Koepka moves into tie for lead
PARAMUS, N.J. — Brooks Koepka showed some muscle and unleashed a monstrous finish Friday to share the lead at The Northern Trust.
Tiger Woods missed yet another putt and was relieved to still be playing.
Koepka spent most of the second round trading birdies and bogeys, going nowhere. One swing on the 631-yard 13th hole at Ridgewood Country Club changed everything.
From just less than 310 yards away, he swung a 3-wood as hard as he could and saw the tight draw that had been missing all day. It stopped 20 feet from the hole, and Koepka made his putt for eagle — then closed with three straight birdies for a 6-under 65.
The reigning U.S. Open and PGA Championship winner was tied with Jamie Lovemark, who shot a 66.
“I wasn’t happy the first 11 holes the way I hit it,” Koepka said. “When I hit that 3-wood, it all clicked. I felt like I was finally able to release the golf club. Just tried to hit as hard as I could, big draw. Aimed at the tree on the right and tried to draw it back to the flag. When I did that, everything started to click.”
Lovemark, winless in 135 starts as a pro, made five birdies in a six-hole stretch around the turn and was the first to reach 10-under 132. Before long, a list of contenders lined up behind them in an entertaining start to the FedEx Cup playoffs.
Adam Scott had a 64 for the low round of the tournament and was one shot behind. Another shot back was top-ranked Dustin Johnson, who had another 67 that for the second straight day included a triple bogey.
Bryson DeChambeau had a 66 and joined Johnson in the tie for fourth at 134. There was a five-way tie for sixth at 7-under 135: Tommy Fleetwood (68), Sean O’Hair (69), Ryan Palmer (67), Kevin Tway (69) Jhonattan Vegas (68).
Woods was not part of the action, even though he hit the ball beautifully. He had a birdie putt on every hole until the par-3 15th, when his tee shot rolled just off the green against the collar. All he had to show for it was two birdies, giving him four in 36 holes.
He finished with a three-putt bogey from just inside 30 feet, giving him another 71. He made the cut on the number, leaving him 10 shots behind.
A trio of Baylor School graduates made the PGA Tour’s four-tournament playoffs, but Luke List was the lone former Red Raiders standout to make the cut in the opening event. He shot a 69 and was tied for 33rd at 3 under.
Missing the par cut were Harris English, who followed his opening 75 with a 70, and Keith Mitchell, who also opened with a 75 but was a stroke worse in the second round.
Axley makes the cut
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Robert Streb took the second-round lead in the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, the opening event of the Web. com Tour Finals.
Streb made an eagle during a 3-under 68 at Ohio State University’s Scarlett Course and was at 9-under 133 overall, a stroke ahead of Kramer Hickok (68) and two in front of Sam Burns (67), Matt Jones (68), Denny McCarthy (69) and Wes Roach (66).
The four-tournament playoff series features the top 75 players from the Web.com Tour’s regular-season money list, Nos. 126200 from the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings and nonmembers with enough earnings to have placed in the top 200.
The top 25 finishers on the Web.com Tour’s regular-season money list have already earned PGA Tour cards. They are competing against each other for tour priority, with regular-season earnings counting in their totals. The other players are fighting for 25 cards based on series earnings.
Athens, Tennessee, native Eric Axley— 35th on the Web. com Tour’s regular-season money list — shot a second-round 70 and was tied for 52nd at 142.
Chattanooga’s Stephan Jaeger followed his opening 72 with a 75 and missed the cut by four strokes. The former Baylor School and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga standout was a PGA Tour rookie this season but was 165th in points to miss that circuit’s FedEx Cup playoffs.
His best finish on the big tour was a tie for 13th at the Quickens Loans National in July, but he won one of two Web.com Tour events previously played this season, taking the Knoxville Open title in May.
Former UTC golfer Jonathan Hodge was 102nd and former Dalton (Georgia) High School golfer Blake Adams 201st on the regular-season money list to miss the Web.com Tour Finals.
Yang up by one stroke
REGINA, Saskatchewan — Amy Yang shot a 7-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead midway through the CP Women’s Open, with Canadian star Brooke Henderson (66) and 19-year-old American Angel Yin (67) tied for second at Wascana Country Club.
Yang, a 29-year-old three-time LPGA Tour event winner from South Korea, birdied four of the first five holes and finished with nine birdies and two bogeys as she moved to 13-under 131 overall.
Henderson, 20, is a six-time LPGA event winner from Smiths Falls, Ontario. Jocelyne Bourassa is the only Canadian to win this national championship, accomplishing the feat in the inaugural 1973 La Canadienne at Montreal Municipal.
There were four golfers in fourth at 10 under: Nasa Hataoka (70), Ariya Jutanugarn (70), Sung Hyun Park (64) and Maria Torres (66).
Daly stumbles to a 75
VYSOKY UJEZD, Czech Republic — Gavin Green boosted his chances of becoming the first Malaysian golfer to win on the European Tour, but two-time major winner John Daly followed his opening 8-under 64 with a 75 in the second round of the Czech Masters.
The 1991 PGA Championship and 1995 British Open winner made five bogeys as he slipped to a tie for 36th at 5-under 139 at Albatross Golf Resort. The 52-year-old American had started the day in a share of the lead with Green, Belgium’s Thomas Pieters and England’s Callum Tarren.
Green took over first place outright after seven birdies, one bogey and a double bogey gave him a 4-under 68 and a one-stroke advantage over Denmark’s Jeff Winther (68). Green was at 12-under 132 overall.
Tied for third at 134 were Pieters (70), Padraig Harrington (68), Andrea Pavan (69) and Tapio Pulkkanen (69).
Trio tied at the top
SNOQUALMIE, Wash. — Kent Jones, Scott Parel and Tom Pernice Jr. shared the first-round lead at 7-under 65 in the PGA Tour Champions’ Boeing Classic.
Pernice, 58, is a five-time winner on the 50-and-older circuit who has two PGA Tour victories. Jones, 51, and Parel, 53, are winless on the senior tour.
Scott McCarron, Steve Pate and Ken Tanigawa were a stroke back at The Club at Snoqualmie Ridge, with Billy Andrade, Bob Estes, Mike Grob and Miguel Angel Jimenez tied for seventh at 67.