Grouped Together, Xander Schauffele and Matt Fitzpatrick Fed Off Each Other to Get in Contention at Memorial
DUBLIN, Ohio – Matthew Fitzpatrick came to Dublin knowing he doesn’t play Muirfield Village very well. He wasn’t necessarily looking forward to the week of the Memorial Tournament.
On the other hand, after a missed cut in his maiden appearance in 2018, Xander Schauffele has never finished outside of the top 20 in his last four appearances, making his 5-over 77 on Thursday unusual.
Paired together along with Justin Thomas, Fitzpatrick shot a 4-over 76 on Thursday and Schauffele struggled, so both knew Friday’s second round would be like swimming upstream to make the cut, much less become part of the competition to get a special handshake from founder Jack Nicklaus at the 18th green on Sunday.
Schauffele had some gastrointestinal issues on Thursday and while he wasn’t specific about the ailment, he was precise in how the medication he took affected him during a round with three birdies, four bogeys and a quadruple bogey 7 on the par-3 12th that included two penalty drops. That hole has a lot of Augusta National 12th in it, including a pond in front of the green.
“It was kind of a weird thing when I woke up Thursday morning, fortunately, had a late tee time so was able to medicate up,” Schauffele said of his odd preparation for his first round. “Got good sleep last night and then felt a little bit better and so less meds and kind of felt it in my hands a little bit more the club and the putter and all so it was nice to sort of put a nice round together. I was really bummed out yesterday because I was actually playing really well so to come in yesterday and shoot five-over was a big bummer.”
For Fitzpatrick, sickness wasn’t the issue, with six birdies on the card, the defending U.S. Open champion had to shake his head when he signed for a 76, mainly due to a triple bogey on the par-4 9th hole and a double bogey on the par-3 12th, which turned his round in a decidedly negative direction.
“I think Billy (Foster) kind of summed it up best for me after the round,” Fitzpatrick said of his caddie. “When I asked him, what do you think? Have you got any words of wisdom after that performance? And he said, ‘I don't think you played that bad, I just think it took as many as you could on a couple of holes.”
So, with Thomas struggling for 36 holes, it was Fitzpatrick and Schauffele feeding off each other on Friday, as they combined to shoot 10-under-par, Fitzpatrick with a 4-under 68 and Schauffele a 6-under 66. They rang up one eagle and 11 birdies in the process.
Both are now in contention on a golf course that can give up the odd low score but is punishing if you try to fake your way around it. Both players did their jobs on Friday.
“It's important to see the ball go in the hole, it's important to know that, especially after the way we played yesterday, it’s important to know that someone can make some putts and get the job done so it was nice to see those birdies go in,” Schauffele said of he and Fitzpatrick pushing each other along.
With Fitzpatrick at even par and Schauffele at 1 under, 6 shots off Justin Suh’s lead, both are in contention with a solid weekend. Historically, neither have had low weekend rounds at Memorial, with only Fitzpatrick recording a round in the 60s – a 68 in the final round of 2020.
It’s a round that Fitzpatrick still remembers, making the cut on the number at 3 over and then putting together a solid final round to finish third.
“I think I've only made the cut three times,” Fitzpatrick said. “It's not particularly a golf course that I feel like I've played well before, so today was a really nice round for me. I felt I took a lot of positives from it. It's like, you can play well around here and hopefully use that going into the weekend.”