Friday at the BMW Championship survived the weather delays of day one and Adam Scott rolled back the years to put in a vintage performance on a course where, 24 years ago as a 20-year-old, he made his PGA Tout debut. Castle Pines GC would again prove a happy hunting ground for the Australian as his course record equalling -9, 63 saw him streak clear at the top of the leaderboard, three clear of round one leader Keegan Bradley. Rory McIlroy sits ten strokes off the Scott’s lead on three-under while a better second day from Lowry saw him go around five-under on Friday to lie tied for 23rd on two-under-par heading into the weekend.
“It’s been a long time. I can’t remember the last time I shot a 63 out here,” said Scott, 13-under and the leader by three strokes over Keegan Bradley. Ludvig Åberg tied Scott’s 63 later in the day. “But it feels good to go low, that I’ve still got that in me. Hopefully, there’s one more this week.”
McIlroy’s 70-71 start for the tournament leaves him with ground to make up heading into Saturday as the lead pair of Scott and Bradley look to tighten their grip on the top of the standings. The Holywood man carded just three birdies on Friday, beginning each nine with a shot gained as well as another on the par three seventh. Two were handed back however, on the second and the par-three 16th.
Lowry’s strong showing on day two dragged him back up the order and into the top half of the standings after his six birdies on Friday were marred by a single bogey, coming on the par-five 17th hole. The Offaly man, despite his strong second round showing, sits 11 strokes adrift of the Australian leader, Scott, so will be looking for more of the same on Saturday in order to claw back more ground to the top.
The Swedish pair of Ludvig Åberg And Alex Noren sit third and fourth respectively with Åberg matching Adam Scottt’s course record equalling exploits from earlier in the day. Canada’s Taylor Pendrith rounds out the top five after a fine round of seven-under, only eclipsed by Scott and Åberg.
Asked if he thought there was a 63 in the course before his round on Friday, Scott replied “Actually I kind of did in the practice rounds. I thought everyone would be going low, and then it played a bit tougher yesterday. I think when you actually have to count your score out of the rough in the tournament, you see how thick the rough is. But there’s plenty of room off the tee. The fairways are wide and the greens are receiving. After the rain yesterday, they’re a bit softer. You can definitely attack. If you’re on, guys should be going at pins.”
The top two will have each other for company as they negotiate their third round in Colorado. They hit Castle Pines at 3.65pm Irish time, just ten minutes after the all-Swedish pairing of Noren and Åberg. McIlroy tees off his Saturday with Sam Burns at 5.10pm while Lowry and Thomas Detry begin slightly earlier at 4.40pm.
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