Seemingly out of nowhere, Rory Sabbatini rose to the top of the Memorial Tournament leaderboard just as Rory McIlroy was sent packing.
Sabbatini shot a 3-under 69 in the second round at Muirfield Village and holds a one-shot lead over Tiger Woods, Spencer Levin and Scott Stallings, who all sit at 5-under 139 through 36 holes.
Woods opened his second round with three birdies in his first six holes, and had a share of the lead until a double bogey at the par-3 12th. Birdies at Nos. 15 and 16 got him back into the mix and resulted in a round of 69.
McIlroy shot 7-over 79 on Day 2 en route to his third consecutive missed cut. The last time McIlroy missed three consecutive cuts was in 2008 – the Dubai Desert Classic, Malaysian Open and the Ballentine’s Championship. McIlroy heads to the FedEx St. Jude Classic next week as his last tune-up before his title defense at the U.S. Open.
Levin (72) and Stallings (73) played in the morning wave and endured a nearly two-hour weather delay mid-round.
Dustin Johnson, Adam Scott and Rickie fowler highlight a group at 2 under, while world No. 1 Luke Donald sits at even par headed into the weekend.
Masters champion Bubba Watson missed the cut for the first time all year while Fred Couples shot 74-73 and made the cut on the number at 3 over.