For golfers in the Memorial Tournament, it already has been a difficult test in Dublin, Ohio.
It’s bound to become more challenging on the tournament’s final day.
J.T. Poston and Ryan Gerard share the lead after a weather-hampered partial third round Saturday.
They’re both at 9-under-par through five holes of the third round, which was suspended. That sets up a long day of play Sunday at Muirfield Village Golf Club.
“It’s a grind,” Gerard said at the tournament’s midway mark regarding the course. “Mentally and physically this place is a monster not only because it’s a big walk and I’m dealing with 9 million allergies or whatever they’re putting out there, the rough is thick, and I feel like every time you hit a golf ball that’s 50/50 it wants to kind of bounce into the rough and just, like, plop down into the nastiest stuff.”
Poston was the second-round leader and played Saturday’s five holes at even par. Gerd made up one stroke.
Sam Burns at 8 under and Eric Cole at 6 under hold the third and fourth spots.
Play is scheduled to resume at 7:30 a.m. Sunday. The fourth round will begin in late morning with players going off in threesomes from the first and 10th tees.
“I think this golf course is just demanding,” Burns said.
Poston has only two top-25 finishes this year — tied for 21st in the Valero Texas Open and tied for 24th in the Truist Championship.
“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,” Poston said following play Friday.
The most-recent of Poston’s three victories on the PGA Tour came in the 2024 Shriners Children’s Open.
“I’ve also played this game long enough, been out here long enough to know that these stretches come,” Poston said. “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.”
World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler, who’s at 1 under for the tournament, made a move on the front side Saturday with a three-hole stretch played at 4 under, capped by an eagle on the par-5 seventh hole. But he posted bogeys on Nos. 12 and 14, the latter of which was his final hole before the suspension.
There was a weather-related delay because of thunderstorms for more than one hour beginning late Saturday morning. That pause pushed some tee times back 1 hour, 40 minutes. Another suspension of play came at 4:34 p.m. and then it was determined the rest of the tournament would be pushed to Sunday.
This marks the second time in about a two-month period that a PGA Tour event endured major third-round weather issues, forcing a busy final day. In that earlier situation, J.J. Spaun prevailed in the Valero Texas Open in early April.
U.S. Women’s Open
Nelly Korda finished in style with three consecutive birdies and is tied with South Korea’s Sei Young Kim for the lead at 6-under 207 after three rounds in Los Angeles.
Korda fired a 4-under 67 for the second straight day as she takes aim at winning her first U.S. Women’s Open. She is the only golfer to birdie Nos. 16, 17 and 18 in succession over the first three rounds.
Kim shot 68 with one birdie over the last three holes to keep pace with Korda. Jennifer Kupcho (69) and South Korea’s In Gee Chun (69) share third place, one shot behind.
Second-round co-leader Ruoning Yin (71) of China, Japan’s Nasa Hataoka (68) and Mexico’s Gabby Lopez (70) are tied for fifth at Riviera Country Club, located just blocks away from where the devastating fire roared through the Pacific Palisades neighborhood in early 2025.
Korda had five birdies and one bogey as she chases her fourth career major title. The World No. 1 is playing in her 12th U.S. Women’s Open and tied for second last year at Erin Hills.
Kim made five birdies against two bogeys. She is eyeing her second career major title.
Chun, a three-time major winner, had three birdies and two bogeys. After securing an eagle on the par-5 No. 1 hole, she sank consecutive birdies on 11 and 12 to tie Kim for the lead.
Kupcho birdied 16 and 17 to creep up the leaderboard. She had four birdies and two bogeys and is looking for her second career major crown.
Yin birdied 16 and 17 but settled for a par on 18 to finish at even par. Yin had three bogeys over the first nine holes before recording three birdies over the last six holes.
Hataoka had four birdies and one bogey while Lopez eagled the par-4 No. 10 and had two birdies to go with three bogeys.
The other second-round co-leader, Alison Lee, struggled with five bogeys while scoring four birdies and shooting 72. Her bogey on 18 knocked her into a tie for eighth with England’s Charley Hull (65) and South Korea’s Hyunjo Yoo (71) at 3-under 210.
Hull shot 73-72 the first two rounds but jetted into contention with seven birdies and one bogey. She finished the round with three birdies in the last five holes.
Yoo had three birdies and three bogeys.
Champions
Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke teamed with Ben Crane to break an event record with their 17-under 54 on Saturday at the American Family Insurance Championship in Madison, Wisconsin.
Partnering for the first time at the PGA Tour Champions’ only team event, Clarke and Crane birdied a remarkable 17 of 18 holes in the scramble format to get to 26 under.
Their low round bested by two shots the previous record of 56 established by Steve Stricker and Mario Tiziani during 2025’s scramble round.
“Listen, when you shoot 54, put 54 on your scorecard, that’s pretty impressive,” Clarke said. “I’ve never done that before. It was wonderful. Great to stand there and play with somebody who you know if you miss a putt or you miss a shot, they’re going to back you up and hit it in there.”
The duo came into the day at 9-under after a 62 during Friday’s four-ball (best ball) format. They then teed off their round with nine straight birdies, settled for par on the par-4 10th, and closed with eight more birdies to build a three-shot lead going into Sunday.
The three-day event at TPC Wisconsin introduced the team format last year. The first and final rounds are four ball (best ball), while Saturday’s second round was a scramble.
Clarke is a defending champion at the event, having won with former partner Thomas Bjorn in 2025. Bjorn is resting this year, recovering from spinal surgery.
Crane, 50, is trying to end a winless streak of nearly 12 years (11 years, 11 months and 29 days). Clarke, by contrast, is trying to become just the second two-time winner of this event, joining Jerry Kelly (2019, ’21).
Clarke, 57, has five wins overall at Champions.
“Today was one of those special days that I’ll remember for my whole life, shooting 54 with Darren Clarke,” Crane said.
In second place at 23 under are Australia’s Cameron Percy and Greg Chalmers. Like Clarke and Crane, they went bogey-free, recording an eagle on No. 11 to card a 58. They are both seeking their first win on the Champions tour.
Freddie Jacobson of Sweden and Soren Kjeldsen of Denmark had been the first-round leaders after scoring a 59. They dropped into a tie for sixth place on Saturday at 21 under with a second-round 62.
Three teams are tied for third place at 22 under: Alex Cejka of Germany and Tim O’Neal (57), Jason Caron and Brett Quigley (58) and Rory Sabbatini of Slovakia and Brian Gay (60).
Tied with Jacobson and Kjeldsen at 21 under are Tag Ridings and Tommy Gainey (58), Doug Barron and Dicky Pride (58) and Paul Stankowski and Scott Parel (59).
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Golf roundup: J.T. Poston, Ryan Gerard tied for Memorial lead
Reporting by Detroit News wire services / The Detroit News
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By Detroit News wire services | USA TODAY Network
