The Memorial Tournament is serving as the last time for some players to get on the course before the U.S. Open hits in June and Bill Haas has taken advantage on the leaderboard in the second round as Tiger Woods faded back on Friday.
Haas has a two shot lead heading into the weekend at the tournament and after Woods shot a two over 74, it was Haas in the lead after going five under at Muirfield Village Golf Club, using his putter very effectively and also making some fantastic shots off the tee. Haas had trouble at the end by bogeying on the last hole, but he did well enough earlier to hold onto the lead to stay ahead of Matt Kuchar, who is two shots back.
Woods is the defending champion at the tournament and after winning five times on Tour already this season he is looking to get some good work in before trying to end his major streak at Merion, where the US Open is this year. Robert Karlsson is in the mix after shooting a 71, while Hunter Mahan had a solid day with a 68 and is one more stroke back. Haas has already won on tour once this season at the Northern Trust Open and he will be looking to get some momentum heading into the US Open Major next month. The weather was a factor on Friday and could continue into the weekend and the wind took a few shots way off course for Woods and others throughout the day.
Woods struggled with his putter in the second round and he double bogeyed a hole after missing one that he said he wished he had back. Woods has been excellent on tour this year while winning four times and he last won at the Players Championship after dealing with some drama with Sergio Garcia. Woods is back as the number one golfer in the world and Rory McIlroy, who he took that mantle from, has struggled greatly and opened with the worst first round of his career at the tournament. Woods had an on and off day after coming in at one under in the first round, as he added a couple of birdies and bogeys, but since he has started just seven times and won four, he is looking back to the Tiger of old and that could mean trouble for everyone else as the tour descends on the US Open next month at Merion.
The cut will likely rest at around 146 and a number of players will miss out based on their scores, including Webb Simpson and Dustin Johnson, while Charl Schwartzel was one of the late starters at the tournament after opening up the first round with a 65 to start out on top of the leaderboard.
"Tough conditions out there and I didn't exactly play my best either," said the American world number one who three-putted from just five feet to double-bogey the par-five 15th. "They (putts) were moving all over the place," the 37-year-old said after have to cope on the slick greens as winds gusted up to 25mph. "It's tough. You try and stay below the hole as best you can, but sometimes you have to get the ball on the green. It's not that hard to make bogeys and doubles on this golf course. You miss it in the wrong spot, get the wrong gust, it's tough. We had a few shots in our group that ended up in special interesting spots."
