New Jersey: Adam Scott used a run of four successive birdies yesterday to vault into a share of the halfway lead at The Barclays, and Rory McIlroy joined the fray at the opener of the four-event FedExCup play-offs.
Scott, the Australian world number two, caught fire from the par-four fifth hole to post a 31 on the front nine and added two more birdies including a nice finishing touch at 18 to complete a 65 for eight-under 134 along with American Cameron Tringale.
Scott was hitting the ball like a dream from tee to green, and reckoned he might have broken 60 if he had taken advantage of the par-fives and cashed in with his putter on a host of other scoring opportunities.
“Always hard to put numbers on it but six, seven,” Scott told reporters when asked how much better his score could have been.
Tringale, who last week disqualified himself from the PGA Championship for signing an incorrect scorecard, shot a 68 to share a one-stroke lead with Scott on a jammed pack leaderboard.
World number one McIlroy, on a blazing three-tournament winning streak that included major triumphs in the British Open and PGA Championship, shrugged off an opening 74 with a sizzling six-under 65 to move up to three under par for the tournament.
The Northern Irishman, who took some time off from practicing after his brilliant run, went back to work after his poor round and got right back on track. “I know how well I’m playing and how comfortable I am with my game, so even to miss a cut feeling like that would have felt really bad,” said McIlroy.
One stroke behind the co-leaders were Jim Furyk (69) and fellow Americans Brendon Todd (69) and Kevin Chappell (67) on 135, one shot better than a group of six that included last year’s FedExCup champion Henrik Stenson of Sweden and Australian Jason Day, who both fired 64s.
Also at six-under-par 136 were South African Ernie Els (68), Scotsman Russell Knox (69), Kevin Na (66) and Bo Van Pelt (71), the overnight leader.
Mickelson went on to bogey the hole and shot a 72 but made the cut right on the number. The top 100 players on the FedExCup points list will qualify for Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston.
REUTERS
