From the PGA Tour
Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama smashed the Medinah Country Club’s Course no. 3 record by two shots with a blistering 9-under 63 to lead the field at the $9.25 BMW Championship in Medinah, Illinois, on Friday.
The 27-year-old rode a hot putter, including long birdie putts on the 17th and 18th holes to snatch a one-shot lead in the second of three FedExCup Playoffs event on the PGA Tour.
It was the third time in his career that the talented Japanese, who is bogey-free through 36 holes, has taken the halfway lead on the PGA Tour as he chases a sixth career win and his first title in over two years.
Americans Patrick Cantlay and Tony Finau share second place with 2017 FedExCup champion Justin Thomas lying a further shot back.
Korea’s Si Woo Kim carded a 67 to move up to T15 as he bids to keep his Playoffs hopes alive. The 2017 Players champion needs to finish fourth this weekend to have any hope of progressing into next week’s Tour Championship, which will reward the FedExCup winner with a bumper $15 million payday.
Memorable outing
It was also a day to remember for Chinese Taipei’s C.T. Pan, who carded a bogey free 67 to outscore playing partner and idol Tiger Woods by four shots as he moved up to T21.
Follow the action here at BMW Championship
Pan needs a projected 12th place finish to advance to the Playoffs finale in Atlanta while he is also fighting to maintain his position on the International team standings for the Presidents Cup when the top-8 qualifying race concludes on Sunday.
Matsuyama, Japans’s most successful golfer on the PGA Tour, was delighted to speed his way to the top of the BMW Championship leaderboard heading into the weekend rounds.
A good week here will move him into next week’s Playoffs Finale, exclusive to the top-30 players, where he is currently ranked 33rd.
“I did make a lot of long putts and that was the difference,” said Matsuyama. “It started yesterday during my (first) round … I was able to halfway through kind of see what I was doing wrong on the greens and it carried over today. I was able to fix it and it carried over.
“I’m really happy with my position. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in contention. Hopefully I can play well. I’ve been struggling for a while this year. Hopefully that can turn around and I’ll have a good weekend.”
Outdoing his idol
Pan hit five birdies against no bogeys to eclipse Woods. After a jittery start on Thursday, Pan’s five birdies at Medinah for a two-day score of 6-under 138 gives him a fighting chance to qualify for his first FedExCup Playoffs Finale and also a maiden appearance in the Presidents Cup in December.
“It was a good day. Five-under and I was definitely more normal, you know, playing with Tiger compared to the first round. I wasn’t as nervous. I played really good, played solid, just hit a couple bad shots but I was able to bounce back right away and make some birdies,” said Pan, who trails Matsuyama by six shots in T21.
If not for a cold putter early on, Pan could have been an even better day as he missed several makeable birdie chances early in his round which attracted large galleries at Medinah’s Course No. 3.
“I feel good about my game. There are a couple things I think I can do better which I will improve. I just want to play good golf and hopefully that will take care of everything,” said Pan.
Also read: Has the Indian Golf Union pushed itself into irrelevance?
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