Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy set a blistering pace on Thursday at the BMW.
They couldn’t sustain on Friday.
Xander Schauffele took over centerstage at Aronimink and after rounds of 63-64 finds himself 13-under par at the halfway mark.
He’s two shots in front of Justin Rose, whose 63 got him to 11-under. Rickie Fowler (65), Alex Noren (66), Keegan Bradley (64) and Hideki Matsuyama (64) were jammed in at 10-under heading into the weekend.
As good as Tiger Woods was on the greens Thursday, he struggled on Friday, finishing with 33 putts, including a bogey-bogey finish that left him with an even par round of 70. At eight-under, he’s still in striking distance but will need a strong weekend to contend. “I didn’t make any putts,” Woods said, pointing to the obvious. “I hit a lot of beautiful putts……but they didn’t go in today.” Woods also had a problem hitting it close to the hole. His proximity numbers went down compared to his opening round.
Same for Rory McIlroy, who shared the first round lead with Woods after both shot 62s.
With Schauffele playing well, it has thrown Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk’s final pick up for grabs.
Tony Finau continued his solid play and after a 64 on Friday, joined Woods at eight-under par.
Second Round Scores:
