Lingmerth Moves to Top of Memorial


David Lingmerth followed up his opening 5-under 67 with a 65 to take the halfway lead at the Memorial Tournament. The $6.2 million PGA Tour event got underway Thursday at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio.

Lingmerth, a 27-year-old Swede with a victory at the 2013 Humana Challenge, carded seven birdies Friday to reach 12-under 132, a stroke ahead of Jason Dufner, who carded a 67, and two in front of England's Andy Sullivan (64) and Tacoma native Ryan Moore (67).

Remarkably, Lingmerth has ties to Ohio. His uncle, Goran Lingmerth, kicked field goals for the Cleveland Browns in 1987. His uncle later became a Ping rep and gave his nephew his first set of clubs.

"I got my first set of clubs from him when I was 12. If I didn't have him, I might not even have played golf," David Lingmerth told PGATour.com. "He's pushed me and tried to get me to the mindset that I can do whatever I set my mind to. So he's been a good inspiration in so many ways. When I moved over here for college, he was like my second dad."

Dufner, who divorced his wife of two and a half years in early 2015, Amanda Boyd, had a wild round involving four birdies, two straight eagles - including a hole-in-one on the par-3 16th, a bogey and a double-bogey on the 12th when he found water off the tee on the par-3. The 2013 PGA champion hadn't had a top-10 finish in the past year until a tie for eighth at last week's AT&T Byron Nelson.

"I'm hitting it really good," said Dufner, who spoke Friday only to Ohio-based reporters. "I'm having enough good holes, good shots, to offset the mistakes I've had."

Dufner's ace came when his 6-iron tee shot found the cup at the 201-yard 16th.

Three strokes behind Lingmerth are defending champion Hideki Matsuyama, Italy's Francesco Molinari (67), England's Justin Rose (67) and Americans Jim Furyk (66) and Brendon Todd (68). Matsuyama was tied before the start of second round with Bo Van Pelt after opening with a 64 but shot 71 to fall back.

"Today was back to the same old grind. So it's right to the practice range right now and see if I can get it figured out. I'll be there a while," Matsuyama said through a translator.

Van Pelt posted a 72 into a tie for 10th at 136.

Other scores included a 70 by the top-ranked player in the field, No. 2 Jordan Spieth, getting the 21-year-old to 138, while five-time Memorial champion Tiger Woods rebounded from a 73 with a 71 to make the 36-hole cut of 1-under 143.

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