Host Jack Nicklaus had a pretty succinct summarization of Scottie Scheffler’s first two rounds at the 2026 Memorial Tournament.
“He’s not playing his best, that’s for sure,” Nicklaus told a national television audience.
He’ll play on after making the cut, but the two-time reigning champion at “Jack’s Place” is going to have to turn things up during the weekend if he hopes to three-peat at Muirfield Village Golf Course. Scheffler finished the June 4 first round at 1 over, notching two bogies and a double bogey on 16, followed by a birdie on 17 and a par on 18 to close the day.
On June 5, his score continued to head in the wrong direction. Scheffler shot three straight bogies on holes 8-10, moving him to 4 over with only eight holes to play and flirting with the cut line. He stayed there until 13, when he shot his first birdie of the day to move back to 3 over for the tournament.
Birdies on 15 and 16 moved him back to par for the day, and that’s where he finished his round. Nicklaus said on the Golf Channel’s live broadcast that those final six holes could prove critical going forward.
“When you’re not playing the best, and you finish the way [he] finished to move himself back into a position to be able to contend, that’s pretty good,” Nicklaus said. “That just tells you that his mental outlook on the game and how he thinks he could play it, how he thinks he could get back in, is pretty positive. I give him a lot of credit for that, because he could have just said, ‘Bye-bye.’
“He’s got a lot of confidence in himself and what he can do. He’s not swinging or playing his best right now, but he made a couple birdies. It’s amazing how that’ll change your swing.”
While on the broadcast, Nicklaus shared thoughts about how the wind and recent heavy rains in the area were affecting the day’s scores but also didn’t apologize for some of the numbers players were finishing with.
It also left him impressed with the 7-under score J.T. Poston posted.
“I love seeing a golf course playing tough,” he said. “Sixty-five is a sensational score. I can’t believe anybody shot that in these conditions.”
On the 50th anniversary of the first Memorial, Nicklaus said he appreciates that he was able to help bring something to Central Ohio that he felt had been lacking.
“When I was growing up, all we had were basically six Ohio State home football games a year,” he said.
Adam Jardy can be reached at ajardy@dispatch.com, on Bluesky at @cdadamjardy.bsky.social or on Twitter at @AdamJardy.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Jack Nicklaus impressed with Scottie Scheffler’s second-day Memorial close
Reporting by Adam Jardy, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Adam Jardy, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
