Sixth-ranked Bryson DeChambeau of Clovis missed a putt for 59 but still hit the top of the leaderboard.
DeChambeau’s six-foot birdie putt on the last hole went wide right, but he still posted a bogey-free, 12-under-par 60 to take a one-stroke lead over top-ranked Jon Rahm of Spain and 10th-ranked Patrick Cantlay of Los Alamitos and UCLA in the second round of the BMW Championship, second event of the FedEx Cup playoffs, at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md.
Cantlay and DeChambeau finished before a two-hour weather delay, which defending champion Rahm had to wait out and he was still on the course when darkness halted play for the day. There are 19 players who will return Saturday morning to finish round two before the third round begins.
“I had the right speed, just misread the putt,” said DeChambeau, who has won the 2020 U.S. Open and the Arnold Palmer Invitational in this PGA Tour super season, said of his birdie putt on the last hole. “It was an awesome opportunity. I had a couple of birdie opportunities on 17 and 18. It didn’t happen, but I’m still really proud of the way I handled myself, and it was great to feel some pressure again, which was awesome.
“I knew all day if I continued to hit fairways and greens, I could give myself a really good chance to shoot a nine- or 10-under round today. I didn’t know I could get it to 12, possibly 13 under, but that was certainly the goal.
“I’ll look back on this round and I gained a lot of momentum from today.”
DeChambeau, trying to shoot the 13th sub-60 round in PGA history, sank eagle putts of 11 feet on the fourth hole and three feet on the 16th in addition to collecting eight birdies while recording a 36-hole score of 16-under 128.
Cantlay, who has won the Memorial and the Zozo Championship at Sherwood this season, had 10 birdies before making his lone bogey at the par-3 17th hole after driving into a greenside bunker on his way to a 63 after opening with a 66.
“Yeah, I got the putter going on the back nine and made a bunch of birdies, and today I hit it better all the way through, and also putted really well,” said Cantlay, who played one group behind DeChambeau. “I thought I played great. Nine under, I’m very pleased, but obviously there was lower than that out there today.
“I knew (DeChambeau) was playing really well and then I saw on the board that he eagled 16, and that was kind of all that I knew. It’s so hot out there, I’m just trying to stay one shot at a time and just get to my ball.”
Rahm, who tied for the lead with a first-round 64, made three birdies on the front nine before the delay and then sank a nine-foot eagle putt at No. 12 and 29-foot birdie putts on Nos. 13 and 15 after returning. He was a bogey-free 7-under for the day and looking at a 16-foot birdie putt at No. 16 when the end came.
Sungjae Im of South Korea birdied three of the first four holes and added four birdies on the back nine in a 65 and was four strokes behind in a tie for fourth with Sergio Garcia of Spain, who carded a bogey-free 67, while Hudson Swafford birdied five of the first nine holes in a 66 and was five shots back in a tie for down sixth with Sam Burns, who opened with a 64 and was 3-under through 17 holes when play was called.
Two-time FedEx Cup champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, who also opened with a 64, made a late birdie to salvage a 70 and was six down in a tie for eighth with Abraham Ancer, who was 4-under through 16 after starting with a 66.
Fourth-ranked Xander Schauffele of La Jolla and San Diego State, the Olympic Gold Medalist, birdied three of the first seven holes to kick-start a 68 and was seven strokes back in a tie for 10th with Aaron Wise of Lake Elsinore, who birdied the first three holes in a 66, Lucas Glover, who had a 67, and Erik van Rooyen of South Africa and Sebastian Munoz of Colombia, who both finished at 66.
Second-ranked Dustin Johnson, defending FedEx Cup champion, made two late bogeys in a 70 and was in a tie for 17th that included eighth-ranked Brooks Koepka, who had four birdies on the front nine in a 67, while fifth-ranked Justin Thomas shot 71 and was in a tie for 26th that included Tony Finau, winner of The Northern Trust on Monday, who was even after 15 holes following a first-round 67.
Seventh-ranked Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa was 1-over through 17 holes after an opening 71 and was tied for 60th, while third-ranked Collin Morikawa of La Canada Flintridge and Cal, who won the Open Championship at Royal St. George’s, continued to struggle due to a back injury and was 69th and last in the field after failing to make a birdie in his 75.
For complete results, visit https://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard.html
