Internationals left searching for answers

DUBLIN, Ohio – Rory McIlroy has a great rapport with tournament host Jack Nicklaus, whom he sees all the time at the Bear’s Club in South Florida. They have lunch, and talk golf and life. RELATED: Leaderboard | The Counsel of Jack Nicklaus As for the bond between world No. 8 McIlroy and Muirfield Village, host of this week’s Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, well… “Muirfield and I have had a bit of a complicated relationship,” McIlroy said this week, before opening with scores of 70-69 to reach 5 under par, two behind leader Denny McCarthy (69) as the afternoon wave teed off Friday. “It seemed to fit me quite well earlier in my career and then the last few years, I’ve sort of maybe struggled with the strategy of how to play it.” In 10 starts here, McIlroy has four top-10 finishes, but he also has two missed cuts, plus two other starts in which he made the cut but finished way, way back. He’s never won, or even had a close call. Still, he keeps coming back because it’s the Memorial. Also, he’s not terribly far off – here or anyplace else. McIlroy has finished second (Masters), fifth (Wells Fargo Championship) and eighth (PGA Championship) in his last three starts. And he’s embarking on a busy four-week stretch that will include not just the Memorial but a (2019) title defense, of sorts, at next week’s RBC Canadian Open and the U.S. Open at The Country Club in Boston the week after that. Then he’s off to the Travelers Championship. “I feel like my game is in good shape,” he said. “So I’m excited for this run and excited to give myself a few more chances to hopefully win golf tournaments.” For McIlroy, 14th in the FedExCup and seeking his first win since THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT last fall, Muirfield presents a special challenge, but not an insurmountable one. He can’t swing the driver with impunity, which means finding other ways to shine. “I feel like a lot of the fairways here pinch in around 310,” he said, “so it allows the sort of average hitters to hit driver. For an example, last year I played with Viktor Hovland the first two days, and the first hole, he can hit driver sort of right to where the bottleneck starts. I can’t hit driver because I’ll hit it too far but then I hit 3-wood, you know, 15 or 20 yards short of his driver. So I’m hitting 6-iron or 7-iron in and he’s hitting an 8-iron or a 9-iron in. “It just seems like the length advantage has sort of been nullified here over the last few years,” he continued. “It’s just finding a different way to play the golf course. A lot more 3-woods. I actually went to one of my old 3-woods this week that’s a lower lofted. It’s sort of like a 2-wood in a way which I think will be good to utilize this week.” That strategy seems to be paying off. Case in point, McIlroy hit a 269-yard fairway finder at the par-5 fifth hole Friday, then nuked a 271-yard 3-wood to within roughly six feet of the pin. He made the putt for eagle to reach 6 under par, only to hit his tee shot in the bunker and bogey the par-3 eighth, his second-to-last hole of the day, to leave a slightly bitter taste. “Yeah, another solid day’s play,” McIlroy said. “Couple of silly bogeys. Bogeyed the 11th par-5 and the 14th for the second day in a row. But I guess it sort of happens around here. It’s getting tricky and you’re going to make bogeys regardless of where they come. “Overall, two solid rounds of golf,” he continued, “right in contention going into the weekend, depending what guys do this afternoon. Yeah, happy with how everything is sort of going.”

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Tiger Woods will return to PGA TOUR action for the first time in four months after the 82-time winner committed to next week’s the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide in Columbus, Ohio. Woods, a five-time winner of the Memorial Tournament, joins the field at Muirfield Village for his first official PGA TOUR event since he hosted the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles at Riviera Country Club in February. It will also mark Woods’ first start since the COVID-19 pandemic began shortly thereafter. Chasing a record 83rd TOUR win to break out of a tie with Sam Snead atop the all-time wins list, Woods was last seen in action at Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Charity on May 24, when he and former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning beat Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady at Medalist Golf Club. Woods has played at Muirfield Village 17 times in his career, winning the tournament in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2009 and 2012. He has never missed the cut at Muirfield and has further top 10 finishes in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2019. Woods was also a member of the U.S. Presidents Cup team that won at Muirfield Village in 2013. Clearly he likes the place that Jack (Nicklaus) built. “I’ve always enjoyed Muirfield. I’ve always tried to play at Jack’s events. What he’s meant to the TOUR and he’s meant to all of us has players, I’ve always tried to support his events and I just happened to play well on his golf courses too,” Woods said in 2018. “Whether it’s here or most of the Nicklaus Design courses that we play, I seem to play them well. But this one in particular is very special to him, it’s very special to us as players. Obviously because of what he’s done to the golf course, but more so what he’s meant to us as players.” Currently Woods sits 41st in the FedExCup and 14th in the world rankings. He got the 2019-20 PGA TOUR season off to a roaring start with a victory at the inaugural ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in Japan last October. As playing captain, he led the U.S. to a come-from-behind win at the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne in December. He tied for ninth at the Farmers Insurance Open on one of his favorite courses, Torrey Pines. Woods, 44, then struggled on the weekend at the Genesis to finish 68th, and later revealed that he was having mobility issues with his surgically fused back. He skipped The Honda Classic and did not play the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, another of his favorite events. He also didn’t feel well enough for THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass, where he is a two-time champion. That event was eventually canceled after the first round due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now, though, Woods is ready to go again. The pandemic hit the pause button on the season and has given Woods time to get well physically. He looked like his old self at The Match at Medalist, his home course, as he hit fairways and led his team to victory.

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Here are nine tidbits from the second round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Be looking for the Emergency 9 shortly after the close of play of each round of the tournament. PAIN OR GAIN These were the top-five picked golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO: The top three above are currently in the top five. Pat Perez checks in safely at T23, but Brandt Snedeker will have to move up a few shots on Saturday to make the 54-hole cut. He’s currently two-under-par and tied for 70th. The top 60 and ties will play Pebble Beach on Sunday. The Great One Wayne Gretzky’s de facto son-in-law, Dustin Johnson, posted his 21st round in the 60’s from 40 chances on the Monterey Peninsula. His 64 Friday matches his second-best round ever and missed the best by a shot. His 63 at Pebble Beach in round one in 2012 is the best of the bunch. His rounds of 67-64 (-12) ties him with Beau Hossler for the lead, and he’ll play the weekend at Pebble Beach. If the wind blows tomorrow afternoon as predicted, he’ll be licking his chops. Merritt Badge Troy Merritt’s 67 at Pebble Beach yesterday included three bogeys, an eagle and six birdies. His 67 at Spyglass Hill Friday included zero bogeys or others and five birdies. He’ll begin Saturday 10-under-par on the Monterey Peninsula Country Club (Shore Course), the easiest of the three courses in play this week. Every shot and dollar counts this week as Merritt is playing out of the Web.com priority list. He’s MC in five of eight events and his biggest check cashed T51 money after Shriners. He’s never made the cut in six previous visits to this event, including the last four years in a row. Invitation Only Duke grad Julian Suri is ranked No. 66 in the OWGR and is in the field this week on a sponsor’s exemption. He won twice last year in Europe (one Challenge Tour, one European Tour) but his first two TOUR events this season saw him collect T63 at Torrey Pines and MC last week in Scottsdale. He’s made 13 birdies in two rounds this week and currently sits T3. This event is notoriously tough on rookies and first-time players. He’ll have two rounds this weekend at Pebble Beach to be an exception to that rule or just another statistic. Gamers should be aware of him regardless. Jordan Rules World No. 3 Jordan Spieth bounced back nicely today at MPCC as he birdied five of his first seven holes to get back into the fight. His 66 moved him up 75 spots to T23, and he’ll be one that will be begging for tough conditions Saturday so he can get back into his title defense. He hit less fairways and greens than he did yesterday, so it’s obvious which club started cooperating. Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood Stanford grad Patrick Rodgers is known for his 11 collegiate victories. but he hasn’t found the winner’s circle on TOUR just yet. His 65 at MPCC moved him up 42 spots to T11 after an opening 70 at Spyglass Hill. Rodgers ranks 195th in putting average this season but is leading the field this week after two rounds. Caution. Rory’s Retreat After six birdies to open with 68 at the usually more difficult Spyglass Hill, gamers who were riding the form of the 2016 FedExCup champion probably expected another low one today at MPCC. In fact, just the opposite rang true as Rory McIlroy had to absorb four bogeys and a double against only three birdies for 74. He’s T87 after dropping 71 spots and will have to take his frustrations out on Pebble Beach Saturday. He needed 25 putts on Thursday and 38 on Friday. Playing from Behind Last week’s winner Gary Woodland will also need a big, bad weekend on Pebble Beach, as he’s the eighth-most selected player in the PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO. I’ll remind gamers he made 10 birdies on Pebble Beach last year on Sunday to claim his first top 10 in three tries. He might need TWO rounds of that, bartender, to make noise this year. It’s not over, yet. Study Hall Angel Cabrera has WD from the professional competition but is sticking around for the Pro-Am portion.  Graeme McDowell, winner of the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, shot 71 at Pebble Beach yesterday but backed that up with 80 at Spyglass Hill today. … Beau Hossler, who is tied with Dustin Johnson for first, hasn’t made a bogey yet this week. … Jason Day, winner at the Farmers Insurance Open, lit up his card with 65 today at MPCC. He was joined on that number by Rodgers, Phil Mickelson and Steve Stricker. … Denny McCarthy signed for the lowest round of the day at Spyglass Hill with 66. Jon Rahm led the crew of three with 67 at Pebble Beach.      

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