Anirban Lahiri makes the cut in Memorial

Anand Datla

June 04, 2016: Anirban Lahiri shot an even 72 in the second round of the Memorial tournament at the Muirfield Village Golf Club. Matt Kuchar fired a second straight 66 to tie for the lead with a resolute Brendan Steele, who made 67.

Lahiri made eight consecutive pars to open his second round, before surrendering a bogey at the 9th hole. But he made birdies at 10 & 12 to go one under for the day.

Over the final stretch, Anirban sandwiched a birdie at the 17th between birdies at 16 & 18 to end the day at two under overall. He is lying T62, just over the cut line for the weekend.

The leaders are at 12-under, with Emiliano Grillo and Gary Woodland lying one back after making 66 and 65 respectively on Friday. The course is playing easy and Kuchar for one has been happy to take advantage.

“You can get in the wrong spot, but you don’t have to worry too much about the wind,” Kuchar said. “The ball’s going, great temperatures. It’s fun to be out there playing and making some birdies around this place.”

“I feel like I’ve put it all together,” Kuchar added. “The tough thing and the great thing about golf is there’s so many facets of the game, so many pieces that need to come together to play well. It feels like everything’s coming along on good form now.”

Dustin Johnson slipped four spots after an insipid second round that produced 71. Johnson is tied with Harold Varner III, Jon Curran and Kevin Streelman at nine under through 36 holes.

Rory McIlroy made a move too, firing a 66 fueled by eight birdies. But all his gains came over the first eleven holes, before he played out the final seven in even par.

“It sort of fizzled out at the end,” McIlroy said. “I thought it had the potential to be something quite special after 11 holes, and then I missed something where you just can’t miss it on 12. Then I made one birdie on the way in. But I felt like after 11 that it could have been at least a 63 or 64.”

“This is the sort of round I needed going into tomorrow,” McIlroy said. “We’re teeing off, and the leaders are 11 shots ahead of me. So at least I made a little ground up on them. To be five back going into the weekend isn’t bad.”