Former champion Matt Kuchar continued his love affair with the Memorial tournament on Friday as he took advantage of calm conditions with a late birdie flurry to surge into a two-way tie for the lead in the second round.
Kuchar birdied four of his last six holes to shoot a sparkling six-under-par 66 at Muirfield Village, finishing level with fellow American Brendan Steele (67) at 12-under 132.
Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo (66) and long-hitting American Gary Woodland (65) were at 11-under while Australian world number one Jason Day followed his opening 66 with an erratic 71 to drop five strokes off the pace.
US Open champion Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy both put mediocre first rounds behind them as they moved into contention, American Spieth carding a 68 to finish at six-under, a stroke behind Northern Irishman McIlroy who returned a 66.
Kuchar, who won the 2013 Memorial tournament and has recorded four top-10s in his last five PGA Tour starts, was delighted to benefit from another benign day at Muirfield
Village in the prestigious event hosted by Jack Nicklaus.
“I’ve been in some great form,” the 37-year-old told reporters after mixing seven birdies with a lone bogey.
“Nice to keep it going. The course is in fantastic shape... it’s as easy at this place as I remember ever seeing it, even though the greens are still fast.
“You can get in the wrong spot, but you don’t have to worry too much about the wind. It’s fun to be out there playing and making some birdies around this place.”
Kuchar, a seven-times winner on the PGA Tour, has always enjoyed competing at Muirfield Village. “I’ve certainly had a great track record here... winning in 2013, and a lot of nice solid finishes,” he smiled.
“It’s certainly been a nice Thursday, Friday start, and I’m looking forward to a great weekend.”
Day was also looking forward to a great weekend after relying on his deft touch around the green and scrambling abilities as he eked out a 71 that included five birdies and four bogeys.
“If I didn’t have a short game, I probably would have shot high 70s,” said the Australian, who clinched his third PGA Tour victory of the season at the Players Championship last month. “But to be able to stick it out and shoot one under on a tough day like this was pretty nice.”
Spieth was flirting with the cutline after he bogeyed two of his first four holes but he picked up six shots over the closing stretch to vault up the leaderboard.
“Six birdies in 12 holes, that’s one every couple holes,” said the 22-year-old Texan. “That’s a nice ratio out here. I felt like I had enough chances to get in a rhythm with the putter.”
American Dustin Johnson, who fired an eight-under 64 to seize a one-shot lead after the opening round, ended the round three strokes off the pace after carding a 71.

Fitzpatrick leads at halfway mark in Nordea Masters
In Stockholm, England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick will go into the weekend with the lead at the Nordea Masters in Stockholm after a second-round 65 put him three strokes clear of the chasing pack on Friday.
Fitzpatrick, who finished tied seventh at the Masters in Augusta in April, followed an opening round of 68 with a 65 on the par-72 course at the Bro Hof Slott course in the Swedish capital.
The 21-year-old’s round featured seven birdies and not a single dropped shot as he opened up a lead of three strokes from a group of five players including Belgian former Ryder Cup star Nicolas Colsaerts.
“Any time you shoot seven birdies it’s always a good day, and when you manage to keep the bogeys off the card at the same time, it’s an even better day,” said Fitzpatrick, a former US Amateur champion who only decided at the last minute to enter the tournament. “Any time you go into the weekend high on the leaderboard, you’re going to get excited.”
Colsaerts will go out with Fitzpatrick in the third round after a 66 on Friday which included an eagle three at the first and five birdies. He is on eight under-par along with English duo Ross Fisher and Andrew Johnston, Scotland’s Scott Henry and Sweden’s Alexander Bjork.
It was past 8.30pm local time (1830 GMT) when Bjork finished his round but he could be very happy with his work in just his second European Tour event, recording five birdies and a single bogey.