Jason Day literally blew the doors off the rest of the field Thursday at the BMW Championship.
That’s putting it in racing terms.
What the powerful Aussie did was turn Conway Farms into a scoring paradise as he put nine birdies and an eagle on his scorecard,
Day had hit his final drive of the day when PGA Tour officials blew the horn as a storm front approached the Chicago area. Day was just in the rough at the ninth. When play resumed early Friday morning, Daye hit his second a bit heavy and settled for a two-putt par, a 61 and a four-shot lead over playing partner Jordan Spieth and Daniel Berger, who finished on Thursday. Spieth birdied his final hole for 65, his best round of the playoffs.
As the morning progressed, four more would join Spieth and Berger at 65. Bubba Watson added his name to the group as did Harris English, Kevin Na and Justin Thomas, who is battling Tony Finau for Rookie of the Year honors.
But is was Day who basically crushed the rest of the field as he continues his quest to capture the FedEx Cup and make a move toward the No. 1 ranking in the world. Once again he did it with towering drives, so long that he can steal the BMW slogan as the “Ultimate Driving Machine.”
Spieth, playing with Day, hit a seven-iron into the cup at the par three second hole, his 11th of the day for an ace.
Day birded the par five 18th, his ninth hole of the day to turn four-under. He then holed out a sand wedge from a bunker 79 yards short of the hole at the first for an eagle two and followed it up with birdies at two and three. Day drained an 18-footer for birdie at the second after watching playing partner Spieth score his hole-in-one.
There was a significant withdrawal early Thursday. Jim Furyk, who injured his left wrist two weeks ago, felt it worsen and he simply couldn’t compete. Furyk left the course worried if he will be able to tee it up in the big season finale at East Lake.
