing to drop -200 on the best player in the world, be my guest, but I think there’s still a chance – however slim – that Scheffler won’t be successful this weekend. Finau at 65-1 seems a long shot after scoring a second-round 70 in some of the toughest conditions, and he has the firepower to compensate if the stars align.
