Dublin, OH (Best E Casino) - Two-time champion Kenny Perry shot a one-under 71 on Friday, but it was enough to tie Mathew Goggin for first after two rounds of the Memorial.
Goggin, the overnight leader, only managed an even-par 72. He and Perry finished 36 holes at Muirfield Village at seven-under 137 in windy, demanding conditions.
"It's very fair. It's just hard," said Perry, who won this title in 1991 and 2003. "You had to have a lot of patience today. It was a day where you knew all the scores were going to be high.
"And did anybody shoot in the 60s today?"
Only three players.
Johnson Wagner fired a five-under 67 to move from a tie for 105th to a tie for 22nd at plus-one.
Daniel Chopra posted a 68 to move into a tie for 18th, while J.B. Holmes carded a 69 to get into a share of 11th at one-under 143.
"That just shows we all were in the same boat," said Perry, who lost in a playoff two weeks ago to Anthony Kim at the AT&T Classic. "We were all scratching our heads out there trying to figure out how to make pars."
Jerry Kelly shot an even-par 72 and is alone in third at minus-six. Luke Donald managed a one-under 71 and has fourth to himself at five-under-par 139.
Perry started on the 10th tee Friday and rattled off three bogeys in his first five holes. He temporarily got back on track with a chip-in eagle from left of the green at the par-five 15th.
"I knew I could keep it on the green and I had enough green to keep it to where I could have a realistic birdie putt and that was all I was trying for," said Perry. "And it just came out perfect."
Perry opened his second nine with two birdies in his first three holes. He briefly fell out of the lead with a bogey at the par-five fifth, but a spectacular seven-iron tee ball to 10 feet set up the lead-tying birdie at the eighth.
Goggin flew out of the gate thanks to his flat stick. At the first, he sank a 30-footer from off the green for birdie. Goggin made it back-to-back birdies with a 20-footer at two and actually picked up his third birdie in a row with a 10-footer at the third.
"I looked over at Jerry (Kelly) and shook my head as I was going, this is ridiculous," joked Goggin.
He collected his fourth birdie of the round at the par-five fifth when he reached the green in two and kicked in a five-footer. That birdie got him to 11-under par for the championship.
Goggin stayed at that score for two more holes, then trouble arose.
At the eighth, Goggin misjudged the wind and landed in a greenside bunker. He blasted out to eight feet, but missed the par. The Australian went into the water at nine en route to a bogey, then once again got fooled by the wind at 10. Goggin bogeyed that hole to fall to eight-under.
Goggin rebounded from three consecutive bogeys with an eight-foot birdie putt at 11. At the par-three 12th, Goggin hit into the water and walked off with a double-bogey.
He atoned for the error at 12 with back-to-back birdies at 13 and 14 to have the lead at minus-nine.
Goggin couldn't stay out of the sand at 16 and 17 and it cost him. He failed to save par from an awkward lie at 16 and sailed over the green into a trap at 17.
Goggin missed both 10-foot par saves to fall back to seven-under par.
"There's a lot of boxes on the scorecard," said Goggin. "Actually I played quite well all day. The one bad shot was on 12, that was a bad shot and deserved to be a five. But the two birdies after that were pretty satisfying.
Former U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy (71), Nick O'Hern (70), Matt Kuchar (72) and Steve Lowery (70) share fifth at four-under 140. Rod Pampling and Justin Rose are tied for ninth at minus-three.
Phil Mickelson, last week's winner at Colonial, struggled to a three-over 75 and fell into a tie for 35th at plus-three.
The 36-hole cut fell at six-over 150 with defending champion K.J. Choi making it to the weekend on the number. World No. 3 Ernie Els was not as fortunate. A 78 on Friday left the three-time major winner at seven-over 151.
