Friday at the 2025 Memorial was defined by rain as steady precipitation fell from the skies giving players an additional variable to weigh in the second round at Muirfield Village. Playing a softer golf course, competitors maneuvered through the par 72 in a more efficient fashion with Ben Griffin and Nick Taylor topping the leaderboard at 7 under by day’s end.

Both already winners this season, Griffin and Taylor spearhead a star-studded leaderboard that features only 11 players in red figures. While birdies have been hard to come by, bogeys have been difficult to keep off the scorecard with Taylor’s second-round 68 representing the only blemish-free performance of the week.

“It was a great round,” Taylor said. “The iron game was very, very sharp. Putting, made bunch of nice 5-, 6-footers on that back nine for par. For me, at this place, I need to be in the fairway. That’s everybody. But if I’m in the rough, it’s pretty much a chop out and try to get up-and-down with a wedge or something. So, keeping it in the fairway has been key.”

Chief among those chasing the men in pole position is world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who posted his second straight round 70 to stand at 4 under. The three-time major champion had it rolling early Friday but a few missed putts and made a couple mistakes, positioning him behind only three players with Akshay Bhatia in between Scheffler and the leaders at 5 under.

“I mean, the golf course is playing really long. It’s a very challenging golf course,” Scheffler said. “When the rough gets this wet, any time you hit it in the rough, the lies are going to be really bad and it’s going to be really challenging. So, it’s definitely important to keep the ball in play and try and stay dry.”

The round of the day went to Scheffler’s good friend, Sam Burns, who came out of the gates firing. Carding six birdies and an eagle, the American improved by 11 strokes from his first round and went from battling the cutline to battling for the title heading into the weekend.

Burns is not the only notable name to make a move. Russell Henley fired a sensational 68 in the heaviest of rains while Jordan Spieth and Xander Schauffele drafted off each other late in the day into strong finishes to climb onto the first page of the leaderboard at 3 under and 2 under, respectively.

“[I’m] in a nice place,” Spieth said. “It’s nice because this course, you can’t fake it. It tells you where you are. I’ve been feeling like I’ve been pretty close, and I just want to stay the course, and it’s nice to get rewarded the last couple holes there with some really nice shots, looking at the weekend with some heavy wind tomorrow, and know that I have a chance.”

The leaders

T1. Ben Griffin, Nick Taylor (-7): Everyone knows the saying by now: It is tough to back up a low round with another one. That was the task Griffin faced Friday. While the putts were not dropping like they were Thursday, the two-time PGA Tour winner took on the adversity head on like a champion. Using his new-found speed to get out of the thick rough, in which he found himself often, Griffin connected on 13 greens in regulation and gutted his way to an even-par round that featured just one birdie offset by one bogey.

“I think everyone would probably say it was kind of a grind,” Griffin said. “Fortunately, having a later tee time, I didn’t have to battle the elements quite as much as some of the early groups. Definitely had some heavier rain at times, but it looked like the early guys had more the tougher draw. So, for me, I was fortunate to try to take advantage of some of that. I didn’t really make a lot of birdies but had a really steady round, and yeah, just the one hiccup on 10.

“But a day like today when it’s really wet, I think hitting it in the rough is just even more penal. The ball just kind of goes straight to the bottom with the moisture, and then when there’s moisture, it’s harder to get to the ball down in the rough. So, I had some tricky lies. I got some good breaks on a couple holes where I was in the rough and was able to get it up to the green. So, all in all, coming off of yesterday where I made just about everything I looked at, you can’t do that every day when you’re playing golf. So, I’ll take it, and I’m excited to kind of keep the pedal down on the weekend.”

Other contenders

3. Akshay Bhatia (-5)

4. Scottie Scheffler (-4)

T5. Jordan Spieth, Sam Burns, Shane Lowry (-3)

T8. Tom Hoge, Russell Henley, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele (-2)

One day after squeezing everything out of his round en route to carding a 70, Scheffler left some out while achieving an identical score. After lamenting Thursday that he did not give himself enough scoring chances, the world No. 1 gave himself plenty of opportunities Friday.

Hitting every single green in regulation on his front nine, Scheffler signed for three early birdies before the putter fell flat. He missed chances inside 10 feet on Nos. 6-7 before a wayward effort from inside 5 feet came calling on the par-3 8th.

Scheffler was not immune from a couple head-scratching moments on his back nine, either — a double bogey on No. 10 and a water ball with a wedge in hand on No. 14 — but he hung tough. A couple of big up-and-downs to end his round made sure he remained on the first page of the leaderboard heading into the weekend where he will look to join Tiger Woods as the only player to successfully defend his title at Jack’s place.

“If I holed a few more putts, probably would have been a little bit of a different score,” Scheffler said. “I felt like I was hitting my lines out there and did a good job of — hit lot more fairways today. Definitely felt better with my ball striking. So overall, 2 under in these conditions was definitely not a bad score today.”

J.T. bounces back into weekend

Justin Thomas was one of two players to not break 80 on Thursday, and he was one of 11 to break 70 on Friday. Without a score in the 70s through the first two rounds, the two-time major champion was able to sneak his way into the weekend at 5 over thanks to a bounce-back performance in the second round.

Thomas is no stranger to the highs and lows of golf as just a few months ago he went 78-63 at the Players Championship to make the cut. While his 11-stroke improvement at Muirfield Village was not quite that from TPC Sawgrass, his play Friday assured himself of a place on the tee sheet over the weekend preventing him from going home early for the second straight tournament.

2025 Memorial Tournament updated odds, picks

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Scottie Scheffler: 7/4

Ben Griffin: 4-1

Nick Taylor: 6-1

Akshay Bhatia: 11-1

Collin Morikawa: 14-1

Xander Schauffele: 14-1

Shane Lowry: 16-1

Jordan Spieth: 16-1

Sam Burns: 22-1

Russell Henley: 30-1

That Scheffler number may have a minus sign in front of it only a few holes into his third round. He struck the ball beautifully Friday, and if he tightens things up from inside 10 feet on the greens, this may be curtains. Spieth possesses an eerily similar statistical profile through two rounds and finished with a flurry late Friday. If he can maintain that momentum — especially with the putter — he has life at 16-1.