The U.S. Open started a week early in Dublin, Ohio.
“This is probably more U.S. Open-like than the U.S. Open’s going to be next week (at Pinehurst No. 2),” Rory McIlroy said.
Jackson Koivun didn’t mince words in describing Muirfield Village Golf Club on Friday.
“I think today is probably the hardest golf conditions and course I ever played,” said Koivin, who shot 4-over 76 to make the cut by one.
Koivun, 19, who just finished his freshman year at Auburn by winning the Haskins Award and made his debut in a PGA Tour event this week as the Division I winner of the Jack Nicklaus Award, may be new to playing in the big leagues but he wasn’t alone in his assessment of how difficult Jack’s Place played.
“It’s always tough out here at Memorial, but today was extra tough,” Keegan Bradley, 38, said. “It’s one of the best rounds I’ve played all year.”
“Anything under par I think is a good score,” McIlroy added. Indeed, the field average in the second round was 73.221, the second-highest in a single round in a non-major on Tour this season behind only the third round at Torrey Pines South Course during the Farmers Insurance Open.
What made Muirfield so tough?
“The wind, the rough, the greens are firming up. It’s a real test out there,” Bradley said. “It’s tough.”
Adam Hadwin, the overnight leader, shot even-par 72 and called Muirfield Village “a tricky place to play.”
“There’s so many shots where you have to be spot on and when you’re playing, whether it’s a 10-mile-an-hour gust or a 20-mile-an-hour gust you’re not sure, you kind of have to pick and hope you pick at the right time,” Hadwin said.
Gusty winds wreaked havoc and made approach shots a guessing game.
“I’ll be shocked if any other player said it was anything other than a guess,” Hadwin said. “I mean, that’s all we’re doing, it’s just educated guessing, really. You try and control the ball flight to limit the amount the wind will affect it, that’s probably one of the biggest things that we can do out here…You’re tossing up a prayer hoping that you picked right in a lot of cases.”
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Most concerning for the field is the general consensus that the course is only going to get harder.
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