Memorial Tournament R2 scores: Disappointing Rory McIlroy miles off the pace

Masters champion Rory McIlroy finds himself 10 strokes adrift of the lead at the halfway stage of the 2026 Memorial Tournament. 

McIlroy, 37, entered the penultimate signature event of the PGA Tour season with hopes of finally entering the winner's circle at the Jack Nicklaus designed Muirfield Village. 

But after 36 holes on his 14th appearance here, the Northern Irishman trails America's J.T. Poston by 10 strokes. 

McIlroy opened the $20m tournament with a one-under 71 but could only manage an a 74 on Friday with a card that included three birdies, three bogeys and one double bogey. 

Poston fired a simply outstanding 65 to reach nine-under overall, one clear of his compatriot Ryan Gerard. 

England's Tommy Fleetwood, Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele and recent PGA Championship winner Aaron Rai are also inside the top 10. 

World number one, Scottie Scheffler, is in a share of 20th on one-over. 

Scheffler's second round included a shank from the greenside bunker on the fifth hole, yet he was still able to make par. 

Despite being a 72-player field, the Memorial Tournament carried a 36-hole cut. 

Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and Robert MacIntyre were among the big names to miss the cut. 

For Poston, he has endured a forgettable season this far, with four missed cuts and no top-20 finishes. 

"I feel like the game's starting to get there," he said. "It's tough. 

"I mean, there's such a fine line between playing well and having some good results out here and not feeling like you're playing bad, but finishing 30th, 40th, 50th place. 

"I think I saw Jason Day said something similar maybe yesterday, where he feels like he's playing well three out of four rounds and I feel like that resonated pretty well with me. 

"I feel like I've had a lot of weeks where I've just had a tough nine-hole stretch and that was kind of what kept me from having a good result."

He added: "We all want to win every week, and when you don't win, you want to have a chance at least and have a high finish and kind of take some momentum going into next week. 

"When the results aren't there, it's easy to start questioning stuff, having doubts, doubting your game, your golf swing. 

"You start making changes, and I've certainly lived that this first few, I guess, five months of the season.

"But I've also played this game long enough, been out here long enough to know that these stretches come. 

"It's not the first time I've had these ruts.

"It's maybe the longest one that I've experienced so far, but have always come out the other side of it. 

"So [I have] just tried to stick to what I'm doing and play good golf."