MEDINAH, Ill. — Hideki Matsuyama never has missed the Tour Championship since his first full year on the PGA Tour. He played Friday like he doesn’t want the streak to end.
Outside the top 30 in the FedEx Cup for the first time at the BMW Championship, Matsuyama made five birdie putts from 15 feet or longer and broke the course record with a 9-under 63 for a one-shot lead going into the weekend.
He started his second round with a 30-foot birdie putt. He ended it with a 30-foot birdie putt.
“I did make a lot of long putts today and that was the difference,” Matsuyama said through his interpreter.
That also was a big difference for Tiger Woods. He made only two putts longer than 6 feet, made a pair of bogeys from the bunkers late in the round and had to settle for another 71. Woods, who needs a top 10 to advance to the Tour Championship, was tied for 49th.
“I left quite a few shots out there,” Woods said.
Matsuyama was at 12-under 132, one shot ahead of Patrick Cantlay (67) and Tony Finau (66). Justin Thomas made six birdies to offset three bogeys in his round of 69, leaving him two shots behind.
Cantlay, Finau and Thomas are assured of being among the top 30 who advance to the Tour Championship next week, where everyone in the field will have a shot at winning the FedEx Cup and the $15 million prize.
Matsuyama won four times on the Japan Golf Tour as a rookie after graduating from college, then won the Memorial in 2014 and narrowly got into the FedEx Cup finale. He was as high as No. 2 in the world just two years ago after the U.S. Open.
But he’s gone two years without winning, and Friday was the first time he’s led after any round since his most recent victory in the Bridgestone Invitational.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been in contention,” Matsuyama said.
CHAMPIONS: Miguel Angel Jimenez birdied three of the final six holes for a 7-under 65 and a share of the first-round lead with a Monday qualifier, Doug Barron, in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open at Endicott, New York.
Jimenez, a 55-year-old Spaniard, had eight birdies and a boge. He won the Chubb Classic in February in Florida for his seventh senior title.
Barron, 50, had seven birdies in a bogey-free round. He’s coming off a fifth-place tie in the Senior British Open in his Champions debut.
Marco Dawson and Scott Parel were a stroke back at 66.
EUROPEAN: Edoardo Molinari shot his second straight 6-under 66 and earned a two-shot lead after two rounds of the Czech Masters at Vysoky Ujezd, Czech Republic.
Tied for fourth and two strokes off the lead after the first round, Molinari surged with six birdies for his second bogey-free round and a 12-under 132 total.
“At the moment, I’m very comfortable, I’m enjoying playing golf,” Molinari said. “I’ve been going through a tough few years so at the minute I’m just really enjoying myself on the golf course.”
Three straight birdies on the final three holes gave the 2015 Czech Masters champion, Thomas Pieters of Belgium, a bogey-free round of 5-under 67 and sole second at 134.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.