Matsuyama masters Medinah with record 63
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 from15 feet or longer and broke the course record at Medinah with a 9-under-par 63 for a one-stroke lead going into the weekend.
He started his second round with a 30-foot birdie putt. He ended the round 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 was a big difference for Tiger Woods, too. 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.
Matsuyama was at 12under 132 and 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 all 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. In other golf news:
• Miguel Angel Jimenez birdied three of the final six holes for a 7-under 65 and a share of the firstround lead with Monday qualifier Doug Barron in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open at Endicott, N.Y. Marco Dawson and Scott Parel were a stroke back at 66 in the PGA Tour Champions event.
• William Holcomb, a Sam Houston State junior from Crockett, advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst, N.C., with a 4-and-3 victory over Karl Vilips of Australia. Holcomb moves on to play John Augenstein of Owensboro, Ky. Augenstein defeated Palmer Jackson of Murrysville, Pa., 3 and 2. Also advancing to the semifinals were Austin Squires of Union, Ky., and Andy Ogletree of Little Rock, Miss.