Muirfield Village was not forgiving on Friday. The gusting winds made it a brutal round of golf for many players at the Memorial. One of them was World No. 16 Justin Thomas, who struggled to make par and made an honest revelation.

“I can't put into words how hard that was. That was the hardest round of golf that I can remember, major, non-major, it was just insane,” said Thomas.

He struggled to find his rhythm on a highly challenging windy day at Muirfield. The bogeys wouldn't stop, and the two-time major winner needed a par on the final hole to make the cut on the number.

“It was just hard. You don't have a bail out on half your shots out here so you have a lot of shots over water and you're like, well, I hope it's helping or I hope it's not hurting. But everybody's dealing with the same thing, but, man, it was brutal.” he added.

The 33-year-old was in trouble after scoring a two-over par 74 in the first round. Instead of improving upon his score, things went downhill for Thomas in the second round. 

He carded a three-over-par 75 to get in the clubhouse at five over. The American hit a single birdie and accompanied that with four bogeys on Friday.

“The wind wasn't really the direction it was supposed to be or kind of forecasted to be for kind of like half the day and that usually isn't something that happens when it's at 25, 20, 25 miles an hour.” he added.

Indeed, the forecast for Friday was nothing new. Winds were predicted to be 10-16 mph with occasional gusts reaching up to 24 mph. But the reality was much more brutal.

The winds on the day were unpredictable and created problems for many notable names in the lineup. Even World No. 1 and World No.2, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, were unable to find their form on Friday.

At the end of the second round, both Scheffler and McIlroy sat at 1 over par in the tournament, 10 shots behind leader J.T. Poston. 

“Hell yeah,” said Thomas after making the cut.

Instead of a handshake, the tough day at Muirfield closed off for Thomas with a hug from playing partner, McIlroy. Both seemed relieved to have survived the round and headed into the weekend.

Although Thomas struggled in the second round, he made sure to widely appreciate Poston’s performance.

Justin Thomas On J.T. Poston’s Performance

J.T. Poston thrived in the round which completely dismantled big names. Thomas knew how challenging the course was, and that made Poston’s performance even more praiseworthy to him.

“I don’t think I can put into words how good @JT_ThePostman round was today… I’m out there trying to figure out where and how I can make ONE birdie, let alone shooting -7!,” Thomas wrote on X. “Today was probably the most difficult round I’ve played on tour. On to the weekend!”

In the second round, Poston recorded a 7-under 65 score and held a one-shot lead over Ryan Gerard, heading into the weekend. 

“I hit it in a lot of the right places, and we just did a good job of taking it one shot at a time,” Poston said. “This place is tough, especially when it’s blowing like this, so nice to really feel like I played well and shot a low score.”

Poston has been waiting long for his fourth win on the tour and will look to continue the good momentum at Muirfield, hoping to secure the Jack Nicklaus event.

What are your thoughts on Thomas’ performance on Friday? Share them in the comments.

Read more at Club Golf!

Written by

Avishek Sarkar