Watson’s caddie gets an assist on eagle

Asked for a description of his second eagle in as many days at Muirfield Village Golf Club, Bubba Watson feigned ignorance for a moment. “I blacked out,” he quipped. The truth is that it came after a disagreement with his caddie, Ted Scott, on the par-5 fifth hole.

“I wanted to hit driver and my caddie told me no, so I hit a 3-wood,” Watson said. “I was mad at him.”

Why did Watson want to use his driver?

“Because there’s nowhere to hit it,” he said. “I mean, where do you hit it? So I just said, ‘Let’s hit driver and try to rope-hook it and get lucky.’ ”

But Scott prevailed. Watson hit his tee shot 280 yards and then faded a 4-iron to within 10 feet of the cup and made the putt.

If you think that settled the debate about who was right about club selection, guess again. Watson and Scott are known for their backand-forth banter, and that continued after the hole.

“After I made eagle, (Scott) said, ‘Do you still want to hit driver?’ ” Watson said. “I said, ‘Well, I had to play the last two shots perfect to make up for your mistake off the tee.’ ”

On Thursday, Watson eagled the par-5 No. 7 hole to allow him to shoot a 1-under 71. On Friday, Watson had five birdies to go with the eagle, including a chip-in from 55 yards out of the rough on No. 18.

But Watson, who started on the back nine, might have been most pleased with an up-anddown from the bunker at No. 9 to finish a 67 and keep him within striking distance of the leaders at 6 under.

Watson finished tied for sixth last year at the Memorial. His best finish was third place in 2014.

“I’m very happy, obviously, to be under par two days in a row at this golf course, with the conditions we had (Thursday),” Watson said. “The golf course is softer than normal, but I’ve limited my mistakes.

“It’s a good position. It’s always nice to have a shot at it and always nice to be close to the lead, just so if you do catch fire, you can move up real fast.”