• Memorial Tournament, Round Two

Fabulous Fowler thunders ahead at Memorial

Rickie Fowler was hot with the putter on day two at Memorial © Getty Images

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Justin Rose remains in contention to win his first PGA Tour title after a second-round 69 left him three shots behind halfway leader Rickie Fowler at Muirfield Village.

The 21-year-old American outshone the entire field as he followed up his opening round of 65 with a six-under-par second round to tie the 36-hole record for the Memorial tournament set by Scott Hoch in 1987.

Fowler, who is also yet to win on the PGA Tour, pulled away with three straight birdies late in his round to reach 13-under, although the undoubted highlight of his round was a terrific eagle at the par-five 15th.

"I actually felt I played better today than I did yesterday," Fowler said. "I had a few early birdie chances that slipped by but that got me going.

"To come in and find out that I tied the tournament record is cool because so many great players have played here and I want to be among those names. Just being in contention the few times I have over the last eight months was great - but this is by far the best I've felt."

Rose produced another impressive effort to build on his opening 65 and move to 10-under-par and second place outright. The Englishman has looked extremely solid on the greens lately and that theme continued as he holed five birdie putts during a solid day.

"I was probably more pleased with today's three under than yesterday's seven under," Rose said. "Yesterday was benign. I played well. There wasn't any real challenges to the round. Today, there were a lot of challenges out there. Every shot was a grind."

Rose has never played alongside Fowler but will partner the youngster for the third round and he is looking forward to pitting his wits against the American.

"I've followed his career since I started playing on the PGA Tour and I like the way he plays," Rose said of Fowler. "It seems at the moment that he either misses the cut or contends but the impressive thing is that it doesn't seem to bother him. I'm looking forward to getting out there and taking him on."

World No. 5 Jim Furyk is one shot back from Rose on nine under. The 2003 US Open champion fired six birdies in his second round and should feature prominently over the weekend on a course which holds good memories for him.

Phil Mickelson is also still in contention on six under after a topsy-turvy day in Ohio. The Masters champion struggled off the tee as he carded five bogeys, four birdies and one eagle and will need a big weekend to move up the leaderbord in his quest to depose Tiger Woods as the best player in the world.

Woods continued his return from a neck injury with a steady round of 69 that will keep him around for the weekend. The world No. 1 birdied three of the opening five holes to offset an early bogey, before continuing the trend with three more gained shots and one blip on his back nine to finish on three under - 10 shots off the lead.

"I hit more good shots today than I did yesterday, and really putted well," Woods said."I still hit a few scrappy ones for sure but I am working hard to get things going."

Overnight leader Geoff Ogilvy slipped away from the summit as he blundered his way to a five-over-par 77, while Rory McIlroy could be one to watch after he reached the midway point at four under. Ernie Els missed the cut by a single shot after finishing the second day on two-over-par.

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