World No. 4 Falls from Contention After Difficult Finish at Muirfield Village

DUBLIN, Ohio — Collin Morikawa was cruising through Friday’s second round at the Memorial Tournament, sitting near the top of the leaderboard and looking poised to challenge for the lead heading into the weekend. Then the closing stretch at Muirfield Village showed its teeth.

The world No. 4, who began the day in second place just two shots behind leader Ben Griffin, suffered a painful collapse over his final four holes. Double bogeys at the 15th and 17th holes, sandwiched around a birdie at 16, sent Morikawa tumbling down the leaderboard and into a tie for eighth place at 2-under par.

Morikawa’s 3-over 75 on Friday left him five strokes behind the leaders heading into the weekend, a disappointing turn after what had been a promising start to his round.

Early Promise Turns Sour

The two-time major champion had actually pulled even with Griffin early in his round, making birdies at the 2nd and 3rd holes to reach 5-under for the tournament. But bogeys at the 7th and 10th holes brought him back to even for the day, setting up what would become a frustrating finish.

The late struggles overshadowed what had been solid play for most of the round and left Morikawa facing an uphill battle to contend for the title over the weekend.

Other Cal Bears Struggle

Morikawa wasn’t the only former Golden Bear to endure a difficult Friday at Muirfield Village. Max Homa, who shot an encouraging 4-under 68 in the opening round, completely unraveled with a second-round 79 that included two double bogeys. The disappointing performance dropped him 30 spots to a tie for 31st place at 3-over.

Michael Kim managed the best round among the Cal contingent on Friday, posting a 1-under 71 to barely make the weekend cut at 5-over par, tied for 50th place.

Byeong Hun An had the worst day of all, recording a quadruple-bogey 9 on the par-5 11th hole as part of a disastrous 9-over 81. His two-day total of 11-over left him well outside the cut line.

Weekend Leaderboard Set

At the top, Griffin managed an even-par 72 to maintain his position, now tied with Nick Taylor (68 on Friday) at 7-under par. Akshay Bhatia sits two shots back at 5-under after a second-round 69, while defending champion and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler posted his second consecutive 70 to sit at 4-under.

For Morikawa, the weekend represents a chance at redemption after Friday’s late-round struggles. But with five shots to make up and a loaded leaderboard ahead of him, he’ll need to rediscover the form that had him near the lead before those costly closing holes.