Rose avoids victory hangover with solid round

Justin Rose enjoyed spending time with his family in Orlando, Florida, this week after winning the Fort Worth Invitational, but said that stop cost him a half-day of preparation for the Memorial Tournament.

As a result, Rose felt like he was “struggling to catch my breath” heading into Thursday’s opening round, which he ended 1-under par. Feeling refreshed Friday, he shot a 6-under 66 that included seven birdies, four of them on the first six holes.

“That was a big round for me,” said Rose, who’s four strokes behind the leaders entering the third round. “I got off to a good start. (Thursday), I felt like I played really well actually and got nothing out of the round. Today, I wasn’t as good tee to green, but got a lot out of the round.”

Rose managed par on his last two holes despite having to play out of the rough on No. 17 and hitting bunker on his first two swings on 18. With Tiger Woods in his threesome, Rose said he was “trying to feed off him a little bit.”

Rose’s 1-under the final six holes was two strokes shy of his goal for after the weather delay. Still, he has a chance to win the tournament entering the weekend and has avoided an emotional letdown on the heels of Sunday’s victory. Rory Sabbatini had reason to smile on Friday at the Memorial. He followed up his 1-over-par in the first round with a 6-under 66 in the second to put himself in contention.

“This is a big tournament. It feels like a big tournament,” Rose said. “It’s not too hard to pick yourself up after last week.”

Rose, the world’s secondranked player, said he hopes his triumph at Fort Worth doesn’t “define my season,” adding, “as much as I enjoyed last week, I’ve still got my eye on some other prizes.”

After registering three bogeys and a doublebogey during his final nine holes Thursday to finish 1-over par, Rory Sabbatini birdied four of his first five holes Friday on his way to

shooting a 6-under 66.

“I had a very disappointing back nine (Thursday), so I came in with a lot of frustration built up,” Sabbatini said. “So I was coming out to attack the course today. … I played aggressive golf.”

Sabbatini said he played 4½ years with nerve pain in his neck because of a severely herniated disk in the C6-C7 spinal segment, and that caused him to be “more mechanical” with his swing to compensate. Now, he’s just started to “get back to my true swing.”

doesn’t have all the answers to his golf game.

After a promising first round collapsed under a cluster of bogeys, he was 1-over par in the first eight holes Friday before getting birdies on seven of the last 10 to shoot 66 and finish the round at 4 under.

“If I knew the answer, I would share it with you,” Mickelson said. “I don’t know the difference. You just keep trying.”

Former Ohio State standout Ryan Armour is playing at the Memorial for the second time, and his experience so far has been much better than in 2017. Last year, the 42-year-old Akron native didn’t come close to making the cut after shooting a pair of 76s. This year, he’s 6-under par after shooting 70 Friday.

His college coach, Jim Brown, was among the spectators.

“It was pretty cool seeing him follow me around,” Armour said. “I wish I could have done this 15 or 18 years ago, but hey, whatever happens, happens.”

Luke List was even-par for the tournament after a double bogey on the fourth hole Friday. He proceeded to go 8-under par over the next 11 holes, starting with an eagle on No. 5, and finished the second round at 6 under.

Meantime, Bryson DeChambeau posted six birdies while shooting 30 on the front nine Friday. His 67 for the round has him three strokes behind the leaders.

With back-to-back rounds of 4-under 68, Wesley Bryan is having a solid debut at the Memorial. After success in 2016 and 2017, Bryan said his biggest challenge the past six months has been “managing expectations.”

“This game can beat you up in a heartbeat,” he said. “You can be really, really close and not see any results, and that can wear on you mentally.”