Thomas shoots 61 at BMW, has six-stroke lead

Justin Thomas opened with five consecutive birdies, added two eagles and shattered the course record with an 11-under-par 61 to take a six-shot lead into the final round of the BMW Championship at Medinah, Ill.

Thomas hit a five-wood to two feet for an eagle on No. 10, holed out from 180 yards with an eight-iron on No. 16 and made eight birdies to turn a tight race into a oneman show.

“I felt good about my game for a while, and you don’t know when something like this going to happen,” Thomas said. “We’ve all been talking the last couple of weeks that I’m due to have one, and it’s nice when it happens.”

Thomas was at 21-under 195, six shots ahead of Tony Finau (68) and Patrick Cantlay (67). A victory would give Thomas the FedEx Cup lead going into the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

Finau holed out from the fourth fairway for eagle. Cantlay had five birdies.

Low scores were everywhere.

“It doesn’t matter what golf course it is,” Thomas said. “You give us soft, good greens and soft fairways, we’re going to tear it apart. It’s just how it is.”

All but two players in the 69-man field — Harold Varner III and Cameron Champ — were at par or better.

In five majors held at Medinah, the lowest score was a 65. That was matched twice Thursday by Thomas and Jason Kokrak. Hideki Matsuyama set the standard with a 63 on Friday. Until Thomas’ round.

Rory Sabbatini shot 30 on the back nine — four birdies over his last five holes — and was alone in fourth. That would be enough to get him into the Tour Championship for the first time since 2007, the first year of the FedEx Cup.

Doug Barron had a onestroke lead in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open at Endicott, N.Y., when lightning forced the suspension of play late in the second round.

Making his second PGA Tour Champions start after turning 50 last month, Barron was 10 under for the tournament when play was stopped.

Scott McCarron (66) and Marco Dawson were tied for second at nine under. John Augenstein defeated William Holcomb 3 and 2, and Andy Ogletree got past Cohen Trolio 3 and 1 to advance to Sunday’s final of the U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst, N.C.