World number one Scottie Scheffler opened up a three-shot lead with a brilliant finish at the halfway stage of the Memorial Tournament.

Seeking a fifth win of the season, Scheffler followed a front nine of 33 with bogeys on the 11th and 13th before holing from eight feet for eagle on the 15th and 12 feet for birdie on the last to card a second round of 68.

That gave the Masters champion a halfway total of nine under par, with defending champion Viktor Hovland and Canada’s Adam Hadwin on six under following rounds of 69 and 72 respectively.

Scheffler’s worst finish all season is a tie for 17th, but the two-time major winner insisted he was still not finding the game easy.

“Easy is definitely not the right word,” Scheffler said with a smile. “I feel like what I love about this game is how difficult it is.

“I love coming out here and competing against the best players in the world on the best golf courses, and this is obviously a pretty challenging track.

“I really just love competing out here and I don’t really think about whether or not it’s easy or hard. Some days I play good and some days I don’t, and outside of that I’m just out here trying to compete.

“I don’t really know how to describe it other than that. I’m going to try not to really think about it much, to be honest with you.”

Rory McIlroy and US PGA winner Xander Schauffele lie six shots off the lead after rounds of 71 and 73 respectively, McIlroy carding four birdies and three bogeys at Muirfield Village.

“I scrambled well, made a ton of pars, stayed patient,” McIlroy said. “I made a couple of bogeys after making birdies and just stayed as patient as I could, which was important.

“This is probably more US Open like than the US Open’s going to be next week. I think that mindset of being patient and making as many pars as possible, I think that’s going to be the MO for next week as well.”

Related: Sebastian Söderberg takes 3-shot lead into the weekend

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