Former champion Matt Kuchar continued his love affair with the Memorial tournament Friday as he took advantage of calm conditions with a late birdie flurry to surge into a two-way tie for the lead in the second round. Kuchar birdied four of his last six holes to shoot a sparkling six-under-par 66 at Muirfield Village, finishing level with fellow American Brendan Steele (67) at 12-under 132. Argentina's Emiliano Grillo (66) and long-hitting American Gary Woodland (65) were at 11-under while Australian world No. 1 Jason Day followed his opening 66 with an erratic 71 to drop five strokes off the pace. US Open champion Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy both put mediocer first rounds behind them as they moved into contention, American Spieth carding a 68 to finish at six-under, a stroke behind Northern Irishman McIlroy who returned a 66. Kuchar, who won the 2013 Memorial tournament and has recorded four top-10s in his last five PGA Tour starts, was delighted to benefit from another benign day at Muirfield Village in the prestigious event hosted by Jack Nicklaus. Day was also looking forward to a great weekend after relying on his deft touch around the green and scrambling abilities as he eked out a 71 that included five birdies and four bogeys. Spieth was flirting with the cutline after he bogeyed two of his first four holes but he picked up six shots over the closing stretch to vault up the leaderboard. American Dustin Johnson, who fired an eight-under 64 to seize a one-shot lead after the opening round, ended the round three strokes off the pace after carding a 71. Nordqvist in three-way tie Defending champion Anna Nordqvist overcame a poor start with nine birdies in her last 12 holes for a seven-under-par 64 and a share of the first-round lead at the Shoprite LPGA Classic Friday in New Jersey. Nordqvist bogeyed two of her first three holes after starting out on a breezy morning by the shore but ran off four birdies in a row from her seventh hole, sandwiching two six-footers with a pair of one-foot tap-ins. Tied with the Swede were Japan's Ai Miyazato and South African Paula Reto, with Haru Nomura of Japan, Scottish veteran Catriona Matthew and American Casey Grice one shot back on 65. The 54-hole event looms as a wide open battle as many top players, including world number one Lydia Ko and red-hot Thai Ariya Jutanugarn, winner of the last three LPGA tourneys, are taking the week off ahead of the Women's PGA Championship. Fitzpatrick leads at halfway England's Matthew Fitzpatrick will go into the weekend with the lead at the Nordea Masters in Stockholm after a second-round 65 put him three strokes clear of the chasing pack Friday. Fitzpatrick, who finished tied seventh at the Masters in Augusta in April, followed an opening round of 68 with a 65 on the par-72 course at the Bro Hof Slott course in the Swedish capital. The 21-year-old's round featured seven birdies and not a single dropped shot as he opened up a lead of three strokes from a group of five players including Belgian former Ryder Cup star Nicolas Colsaerts. Colsaerts will go out with Fitzpatrick in the third round after a 66 Friday which included an eagle three at the first and five birdies. He is on eight under par along with English duo Ross Fisher and Andrew Johnston, Scotland's Scott Henry and Sweden's Alexander Bjork.
