Kyle Stanley has two victories on the PGA Tour, while 19-year-old Joaquin Niemann of Chile is searching for his first.
Stanley made five birdies on his first seven holes on his way to a 6-under-par 66, while Niemann (pictured) birdied three of the last five holes in a 68 that left the two tied for the lead midway through the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio.
“On the greens I’ve been a little streaky, so we made a few adjustments coming into this week, just mostly kind of how I’m reading the greens,” said Stanley, whose victories came in the 2012 Waste Management Phoenix Open, 2017 Quicken Loans National.
“I haven’t looked at a greens book this week, which is something I’ve been doing pretty much on every putt this whole year. We’re just going to continue to work on my putting and maybe change a few things up and overall, while I feel like it’s been OK and fairly consistent, there’s always room to improve.”
Stanley, who has posted three top-10 finishes and eight top-25s this season, and Niemann recorded 36-hole scores of 11-under 133.
Niemann, the top-ranked amateur in the world until turning pro earlier this season, is trying to join “Lighthorse Harry” Cooper (1923 Galveston Open) and Ralph Guldahl (1931 Santa Monica Open) and Jordan Spieth (2012 John Deere Classic) as the only players to win on the PGA Tour at the age of 19.
“It feels really nice to be on top of the leaderboard,” said Niemann, who tied for sixth in the Valero Texas Open and tied for eighth in the Fort Worth Invitational. “It does feel really nice for tomorrow and (I’ll) try to keep the same strategy and same game.
“I made some good putts in my first holes. But after that I make a good birdie on the par-5, on both par-5s, it gave me a lot of confidence and a lot of hope for what’s going to come for the rest of the round.
“I watch leaderboards, leaderboards everywhere, and I just wanted to make birdie on the last hole (which he did from eight feet) to be in the top.”
Byeong Hun An of South Korea birdied his last three holes to shoot 66 and is two strokes back in third, while eighth-ranked Jason Day of Australia posted a second 68 and is three behind in a tie for fourth with first-round co-leader and 10th-ranked Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, the 2014 Memorial champion (71) of Japan, Wesley Bryan (68), J.B. Holmes (66) and Bryson DeChambeau (69) of Clovis.
Third-ranked Justin Rose of England, who won the tournament in 2010, totaled 66 and is one more down in a tie for ninth with Henrik Stenson (66) of Sweden, Patrick Cantlay (69) of Los Alamitos and UCLA, Bryson DeChambeau (67) of Clovis, Beau Hossler (71) of Rancho Santa Margarita and Gary Woodland (68).
Second-ranked Dustin Johnson is tied for 14th after a 66, while Tiger Woods, who has won the tournament a record five times, carded a 67 and is tied for 24th, and Phil Mickelson is tied for 34th after a 66.
Top-ranked Justin Thomas and seventh-ranked Rickie Fowler of Murrieta are in a tie for 44th following 66s, and sixth-ranked Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland is tied for 69th after a 70.
Fifth-ranked Jordan Spieth finished at 72 to miss the cut by three strokes, and defending champion Jason Dufner missed the weekend by four following a 74.
For complete results, visit https://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard.html.
