A routine handshake is how it usually ends. Instead, during the second round of the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village, Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy shared an unexpected hug on the 18th green after a rather punishing day. Afterwards, Thomas did not shy away from doubling down on the hardships he faced out there.

“I can’t put into words how hard that was. That was the hardest round of golf that I can remember, major or non-major; it was just insane. The wind wasn’t really in the direction it was supposed to be or kind of forecasted to be for half the day, and that usually isn’t something that happens when it’s at 25, 20, or 25 miles an hour. It was just hard,” he told the media on Friday.

“You don’t have a bailout 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.”

Notably, Thomas came into this event off one of his best recent stretches. He had four consecutive top-25 finishes, including a T3 at the PGA Championship three weeks ago. Analysts noted his power fade suited Muirfield’s demand for accuracy and tee-to-green precision, but Memorial proved a consistent exception to any momentum he built.

He has not finished inside the top 25 in any of his last four appearances here. But the thing is that Muirfield Village has long been known to expose every weakness in a player’s game. It rewards precision and punishes even the smallest miss.

The winds shifted unexpectedly, gushing to 25 mph in different directions, and the entire leaderboard felt it. Thomas struggled in the course from the very start. He bogeyed the 4th, then made a double bogey on the par-5 fifth. It is a hole where he should have been picking a shot, not dropping a two. But what kept him in the field was the back nine.

Birdies on 12th and 15th gave him an edge, and when Thomas reached the 18th, he still needed a par to play the weekend. He hit a phenomenal flop shot from behind the green and then a six-foot par putt that helped him through the cut.

Even after surviving the cut, Thomas did go on to mention that day had drained him mentally and physically, to the point where he was simply relieved not to be forced straight back into competition.

“I mean, if I was playing next week, no, this would be absolutely terrible. I would be exhausted, I would be, I probably wouldn’t have a lot of confidence in my game. I probably would not want to do anything the next week. So I’m very happy that I have a week off next week.”

Thomas finished the round at five over, sitting T47 heading into the weekend, while McIlroy moved to T19 after his 74. And even for Rory McIlroy, the moment was overwhelming. Hence, after JT shot 75 and McIlroy shot 74, the two embraced each other on the 18th green, showing the camaraderie they share.

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

For Thomas, a win is looking like a big stretch, and heading into the weekend at 4 over is not a position that looks very good. But making the cut on Friday was meaningful in itself.

His father, Mike, who has coached Thomas throughout his career, has always preached patience and composure as the foundation of his game, and on the weekend, he would be utilizing these skills.

“Patience was a big thing I always preached,” Mike said. “I knew firsthand about managing emotions on the course and how to learn from my mistakes, all of which I was able to pass on to him.”

That lesson could be tested at the final two rounds at Memorial, and it wouldn’t be the first time Thomas would shift positions. At the 2022 PGA Championship, he entered Sunday seven shots behind and still won. This was simply not his day, but the same can’t be said about Poston.

J.T. Poston Stands Alone at Memorial

On this day, every player on the field has battled through the course like a war. Ryan Gerard called it a “monster.” Rory McIlroy needed a hug after 36  holes and has been consistently frustrated, while World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler barely made the cut but has been keeping a positive outlook. Scheffler was brutally candid about the survival mode required, admitting, “I felt I could have shot 90. That’s maybe some of the worst I’ve hit it in a couple years out there.”

But J.T. Poston somehow flipped the script entirely.

He managed a bogey-free 65 to grab a one-shot lead. And Thomas even shared his candid thoughts on X about it, and talked about how it was one of the most difficult days of the 270 events he has played on the PGA Tour.

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

Tommy Fleetwood, who had briefly led after the opening round before slipping back, actually singled out Poston’s performance and called it phenomenal. He mentioned that he was eager to go back and watch how he managed it on TV. So how did Poston really manage it?

The answer Poston later explained came down to a small but crucial adjustment in the wind. He switched to a different golf ball, the Titleist Left Dash, and mentioned that it helped him control flight in the gusts and gave him the confidence to commit to shots even when contact wasn’t perfect.

“It’s tough. We actually switched to a different golf ball… It’s supposed to help me a little bit in the wind… and it obviously performed really well,” he said. “We’re trying to hit the smart shot and just execute and go from there.”

And execute he did!