As is typically the case, Jack Nicklaus’ Muirfield Village is presenting an incredibly stiff test for the PGA Tour’s best at the 2026 Memorial Tournament. A firm, fast golf course with thick rough is still the formula for challenging the world’s best, and when you sprinkle in some strong wind gusts in the afternoon, it made for an incredibly difficult Friday in Dublin, Ohio.
Among the players having trouble handling that challenge is the two-time defending champion Scottie Scheffler. The World No. 1 opened his week with a 1-over 73 on Thursday that included a meltdown at caddie Ted Scott after finding the water on the par-3 16th to lead to a double bogey.
Things didn’t improve much to start his second round. Scheffler failed to make a birdie on the front nine, including a par on the par-5 5th that included a shank from the bunker after getting it greenside in two.
Three straight bogeys from No. 8 to No. 10 as he made the turn only added to Scheffler’s stress, as he suddenly found himself at 4 over and on the cut line with eight holes to play. As is typically the case, Scheffler was able to steady the ship and made a late surge with three birdies in his final five holes to climb not only off the cut line but inside the top 20 heading into the weekend at 1 over.
The concern for Scheffler is that while he’s gaining strokes around the greens and with the putter this week, he’s been among the worst in the field with his iron play. Scheffler ranks 59th (out of 72 players) in strokes gained approach, losing more than two shots to the field, and the distance control that made him so dominant the last two years at Muirfield Village has not shown up thus far to start the week.
A year ago, Scheffler made up a three-shot deficit entering the weekend to win by four, but he’ll need an even bigger weekend charge if he’s going to pull off the first three-peat at the Memorial since Tiger Woods did it back in 2001. Scheffler is currently 10 shots back of J.T. Poston, whose 65 on Friday was truly remarkable given the difficult conditions. Scheffler will need to find a more consistent level with the irons we haven’t seen from him yet this week if he’s going to make himself a real threat.
Scheffler is far from alone in terms of top players who have had fits with Muirfield Village through the first two days of play. Rory McIlroy is also part of the T19 group at 1 over after a 74 in the worst of the afternoon conditions. He and Justin Thomas (+5) gave a somewhat mocking embrace on the 18th green after surviving a brutal day of golf. Like Thomas, Ludvig Åberg made the cut on the number at 5 over after a Friday 78, as Nicklaus’ masterpiece showed its teeth in a big way in the second round.
The leader
1. J.T. Poston (-9)
Poston gained more than nine strokes on the field in his 7-under 65 on Friday that saw him jump into the solo lead heading into the weekend. Poston has long been one of the PGA Tour’s best putters, but on Friday he married that quality on the greens with a sensational ball-striking round to post the best score of the day by four strokes. As we saw last year with Ben Griffin and Nick Taylor, who got to 7 under after 36 holes before stumbling a bit and getting passed by Scheffler, it’s never easy maintaining that kind of level at Muirfield Village over 72 holes. The good news for Poston is he’s created a good bit of separation from much of the field with just four other players within six shots of him going into Saturday.
Weekend contenders
2. Ryan Gerard (-8)
3. Sam Burns (-6)
4. Tommy Fleetwood (-4)
5. Eric Cole (-3)
T6. Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Wyndham Clark (-2)
T9. Alex Fitzpatrick, Aaron Rai, Shane Lowry (-1)
T19. Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and eight others (+1)
Gerard had the lead for much of the morning before Poston ran him down, but the 26-year-old is building on the form from last week’s T10 finish at Colonial and putting himself in position for the biggest win of his career. Sam Burns has shot 69 in both rounds so far and if he could somehow do that all four days, he’d be the heavy favorite to win on Sunday, even facing a three-shot deficit to start the weekend.
Those two and Poston will likely dictate how many players have a chance come Sunday. Any one of them, especially Poston and Gerard, can set the bar too high for anyone else to reasonably reach given the challenge of Muirfield Village. However, if they back up — as is often the case at the Memorial — then an awful lot of players will have an opportunity.
Only five shots separate the big group at T19 from Tommy Fleetwood in fourth at 4 under. That kind of movement is certainly in play, and if that trio at the top starts sliding back, we could see an extremely exciting weekend. Cole had a heartbreaking loss last week in a playoff to Russell Henley, but, like Alex Fitzpatrick, is taking advantage of his chance to play in a signature event while in good form.
Cantlay playing well at Muirfield Village isn’t a surprise given he’s a two-time winner here, and he knows steady play and avoiding mistakes is job No. 1 at the Memorial. Schauffele likewise is a strong theoretical course fit for Muirfield Village and continues his solid play this season in search of his first win in more than a year. Clark, who won two weeks ago by going crazy low at TPC Craig Ranch, is playing well again on a very different kind of golf course, which shows how strong his game is right now.
Notable players who missed the cut
- Jordan Spieth (+6)
- Ben Griffin (+7)
- Min Woo Lee (+8)
- Akshay Bhatia (+9)
- Rickie Fowler (+17)
The top 50 and ties made the weekend, and this week that sent 19 players packing early from the 72-man field. Spieth got off to a great start with a Thursday 71 but had it all go wrong in Friday’s second round with a 79. Griffin, last year’s runner-up, also had a rough first two days and will not make the weekend, and Fowler had two days to forget as his best round was a 79.
Updated Memorial Tournament odds, picks
- J.T. Poston (2-1)
- Ryan Gerard (3-1)
- Sam Burns (5-1)
- Tommy Fleetwood (19/2)
- Xander Schauffele (18-1)
- Scottie Scheffler (20-1)
- Patrick Cantlay (22-1)
Poston or Gerard could absolutely run away and win this, but I have a hard time investing at this low a price with this much golf left to play at a tough course. Scheffler having the sixth-best odds with a 10-shot deficit is hysterical, as the sportsbooks have no interest in paving the way for a big payout for anyone taking him to catch fire on the weekend. I would rather take Schauffele in the same range as someone playing a bit better and three shots closer to the lead. Fleetwood’s ball-striking concerns me a touch as well, as his Thursday 67 felt like some smoke and mirrors after scrambling 11 times for pars, but he’s certainly in play for his first win of the year if he can steady the ship.