Tour stars shocked by 'cruel' test at Memorial: 'It was just crazy'

Friday at the 2026 Memorial Tournament saw a lot of people moving up and down the leaderboard. The hot, ever-changing winds, deep greens and lush greens at Muirfield Village posted high scores.

The treacherous conditions inspired adjectives like “brutal” and “crazy” from the likes of PGA Tour stars Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Thomas (who needed a hug from Rory McIlroy after the round), while World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler left feeling like he would shoot “about 90.”

Even Ryan Gerard, who shot a 69 and finished in second place, said of Muirfield Village, “Mentally and physically this place is a beast.”

Justin Thomas on Memorial Kill: 'Hardest round of golf I remember'

While JT Poston, somehow, somehow, managed to shoot an incredible 65 in Round 2 that gave him a one-shot lead, many stars were just happy to make the cut given the conditions on Friday. Jason Day (76), Jordan Spieth (79) and Rickie Fowler (82) all failed to achieve Saturday tee times.

You can count Thomas among those who were happy to survive and play on the weekend. After finishing his round, Thomas told reporters that it might be the “hardest round of golf” he's ever played, citing major tournaments.

“I can't put into words how hard that was. That was the hardest round of golf I can remember, big, not big, it was crazy,” said a tired Thomas on Friday evening in Ohio. “The wind wasn't really the way it was supposed to be or the kind of forecast it was going to be for part of the day and that's usually not something that happens when it's 25, 20, 25 miles an hour. It was just tough. You don't bail on half your shots here so you have a lot of shots on the water, well, even if it hurts I hope.' everybody's going through the same thing, but, man, it was brutal.”

He added: “I'm sure it worries all of us.”

Thomas also stated that although he is happy that he got it out, he is also happy that he is not playing next week, because the brutal conditions made him lose confidence.

“I mean, if I was playing next week, no, this would be really bad. If I was tired, if I was tired, I probably wouldn't have a lot of confidence in my game. I probably wouldn't want to do anything next week. So I'm very happy that I have a week off next week,” said Thomas.

Thomas finished with a three-over 75, leaving him five over and T47 heading into Memorial Day weekend. McIlroy finds himself at T19 after shooting a 74 on Friday.

The two stars played together on Friday, and the experience was so taxing, they skipped the post-round handshake and instead comforted each other with a hug after teeing off on the final green.

“It was a hug,” said Thomas. “We just looked at each other and I think we both, we were like, we need a hug. He probably saw that I needed one maybe more. It was a grind. It was different for him, but, yeah, we were just fighting there.”

Scottie Scheffler: 'I felt like I was going to shoot about 90 today'

If there's one quote that sums up Friday's round at this week's Memorial, it's this one from Scheffler, the World No. 1 and two-time defending champion.

“I felt like I was going to shoot about 90 today,” Scheffler said Friday evening. To be fair, Scheffler was talking more about how bad he was playing, than the difficult playing conditions.

“I don't know if you were at the course, but I would be hard-pressed to find out that you were out to watch my team,” Scheffler joked. “I felt like I got my first birdie putt of the day on the 13th hole. I probably had it on 11, but I couldn't imagine hitting more than six or seven greens today.”

He added that the tough test presented by Muirfield Village exacerbates poor shootings.

“So on this golf course, with the bunkers that are difficult and deep, you have to hit the ball in the right places and for a long time today that was not the case for me.”

Yes, everything is related. Scheffler shot a 72-par 72 on Friday with three birdies. Only 13 players have better scores in Round 2.

Scheffler beat Fleetwood by just one shot on Friday, but Fleetwood sounded like Thomas when explaining the circumstances.

“Yeah, it was really brutal. It was tough,” Fleetwood said Friday. “If you were to process the wind to do anything, and on top of that, it was so strong, the greens were clear now. It was difficult.”

Fleetwood explained that sometimes the wind was so tricky, he and teammate Cameron Young found themselves playing very different yards in the same areas.

“If you're in two ball so you can see what the other player is doing and what he likes, the 10th hole today… Cameron hit an 8-iron from where he was in the fairway and it carried 160 yards. I hit the sword and carried it 160 yards to the hole, what a minute? And then 12, Cam was playing it, I heard him 1 shot well and I heard him 1 play it. I sniffed the green and I played it a little three feet, and it looked like it was struggling at one point, but that's what the wind does, it was spinning a lot.

As for the 65-year-old Poston in the face of ferocious winds, Fleetwood said, “That's amazing… how many people are different this afternoon?”

Just 13 all day, Tommy.

Going into Saturday's third round at the Memorial, there are only 11 players below the division.