Collin Morikawa Stays Near Lead, Max Homa Falters

Collin Morikawa will enter the weekend at the Memorial Tournament tied for eighth place, but only after suffering a pair of double bogeys over the final four holes Friday at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio.

The world’s fourth-ranked player, who began the day in second place, wound up with a 3-over 75 in the second round and is five strokes off the pace at minus-2.

Things went worse for three other former Golden Bears at the Memorial:

— Max Homa, who shot a 4-under 68 on Thursday, had two double-bogeys in his second-round 79 that dropped him 30 spots to a tie for 31st place at plus-3.

— Michael Kim had the best round of the four Cal golfers on Friday, carding a 1-under 71 that kept barely him alive for the weekend with a two-day score of 5 over par that has him tied for 50th place.

— Byrong Hun An had a quadruple-bogey 9 on the way to a 9-over 81 and he completed the first two days at plus-11 — well beyond the cut line of plus-5.

First-round leader Ben Griffin shot an even-par 72 and now shares the top spot at minus-7 with Nick Taylor, who posted a 68 on Friday.

Akshay Bhatia is two strokes back at 5 under after a second-round 69. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, the tournament’s defending champion, shot a 70 for the second day in a row and is fourth at 4 under.

Morikawa began the day two strokes back of Griffin and pulled even when he made birdies on Nos. 2 and 3. He lost those two strokes with bogeys on 7 and 10 and things hadn’t yet gone sideways.

Morikawa sandwiched double bogeys on Nos. 15 and 17 around a birdie on the 16th that left him in a four-way tie for eighth place.

Homa, whose 68 on Thursday was an encouraging sign after more than a year of struggles, managed just one birdie in the second round. His troubles elsewhere left him with a score nine strokes worse than the day before. He is 10 strokes behind Griffin and Taylor.

Kim played his front nine in 1 under par before a back nine with three birdies and three bogeys. He slipped into the weekend after the cut line was ultimately adjusted to 5 over.

An wound up second-to-last among all players who completed two rounds. His two birdies were swallowed up by five bogeys, a double bogey on No. 18 and his ghastly 9 on the par-5 11th hole.

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