Dublin (USA), May 31 (IANS) Akshay Bhatia, looking for a PGA Tour win for the third year running, put himself in a very good position at the halfway stage of the Memorial Tournament. Bhatia, who was T-7 after the first round, 2-under 70, added a 3-under 69 to get to 5-under, sole third place.

Bhatia, who had five Top-10 finishes between November and March, has, however, not been able to finish that close since his third place at the Players. He was T-2 at Dunlop Phoenix, 4th at Hero World Challenge, T-9 at Genesis, 9th at Mexico, and T-3 at the Players tournament. Has since then cooled off with two missed cuts and a best of T-22 at Charles Schwab last week.

The World No. 31 had five birdies against two bogeys, which came in the middle of the round on the ninth and the 11th. Two of his birdies came with putts of 28 feet on the third and a 22-footer on the 12th.

He had a good all-round showing, finding 10 of the 14 fairways and 12 of the Greens in regulation, and when he did miss the fairway or the green, he scrambled well. Bhatia trailed the in-form Ben Griffin (65-72) and Nick Taylor (69-66), who are both co-leading at 7-under.

Indian-American Sahith Theegala, coming back to action after a week’s absence due to neck strain, missed the cut with rounds of 74-77 as only Top-50 and ties made the weekend from a field of 72. Also missing out was Indo-British Aaron Rai (79-74). Other big names missing out were Brian Harman and Lucas Glover,

Taylor had a great day as he putted for a birdie on all but one hole and kept bogeys off his card. He had a 4-under 68 that gave him a share of the lead with Griffin. Taylor faced the worst of the weather, a rain that wouldn’t quit.

Griffin caught a slight break in the afternoon when the rain relented and Muirfield Village was soft. He had 16 pars, a birdie, and a bogey for a 72 that put him at 7-under 137 with Taylor.

While Bhatia was two shots behind the leaders, he was followed by defending champion Scottie Scheffler, who always seems to be lurking, and his 70 was great in the kind of serious rain he played in. Scheffler missed a trio of birdie chances inside 10 feet on the front nine and also hit a wedge into the water on the 14th for a bogey, yet he was always somewhere close.

Sam Burns played in the tougher morning conditions and shot 65, 11 shots better than his opening round, to get within four of the lead at -5. Justin Rose holed out from the fairway on No. 3 for eagle and made six birdies on the back in a 66 and is T-12. He shot 78 in the first round.

Signature Events normally do not have a cut, but player-hosted events — Jack Nicklaus in this case — have a 36-hole format with Top-50 and ties moving into the final two rounds. The cut fell at 5-over 149, and that included Hideki Matsuyama. Only 11 players remained under par.

–IANS

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