JT Poston takes Memorial Tournament lead as McIlroy and Scheffler struggle

JT Poston shot a superb seven-under-par 65 to take a one-shot lead at the Memorial Tournament in Ohio as world number one and two Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy struggled in windy conditions.

The 31-year-old American made light work of a tricky Muirfield Village layout, finishing four strokes better than anyone else in the field on Friday.

In stark contrast, the game’s two highest-ranked players endured miserable afternoons on the notoriously fast putting surfaces.

McIlroy falters on the greens

The Northern Irishman signed for a two-over-par 74 to leave himself 10 shots adrift of the lead heading into the weekend.

His round was compounded by a disastrous double-bogey at the par-four 13th, where he required five shots to hole out from just 112 yards.

Defending champion battles through

Scheffler sits alongside his European rival at 10 strokes back, keeping his faint hopes of a third successive victory at this event alive with a level-par 72.

The reigning champion recorded three successive bogeys from the eighth hole and remarkably shanked a bunker shot at the fifth.

“Overall it was a tough day, I felt I could have shot 90. I may be a lot of things but I’m not a quitter.”

Scottie Scheffler

Fleetwood slips from the summit

First-round joint leader Tommy Fleetwood dropped to fourth place and five shots off the pace after carding a one-over 73.

“It was pretty brutal, actually. I still think I got a good score out of that today.”

Tommy Fleetwood

The Englishman felt he was unfairly punished with bogeys on the first and sixth holes despite hitting perfectly acceptable approach shots.

US PGA champion Aaron Rai and fellow Englishman Alex Fitzpatrick currently share ninth place on one under par after rounds of 70 and 71 respectively.

They are joined on the leaderboard by Ireland’s Shane Lowry, who mixed five birdies with two double-bogeys in an erratic second-round display.