Xander Schauffele lines up his putt on the 18th green at Aronimink Golf Club during the second round of the BMW Championship on Friday in Newtown Square, Pa.NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. – U.S. captain Jim Furyk had an easy time deciding on three of his four picks for the Ryder Cup.
Xander Schauffele is making the last one a little more difficult, thanks to his performance at the BMW Championship.
Schauffele nearly holed a wedge shot on his second hole Friday at Aronimink Golf Club, rolled in a 40-foot birdie putt in the middle of his round and wound up with a 6-under 64 that had him at 13-under 127 overall. It was the lowest 36-hole score of his PGA Tour career and gave him a two-shot lead over Justin Rose in the third tournament of the FedEx Cup playoffs.
“I’m sort of in a position where I feel like a win is the only way I’d even be in consideration,” said Schauffele, who also made things more difficult on Tiger Woods, who again goes into a weekend have to catch up to the leaders.
One day after he opened with a 62 – his lowest score since his most recent victory more than five years ago – Woods went eight holes before his first birdie and didn’t make many after that. He finished with two straight bogeys for a 70 that left him five shots behind in a tie for 12th.
“Very simple. I didn’t make any putts. I hit a lot of beautiful putts that were on the top of the edge, and then obviously hit a couple bad ones on the last hole,” said Woods, adding that it “looked like all the putts were going to in, but they didn’t go in today.”
Rose, who played bogey-free for a 64, won the AT&T National at this Philadelphia-area course in 2010, and the South African-born Englishman captured his only major title at nearby Merion Golf Club in the 2013 U.S. Open.
“Cheese steaks, I guess,” Rose said. “I played well. The crowd latched on to it, for sure. I get good support around here. It’s nice when they’re reminding you all the time that it’s your town, as well. It’s nice to have the added bit of enthusiasm from the crowd.”
Aronimink was even softer than the opening round from a burst of rain overnight. Starting times were moved up four hours because of a forecast for more rain. The trick Friday, when the average score was 67.33, was to avoid wedges that spun too much to back pin positions.
Hideki Matsuyama, who started the playoffs at No. 76 in the FedEx Cup rankings, had a 64 and was in the third-place group three shots behind that also had Keegan Bradley (64), Rickie Fowler (65) and Alex Noren (66). Bradley, Matsuyama and Noren are suddenly in position to be among the 30 players who advance to East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta in two weeks for the Tour Championship.
Jason Day (64), Rory McIlroy (67) and 2017 FedEx Cup champion Justin Thomas (67) were tied for seventh at 9 under.
Former Baylor School golfers Luke List and Keith Mitchell are in need of strong performances to make the playoff finale, and they at least made the cut. Mitchell (67) was tied for 24th at 6 under, and List (66) was tied for 34th at 4 under, but both have ground to make up.
Schauffele also needs a good week to get to East Lake, though he would like to also have a reason to play the following week when the Ryder Cup is held in France.
A runner-up at the British Open, the 24-year-old from San Diego finished 12th in the Ryder Cup points standings. Furyk used three of his captain’s picks Tuesday night on Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson and Woods – Nos. 9, 10, 11 in the standings – and plans to announce his final pick Monday.
Tony Finau has been regarded as the leading candidate, and he did nothing to hurt his chances. He made seven birdies in his round of 64 and went into the weekend just five shots behind.
“The possibilities are cool, the potential of what could happen,” Finau said. “But nothing good comes from thinking too far ahead. I’ve got a couple rounds in front of me, 36 holes, to try and win this tournament. And winning takes care of everything.”
Tanihara takes lead
CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland – Japan’s Hideto Tanihara shot a bogey-free 4-under 66 to lead by two shots midway through the European Masters.
He was at 9-under 131 at the high-altitude Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club to get to 9-under 131. Tanihara has never won on the European Tour, which he joined last season after earning 14 career titles in Japan.
Tied for second were Lucas Bjerregaard (65), Doug Ghim (65) and Matthew Fitzpatrick (64), who’s attempting to repeat as champion and had seven of his eight birdies during a 10-hole stretch.
Four players were tied for fifth: Stephen Gallacher (66), Mike Lorenzo-Vera (66), Haydn Porteous (65) and Danny Willett (66).