It all came down to the wire for Justin Thomas at the Memorial. On Friday, he barely made the cut and needed some emotional support. Fortunately, fellow competitor and World No. 2 Rory McIlroy was there for him.

On a windy day at Muirfield, Thomas struggled to find his form. The bogeys rolled in, and the World No.16 required a par at the final hole to survive.

“It was a mutual hug. We just looked at each other, and I think we both, we were like, we need a hug,” Thomas said, as reported by Golf Magic.

Thomas and McIlroy replaced the customary handshake with a warm hug, creating a wholesome scene for the crowd. It marked the end of a brutal round of golf at Muirfield.

"He probably realized I needed one maybe more. It was a grind. It was a different grind for him, but, yeah, we were just battling out there," he added.

Thomas 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.

"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,” he stated, as per Golf.com.

The winds at Muirfield were unpredictable, creating problems for many players. McIlroy was also struggling as he scored a two-over-par 74.  World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler also found it difficult at the tournament, where he has been so dominant in recent years. 

"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," added Thomas.

The 33-year-old heads into the weekend tied at 47, fourteen shots behind leader J.T Poston. Thomas notably lauded Poston's performance, who excelled while everyone else struggled.

Justin Thomas Comments On J.T. Poston’s Performance

As many big names suffered in the second round, J.T. Poston did not seem to have much trouble with the winds.

“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!”

Poston scored a 7-under 65 in the second round, nine shots better than the field average. He was at 9-under 135 after the two rounds, having a one-shot lead over Ryan Gerard.

"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."

Heading into the weekend, Poston will again try to excel against the odds and win his fourth title on the tour.

What are your thoughts on the Thomas-McIlroy hug? Share them in the comments.

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Written by

Avishek Sarkar

Edited by

Sijo Paul