PARAMUS, N.J. — Brooks Koepka showed some muscle and unleashed a monstrous finish Friday to share the lead in The Northern Trust.
Tiger Woods missed yet another putt and was relieved to still be playing.
Koepka spent most of the second round trading birdies and bogeys, going nowhere. One swing changed everything on the 631-yard 13th hole at Ridgewood Country Club. From just under 310 yards, he swung 3-wood as hard as he could and saw the tight draw that had been missing all day. It stopped 20 feet from the hole, Koepka made it for eagle and then closed with three straight birdies for a 6-under 65.
He tied Jamie Lovemark, who shot a 66.
“I wasn’t happy the first 11 holes the way I hit it,” Koepka said. “When I hit that 3-wood, it all clicked. I felt like I was finally able to release the golf club. Just tried to hit as hard as I could, big draw. Aimed at the tree on the right and tried to draw it back to the flag. When I did that, everything started to click.”
The U.S. Open and PGA champion took it from there.
Lovemark, winless in 135 starts as a pro, made five birdies in a six-hole stretch around the turn and was the first to reach 10-under 132.
Before long, a list of contenders lined up behind them in an entertaining start to the FedEx Cup playoffs.
Adam Scott, building on his confidence from playing in the final group at the PGA Championship, had a 64 for the low round of the tournament and was one shot behind. Another shot back was Dustin Johnson, the world No. 1, who had another 67 that for the second straight day featured a triple bogey on his card.
LPGA: Any Yang shot a 7-under 65 to take the second-round lead in the CP Women’s Open at Regina, Saskatchewan, a stroke ahead of Canadian star Brooke Henderson and Angel Yin at Wascana Country Club.
Yang, the three-time LPGA Tour winner from South Korea, birdied four of the first five holes and finished with nine birdies and two bogeys. She had a 13-under 131 total.
The 20-year-old Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ontario, had her second straight 66.
CHAMPIONS: Kent Jones, Scott Parel and Tom Pernice Jr. shot 7-under 65 to share the first-round lead in the Boeing Classic at Snoqualmie, Washington.
Scott McCarron, Steve Pate and Ken Tanigawa were a stroke back. Kent Jones. Miguel Angel Jimenez was at 67 with Bob Estes, Billy Andrade and Mike Grob.
EUROPEAN TOUR: Gavin Green boosted his chances of becoming the first Malaysian to win on the tour after claiming a one-shot lead following the second round of the Czech Masters in Vysoky Ujezd, while John Daly followed his opening 64 with a poor 3-over 75.
Five bogeys in his round meant that former British Open and U.S. PGA Championship winner Daly slipped to a tie for 36th place on 5-under 139 after the 52-year-old American had started the day in a share of the lead with Green, Callum Tarren and Thomas Pieters.
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