CASTLE ROCK, Colo. – Adam Scott kept making birdies and changing his outlook on the season until he finished with his lowest score of the year, a 9-under 63 on Friday in the BMW Championship that gave him a three-shot lead going into the weekend.
Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley did his best to stay in range until making his first bogey of the week on the 18th hole at Castle Pines. He still had a 68 and was in good position.
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The 44-year-old Scott, who first played Castle Pines as a 20-year-old on a sponsor exemption for his first regular PGA Tour event, had a certain freedom he hasn't felt all year. He is top 50 in the FedEx Cup, meaning he can play all the $20 million signature event next year instead of having to rely on sponsor exemptions. That was a big relief.
Having the 36-hole lead is a bargain. A top finish would get him back to East Lake for the Tour Championship and assure him playing all the majors next year.
“Leaving the range, I just kind of wanted to keep moving in the right direction, grind out and shoot under par and keep going that way,” he said. “Then by the middle of the round, I was thinking of how many birdies I can make. It's funny how that happens.
“I feel like I really don't have anything to lose this week,” he said. “I can't go out of the top 50. I'm going to have a good schedule in the signature events next year. Of course, I'd love to make it to East Lake. But now I'd love to win this event.”
But they are only at the halfway point, and so much can happen.
Rory McIlroy — 10 shots back after a 71 — was so frustrated he tossed his 3-wood after a poor drive on the 17th and watched it bounce into the water. Denny McCarthy was doing what he needed to get into the top 30 who advance to East Lake until a double bogey on two of the last five holes.
Strangest of all Friday was a leaderboard that ran 20 deep and still didn't include the names Scottie Scheffler or Xander Schauffele.
Scheffler opened with a pair of birdies and his round started to go sideways with a double bogey when he went from the rough into the water to the drop zone to over the green. He shot a 72 and was 12 behind.
Schauffele also opened with two birdies and was 3 under for his round until making four bogeys over his last six holes for a 73. He was 11 shots behind.
“I wasn't hitting it great and was kind of faking it around the property a little bit and it caught up to me,” Schauffele said. “Scottie and I were just kind of blah.”
Scheffler said his back felt normal, as he expected, different from the opening round when he said he had to work hard to turn through shots. As for the golf?
“We started really well, and then I was the first one to go bad and Xander came along,” he said.
Both were virtually assured of staying the top two seeds going into East Lake.
Scott was at 13-under 131 with a cushion.
Ludvig Aberg also had a 63 and was four shots behind. Scott played early, before the wind began to increase, and posted his score early. It was a fairly daunting target to Aberg, who already was 11 shots behind when he teed off.
“It was funny walking down one of the first couple of holes. We talked about it yesterday, too, that we could see a low one,” Aberg said. “We were just fortunate that it was us today.”
Alex Norman had another 68 and was five behind, still plenty of work to catch Scott but in position to advance into the top 30 and reach East Lake for the first time in his career.
Players at the bottom with little chance of winning now have other concerns as it relates to the top 30. Justin Thomas opened 76-72 and was projected at No. 31 going into the weekend. Jason Day was trying to recover from his opening 78. He shot 69 was still projected outside the top 30.
Scott is looking more ahead, riding good iron play and exceptional putting. Only three of his nine birdies were inside the 10-foot range, and he was only in trouble once on the par-3 fourth. He hit a great flop shot to 6 feet and saved par.
Scott was playing so well he was tempted to take on the pin at the 18th for a 62.
“Ten under sounded like it had a nice ring to it,” he said. “But the old wise head on the shoulders said aim a little bit left and see if you can hole a long putt. It's fun to shoot a low round. I can't remember the last time I shot 63 out here.”
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf