Tiger Woods' charge up the leaderboard was interrupted by a weather delay at The Memorial as Kyle Stanley and Joaquin Niemann shared the halfway lead.
Woods was five under for his second round following a vintage 95-yard hole-out for eagle at the 11th was was lining up a six-foot putt for birdie at the 12th when play was suspended due to the threat of lightning.
But the hour-and-a-half delay was ill-timed for Woods as his putter went cold for the remainder of his round, and his 67 left him six shots behind the leaders heading into the weekend at Muirfield Village.
Woods' playing partner Justin Rose matched the low round of the day with a 66 as he closed four off the pace on seven under, while Rory McIlroy will have an early tee time on Saturday after making the cut with nothing to spare following a frustrating finish to his 70.
Stanley carded eight birdies in an excellent 66 which gave him the clubhouse lead on 11 under with darkness looming, but he was joined by teenage rookie sensation Niemann with the final shot of the second day.
The 19-year-old Chilean birdied three of the last six holes to return a 68, and the top two have a two-stroke advantage over former BMW PGA champion Byeong Hun An, who capped a 67 with three consecutive birdies.
Jason Day is firmly in contention for a third victory of the year after three birdies in four holes late in his round earned him a 68 which got him to eight under alongside Hideki Matsuyama, Bryson DeChambeau, Wesley Bryan and JB Holmes.
Rose birdied four of the first six holes and picked up two more on a steady inward nine which lifted him into a tie for ninth with 2016 Open champion Henrik Stenson, who also carded a 66 thanks to three birdies over his final four holes.
But it was Woods who lit up the second day to the delight of the fans in Ohio as he recovered from a bogey at the first with four birdies in seven holes, nailing a 15-foot putt on the ninth green to turn in 33.
The 42-year-old was in superb touch from tee to green, striking his irons as good as he has all year and none better than his perfect wedge to the long 11th which pitched past the pin and spun back into the hole for a thrilling eagle-three.
His tee-shot to the short 12th then caught a piece of the flag and settled six feet from the cup, but the klaxons sounded to take the players off the course just after the five-time Memorial champion had marked his ball.
Woods returned 90 minutes later and shaved the edge of the hole with his putt, and he missed another golden chance from five feet on the 13th before getting back on the birdie trail with a good stroke from 12 feet on the 15th.
But he then missed a third chance from inside 10 feet at the next, and dropped his second shot of the day when he lipped out from three feet at the penultimate hole before a cast-iron par at 18 kept him at five under par.
McIlroy needed to go low to avoid a weekend off and he made good progress over the first half of his round, atoning for a missed chance at the 10th with three birdies over the next four holes.
However, after he converted from 12 feet at the short fourth to get to two under for the tournament, McIlroy made a mess of the two remaining par-fives and bogeyed both to leave himself an anxious wait to see if he would be heading home early.
McIlroy was reprieved as the cut mark remained at level par, which was three shots too many for Jordan Spieth as he added another error-strewn 72 to his opening 75 to slip to three over, while defending champion Jason Dufner also booked an early flight home after rounds of 75 and 73.