It’s a nearly a day for the history books Friday at the Northern Trust — Scottie Scheffler did his part, Dustin Johnson didn’t.
Scheffler became the newest member of the “59” club. He got out early, birdied the second, fourth, fifth, sixth seventh and ninth holes to shoot 30 on the front nine then kept his momentum with birdies at 10, 11 and 14. At that point the 59 watch was on and Scheffler didn’t disappoint. He went back-to-back at 15 and 16 then took care of business at the short par five 18th. He was just short of the green in two, chipped his third inside five feet then holed his 12th birdie of the round for 59.
“I was just kind of going out and playing,” Scheffler said afterward. “It was fun.” For his day, Scheffler had just 23 putts and hit 16 of 18 greens.
If that didn’t provide enough excitement, Dustin Johnson really had it going in the afternoon. He absolutely tore up the front nine at TPC Boston. D.J. started his second round birdie-eagle-birdie-eagle-birdie. He added two more birdies at seven and eight and was nine-under through his first nine holes. His roll continued with birdies at 10 and 11 to start the back nine and the chatter turned to 57 or 58 — 59 looked like a cinch. But Johnson cooled off in a big way. He rolled off five straight pars then hit his approach to the 17th to 11 feet but saw his birdie putt graze the lip.
No worries, he made eagle a the short par five 18th on Thursday, birdie should have been no problem. But his drive missed the fairway and ended up in a strange lie with a sidehill stance. He chose to lay up then hit a mediocre wedge shot that left him outside 20 feet for birdie. Another par gave him 60 for the day.
“It is what is it,” a subdued Johnson said afterward. Was he disappointed to not shoot 59? “Anytime you shoot a number like that (60, you’re never disappointed.”
Johnson’s 11-under effort took him to the top of the leaderboard at 15-under with Scheffler two back, tied at 13-under with Cameron Davis, who shot 65.
Big names Rory McIlroy (69-70) and Tiger Woods (68-71) made the 36-hole cut right on the number — three-under par.
A lot of star players weren’t as fortunate.
Collin Morikawa (71-72) missed only his second cut as a pro. Bryson DeChambeau, who was convinced he found something coming into Boston that would have him dialed in, was mistaken. He shot even par as did Phil Mickelson. Tony Finau shot 72-69 and missed by two.
Last week’s winner, Jim Herman, didn’t come close after shooting 75-70.
Phil Mickelson Will Make Champions Tour Debut:
With his missed cut at the Northern Trust, the playoffs ended for Phil Mickelson.
But Lefty won’t wait for the U.S. Open — he’s going to head for the next Schwab Series event on the Champions Tour at Big Cedar Lodge in the Ozarks.
“I feel like coming into this event I’ve been playing really well at home. I was excited to play. And I feel like I’ve been playing decent,” Mickelson said. “So I want to play. I really want to play golf. So that’ll give me a chance to play three competitive rounds. I’m disappointed I’m not in BMW. I feel like I’ve been playing well, and yesterday (opening 74) was really a poor start to the tournament and I would have liked to continue in the playoffs.”
Bertsch Wins Schwab Event With Eagle In Playoff:
Hopefully Shane Bertsch will send some sort of gift to Kenny Perry.
Perry bogeyed the 54th hole Friday at the Schwab Series event at Big Cedar Lodge and set up a four-man playoff for the title.
Perry’s closing bogey gave him a 68 and dropped him from 14-under into a tie at 13-under with Bertsch, Glen Day and Bernhard Langer.
The foursome headed to the first hole at Buffalo Ridge, a par five and Bertsch put the other three out of their misery with an eagle that gave him his first Champions Tour victory.
Schwab Series Final Scoreboard:
