Nick Taylor, Ben Griffin share lead halfway through Memorial

Nick Taylor of Canada shot a bogey-free, 4-under-par 68 and rose into a tie with Ben Griffin for the second-round lead at the Memorial Tournament on Friday in Dublin, Ohio.

Griffin had the solo lead after Day 1 but shot an even-par 72 Friday, leaving him tied at 7-under 137 with Taylor, a five-time winner on the PGA Tour.

They're two strokes ahead of Akshay Bhatia, who carded a 69 to get to 5 under for the event. Scottie Scheffler overcame a double bogey to shoot his second straight round of 70, placing him fourth and in striking distance at 4 under.

The round of the day belonged to Scheffler's friend Sam Burns, whose 65 was an 11-stroke improvement over his first round. He elevated into a tie for fifth at 3 under with Jordan Spieth (69) and Irishman Shane Lowry (72).

The only other players under par through 36 holes are Russell Henley (68), Xander Schauffele (69), Tom Hoge (69) and Collin Morikawa (75) at 2 under.

The $20 million signature event hosted by Jack Nicklaus comes with a cut to the top 50 players and ties. The cut was projected at 5 over par.

Justin Thomas, who opened with an 80, cleaned up his act and posted a second-round 69 to get to 5 over par and make the cut on the number along with Wyndham Clark and Japan's Hideki Matsuyama. Notables expected to miss the cut included Sahith Theegala (7 over) and Brian Harman (10 over).

--Field Level Media