Rose in front at halfway again

England’s Justin Rose carded a five-under-par 67 to join Ben Curtis and Stephen Ames in a tie for the halfway lead at the Memorial Tournament and then conceded he had achieved nothing yet.

Rose was the halfway leader at The Masters, only to suffer a Saturday meltdown, and he also led after 36 holes at last week’s Volvo PGA Championship on the European Tour, before tying for 11th.

“Halfway is nowhere,” he said.

“The lesson I have learned is you have got to stay patient, and thinking about leading or winning is irrelevant.”

Rose, 23, played flawlessly for 17 holes, picking up seven birdies, only to double-bogey the last.

After finding trouble off the tee, he had to lay up with his second shot, and he chunked his third into a greenside bunker.

“I had 47 yards off a downslope and with the ball sitting down a bit and a wet fairway,” Rose said.

“It was just a nasty shot and I caught it heavy, unfortunately.”

Rose reaped the benefits of a putting tip from Kelly Leadbetter, his coach’s wife.

“She said my stroke was a little too long and when the greens are this quick, you can’t really commit to the putt, so I just tried to shorten it up a little bit and it really helped me to be more positive on the greens,” he said.

“The difference was that I putted a little better. Teeing off first, with fresh greens and relatively no wind, it was ideal scoring conditions.”

Open champion Curtis shot 69 to join Rose and new Canadian citizen Ames (68) on seven-under-par 137, one stroke ahead of Fred Couples (69), KJ Choi of Korea (67) and South African Ernie Els (70).

The last time Curtis played like this, he lifted the Old Claret Jug.

“That week, I did everything great and (this week) it’s similar to what it was then,” he said after a second-straight bogey-free round in demanding conditions.

Tiger Woods (68) was three shots behind after a performance marred only by a double-bogey at the par-three 12th on a day when the field averaged 72.9 strokes in fluctuating winds at Muirfield Village.

Woods was satisfied with his position. “If you shoot a round in the 60s, you have earned it,” he said.

“The wind is all over the place out there. It is one of the toughest days I have seen in a while here. I played a lot better. Things are starting to shape up. I feel very confident the things I am working on are starting to come together.”

Seventy-six players made the cut, which fell at four-over 148, matching The Masters for the highest cut number on the PGA Tour this year.