A day for records at Northern Trust
Leader Johnson cards best PGA round after Scheffler joins the elusive 59 club
Dustin Johnson posted the best round of his highly decorated PGA Tour career on Friday and leads the Northern Trust by two shots at the midway point.
But his 11-under 60 to reach 15 under for the tournament wasn’t even the round of the day at TPC Boston in Norton, Mass.
That belonged to Scottie Scheffler, who carded just the 12th round of 59 or lower in PGA Tour history.
Scheffler carded 12 birdies en route to his 12-under 59 that saw him rocket 70 spots up the leaderboard. Scheffler was tied for the lead at 13 under when he walked off the course.
Johnson said he was aware of Scheffler’s score as he was launching his own assault on TPC Boston. He eagled two of his first four holes and made the turn in 9-under 27.
It appeared Johnson was on his way to his own 59 — or better — when he rolled in two birdies to open his back nine. However, his round stalled out with seven consecutive pars, a 21-foot birdie attempt on the 18th hole narrowly missing.
As it was, Johnson topped the third-round 61 he posted in winning the Travelers Championship earlier this year.
“Obviously trying to shoot 59, you can definitely feel it,” he said. “I knew I was leading, also. Coming down the stretch, you maybe put a little more pressure on yourself because you want to make those birdies or make those putts.
“It is what it is. I’m in a good spot and I’ll come out tomorrow and try to shoot another low one.”
Scheffler birdied six holes on each nine, draining a 4 1/2-foot putt on 18 to secure the 59. He’s tied for second place with Cameron Davis, who has recorded a 64 and 65 through two rounds.
“You don’t ever really get too many opportunities to shoot a 59, so to be able to finish the job is really cool,” Scheffler said. “And I definitely was nervous, very nervous, over both those shots and coming down the stretch, but I think it helped me focus a little bit more.”
Scheffler said he shot a 59 while playing with friends during quarantine, while Johnson said he doesn’t recall ever breaking 60.
“Not that I remember, and I think I’d remember that,” Johnson said with a smile.
First-round co-leader Harris English is tied for third place at 12 under, along with Australia’s Danny Lee and South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen.
Justin Thomas entered the Fedex Cup playoffs as the top seed.
He has shot a 68 and 67 to reach the weekend at 7 under, but is still eight shots off Johnson’s lead.
Top-ranked Jon Rahm shot a 67 on Friday and is nine shots back at 6 under.
“It’s extremely impressive,” Thomas said of the scores posted by Scheffler and Johnson. “I said it a couple years ago, I still think someone is going to shoot a 56 or 57 or 58 on Tour, whether it’s the next couple years or 10 or 15 years.
“We’re all getting so much better, and especially if you get a place like this with really good greens. And if it’s soft, we’re pretty good with our distance control and pretty good at golf to where we get it rolling, who knows what can happen?”
The 3-under cut line is more reminiscent of a standard Tour stop than a playoff event. But it still put a lot of marquee players in danger of not reaching the weekend.
That included Tiger Woods, Rory Mcilroy and Justin Rose, former No. 1-ranked players who each made the cut on the number. So, too, did former Masters champion Patrick Reed.
Woods struggled with his iron play during an even-par 71 and two-putted on 18 to secure playing the weekend. Mcilroy birdied three of his final 10 holes to sneak above the cut line, while Rose drained a lengthy putt on his final hole to keep his hopes alive of advancing to next week’s BMW Championship.
“I just didn’t quite have it,” Woods said. “I was hitting the ball all over the place, and on a golf course that was certainly giving it up to most of the field. I made it really, really hard on myself.
“I was close to snapping a couple of clubs today. But I didn’t, so that’s a positive.”
The top 70 players in the Fedex Cup standings after The Northern Trust will move on to the second leg. Rose entered the week at No. 109 and still needs an excellent weekend to continue his season, but he kept hope alive with three birdies over his final five holes Friday.
NOTES: PGA Championship winner Collin Morikawa missed the cut at 1 over but will advance to the BMW Championship next week. ... Jordan Spieth entered the week 100th in the standings and saw his season end when he missed the cut by a single stroke . ... Phil Mickelson entered the week at No. 67 but is projected to drop out of the top 70 after missing the cut. He’s slated to make his debut on the Champions tour next week.