DUBLIN – Scottie Scheffler’s Memorial Tournament title defense nearly unraveled Friday at Muirfield Village, but the world No. 1 found just enough late magic to keep his remarkable PGA TOUR made-cut streak alive.

Scheffler, trying to become the first player since Tiger Woods to win three straight Memorial titles, was in real danger of missing the weekend after a rocky start to his second round. He was 4 over through 10 holes after making three straight bogeys, and a par on the reachable par-5 11th did little to settle things down.

“I felt like I was going to shoot about 90 today,” Scheffler said.

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Instead, Scheffler steadied himself and shot even-par 71, using three birdies over his final eight holes to sneak safely inside the cut line. The round pushed his consecutive made-cut streak to 76 tournaments, the longest active run on the PGA TOUR. Hideki Matsuyama owns the next-longest active streak at 25.

It wasn’t pretty, and Scheffler didn’t pretend otherwise.

“That’s maybe some of the worst I’ve hit it in a couple years out there and I still managed to shoot even par around a golf course that requires you to strike the ball really well,” Scheffler said.

That made the save even more impressive. Muirfield Village is not a course that usually allows players to fake their way around, and Scheffler even had to overcome a shanked bunker shot at No. 5.

The key stretch came late. Scheffler pointed to improved iron shots at Nos. 14, 15 and 16, and his putter finally delivered. He poured in a 22-foot birdie putt on No. 15, then followed with a 40-footer on No. 16 to create much-needed breathing room.

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“This tournament was one that definitely could have got away from me, but right now I’m only nine shots back and still have a chance going into the weekend,” Scheffler said. “With the conditions the way they are, you never really know what’s going to happen around this golf course and just getting inside the cut line you still have a chance.”

Others weren’t as fortunate. Jordan Spieth and Andrew Novak each shot 79 to miss the cut. Ben Griffin, Robert MacIntyre and Min Woo Lee also failed to reach the weekend.