Ludvig Aaberg and Viktor Hovland are vying for the title at the Memorial Tournament, but they will have to overtake Scottie Scheffler to do so.
Hovlan carded a three-under 69 for the second straight day to move three strokes behind Scheffler at six under, while Oberg shot an even-par 72 on Friday to stay five strokes back at four under.
Scheffler shot a 4-under 68 to move to 9-under and stay in firm control of the tournament.
The conditions at Muirfield Village were tough, with the wind making things difficult for many players, but the Ryder Cup partners kept their focus to avoid falling off the leaderboard.
Hovland’s Record Five birdies He then had two bogeys in the second round, and while he may have finished with the same score, the 26-year-old felt the course was much tougher on Friday.
“The greens were firm today, so that just makes them feel a little smaller,” Hovland said.
“The gusty and steady winds make it even more difficult. I was hitting the fairways well, but it was still a lot of thinking and guessing until I got on the green. It’s hard to get close to the hole, but I was able to do that today.”
Hovlan led the field in greens in regulation on Friday with a 16-of-18 percentage and was fourth in driver accuracy with 12-of-14 hitting the fairway, a big improvement from Thursday’s round in which he hit just nine fairways and 10 greens.
“I thought there were some difficult pins. [on Thursday]”But we had some good things today,” Hovland said.
“I’m happy I played well today. I hit a lot better shots than I have in the past. I missed a couple of shots that were short, but I still played well anyway.”
Oberg had to work hard throughout his round, recording two birdies and two bogeys, but his 14 pars were a huge accomplishment and kept him at the top of the leaderboard.
The former Texas Tech Red Raiders player felt his game had improved, even if the scorecards didn’t show it.
“We played with more intensity and the scores weren’t the same, but we still felt like we were a little bit better,” Oberg said.
“I’m happy with the result. It was a tough day with a lot of ups and downs and bunker shots and stuff like that, so overall I’m just looking forward to the next few days.”
One of his best moments of the day came on the par-4 17th hole, when he made an incredible hole-out from a greenside bunker for birdie.
Oberg played alongside Scheffler the first two days but wasn’t intimidated. Most players know that the two-time Masters champion is a great player on the course.
“I can only control myself and what I can control,” Oberg said.
“He’s playing really good golf and it doesn’t look that hard when he’s playing, but all I can do is try to keep up with him and not get too far behind.”
Oberg and Hovland are within reach, especially with 36 holes to go. If Hovland keeps up this form, he could win back-to-back Memorial Tournaments. But the course is only going to get tougher as he cuts into these players. Chasing Scheffler will also add to the overall difficulty.
Savannah Lee Richardson is a Golf Staff Writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow us for more golf articles. Follow You can follow us on all major social platforms. You can also follow us on Twitter Follow Instagram: @savannah_leigh_sports
