Finau and Palmer Share the Second Round Lead at Memorial

Tony Finau hasn’t won a PGA Tour event since 2016, but after two rounds of the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, he is in prime position heading into the weekend.

Finau fired a 3-under round of 69 to get to 9-under for the tournament. Finau is tied with Ryan Palmer, who shot a 4-under 68 to get to 9-under.

Finau has been working on increasing his swing speed and it has made a difference as he is pounding the ball off the tee. Last year the average swing speed on the tour was 170 miles per hour. Finau averaged about 180 mph. At the Memorial, he has gone over 185 mph 8 times and surpassed 190 mph 3 times. His best drive this week is 368 mph on a 93 mph swing, reported the PGA.

“I've let a few go so far this week, and it's been pretty fun for me to kind of reach back more so than I have in the past and kind of open up and hit some,” Finau said, reported the PGA. “I don't really ever go out at 100 percent when I'm playing tournament golf, but I would say this is the first time I've had some close to about 90 percent these first couple days. I rarely even swing probably over 80, 85 percent because I don't feel like I have enough control over the golf ball. But after putting some extra time into that part of my game last week with my coach, I decided to let a few fly these first couple days, and it's been pretty fun for the most part and going pretty straight.”

Jon Rahm is one shot back at 8-under after carding a 5-under par 67. Gary Woodland, Chez Reavie, and Luke List are three shots back at 6-under after two rounds. Jason Day is 5-under after firing a 66.

Justin Thomas shot himself back into the tournament with a 5-under 67 to get to 3-under. Rory McIlroy scored even par Friday and is 20-under for the tournament.

Tiger Woods had a rough day shooting a 4-over 76 to fall to 3-over for the tournament. But he made the cut on the number, as did Brooks Koepka.

Some big names are going home including Bryson DeChambeau, who won here in 2018 and has been the hottest player on tour. DeChambeau is going home the weekend at 5-over. Justin Rose and Rickie Fowler also missed the cut at 5-over.

Webb Simpson missed the cut at 6-over while Hideki Matsuyama finished 10-over. Bu the shocker of the tournament is Dustin Johnson, who shot back to back 80s and is 16-over. Wow.