
Two rounds are in the books at the Memorial Tournament, held annually at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. 76 players made the cut, including defending champion Matt Kuchar, who is more than 10 shots behind the leader. Of the Top 5 Friday night, there are a couple familiar names, but could we see a surprise winner come Sunday? Here are those five players, with their current scores…
Martin Flores: -7 (137) through 36 holes
The Fort Worth native achieved a 3rd-place finish at the beginning of May in the Wells Fargo Championship, and has only made three bogeys this week at MVGC. He has already won more money in 2014 than he did all last year, and with two more solid rounds this weekend, could earn himself a first PGA Tour win.
Hideki Matsuyama: -7 (137)
Matsuyama was the only amateur to make the cut at the 2011 Masters, and turned pro last year. After beginning Friday tied for 21st, he was on a little roll on the front 9, getting birdies on holes 5, 6, and 8. Matsuyama’s career-best finish is 3rd, at the Frys.com Open last October.
Chris Kirk: -8 (136)
Like the two players ahead of him on the leaderboard, Kirk opened this year’s Memorial with a solid 66, and has been bogey-free on the front 9 so far. Kirk is coming off a pair of Top 15 finishes, at the Players and the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. He sits at 8th in the FedEx Cup standings, and won last November at the McGladrey Classic.
Bubba Watson: -9 (135)
This year’s Masters champion had a little trouble closing out Friday’s round, bogeying four times on the back nine. This is only Watson’s second tournament since the win at Augusta, and he can take pride in having eagled the par-5 15th both of his first two rounds. In addition to his two majors, Watson is also known for being one of “The Golf Boys” along with Ben Crane, Rickie Fowler, and Hunter Mahan.
Paul Casey: -12 (132)
Casey posted back-to-back rounds of 66 to take a three-shot lead into the weekend. Once ranked 3rd in the world, Casey has had a couple personal setbacks since then, but hasn’t shown signs of struggling this week at Muirfield Village. Casey’s only previous PGA Tour win was the 2009 Shell Houston Open, but like Watson, he has eagled twice in his first two rounds this week.
Will one of these five win this year’s Memorial? Will first-round leader Rory McIlroy recover from his second-round 78? Can Adam Scott go 2-for-2 as the top-ranked player in the world? All these narratives should lead to exciting golf in Central Ohio this weekend.