He’s 19-years-old but looks like an experienced veteran out there at Jack’s place.
Joaquin Niemann, the kid from Chile, holed a 10-foot birdie putt late Friday afternoon to grab a share of the 36-hole lead at The Memorial.
His 68 got him to 11-under par, tied with Kyle Stanley at the halfway mark of this prestigious event.
Here’s how things transpired after the first two rounds:
Tiger Woods made a move, his big shot coming when he holed a wedge shot for eagle at the par five 11th then hit one six-feet at the par three 12th. It was then that the horn sounded and a rain delay ensued. “It was absolutely the worst thing that could have happened to him,” host Jack Nicklaus said of the delay. “I wanted to hit that putt,” said Woods, who was building momentum when the delay hit. “I wanted to keep it going. I was in the rhythm of the round.” The delay killed that momentum. He came back and missed that short birdie putt then missed another one at 14. He made one at 15, missed a makeable birdie at 16 then blew a three-footer for par at the 17th. “I turned 62 or 63 into 67,” Woods lamented, as he worked on his putting late into the evening. At five-under, he’s tied for 24th.
Ben An was alone in third at nine-under with big names Jason Day and Hideki Matsuyama just three off the lead. They are two of five players at eight-under.
Justin Rose, who played with Woods, shot 66 and heads a group of five players at seven-under.
Dustin Johnson got himself within sniffing distance of the leaders. He shot 66 to post six-under.
World’s No. 1 Justin Thomas was in at three-under as was Rickie Fowler.
Biggest casualty of the cut, which came at even par, was No. 5 Jordan Spieth. His round of 75-72 left him three-over, not even close.
