Deccan Chronicle

Woods slips behind leader Schauffele

-

Philadelph­ia, Sept. 8: Tiger Woods did not have things going his way at the BMW Championsh­ip a day after he opened with a 62, which was his lowest score since his last win more than five years ago.

Woods endured eight holes before his first birdie and didn’t have many after that. He finished with two straight bogeys for a 70, leaving him five shots behind in a tie for 12th.

However, Xander Schauffele had another great day as he came close to holing a wedge on his second hole, had a 40-foot birdie putt in the middle of his round and finished with a 6under for the lowest 36-hole score of his career. He also held a two-shot lead over Justin Rose.

Schauffele was at 13-under 127 and will be paired in the third round Saturday with a familiar figure in Philadelph­ia. Rose, who played bogey-free for a 64, won the AT&T National at Aronimink in 2010, and his only major came at nearby Merion in the 2013 U.S Open.

Hideki Matsuyama, who started the FedExCup Playoffs at No. 76, had a 64 and was in a group three shots behind that included Keegan Bradley, Alex Noren and Rickie Fowler. Matsuyama suddenly is in position to be among the 30 players

Xander Schauffele had another great day as he had a 40-foot birdie putt in the middle of his round and finished with a 6-under for the lowest 36-hole score of his career. He also held a two-shot lead over Justin Rose.

who advance to East Lake in Atlanta in two weeks for the TOUR Championsh­ip.

Also likely to advance Bradley and Noren, the Swede who makes his Ryder Cup debut at the end of the month. Noren holed out for eagle on the par-5 ninth for a 66, while Bradley keeps flirting with contention in these playoff events.

Rory McIlroy (67), FedExCup champion Justin Thomas (67) and Jason Day (64) were at 9under 131. Schauffele also needs a good week to get to Tour Championsh­ips at East Lake, and his goal would be to extend his season an additional week in France.

Jim Furyk had an easy time deciding on three of his four picks for the Ryder Cup. He had to make a fourth on Monday and Schauffele is hoping to get that.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from India