Clark takes solo BMW championship lead after another bogey-free round

Wyndham Clark moved into the outright lead at the BMW Championship on Friday after producing another bogey-free six-under-par 64, with Rory McIlroy remaining within striking distance at the second event of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Play-offs.

One of five players sharing the overnight lead, [Wyndham Clark] pulled clear of the field with a birdie on the 17th at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, Missouri. He had narrowly missed a long uphill eagle putt moments earlier.

Clark then safely negotiated the final hole from a fairway bunker to complete the first 36 holes of his PGA Tour event without dropping a shot.

“Even though I missed some more fairways today, the misses were in good spots,” Clark said.

“I feel like my putter still hasn’t gotten hot yet, so it would be nice if it does on the weekend. But I played really good, solid golf.”

The American, who won his second US Open title in June, made birdies at the fourth, sixth, eighth and 10th holes with excellent approach play before rolling in a 21-foot putt at the 14th.

Clark reached the halfway point at 12-under par, one shot ahead of fellow US Open winner [Gary Woodland], who finished strongly with back-to-back birdies despite struggling from the tee.

“I lost it a little bit on the back nine, lost some shots to the right, and I was able to adjust, kind of take a step back,” Woodland said.

“I checked my grip and hit four really great shots coming in on 17, 18, so proud of the adjustment I made there.”

Another overnight co-leader, [J.J. Spaun], made a flying start by carding four consecutive birdies during a superb front nine.

“Wasn’t really thinking much. Was kind of in a nice flow mentally and technically with my game,” Spaun said.

Three bogeys after the turn slowed his momentum, but Spaun responded with a birdie at the last to sign for a 66. He sits in third place, two shots behind Clark.

“That was a nice way to end the day. Kind of hit a little rough patch on 14, 15 with a poor 3-putt and a poor second shot on 14. But that’s golf, it happens.”

Spaun added: “I’ve always thought really tough courses fit my game… When fairways and greens in (regulation) are a premium, that’s kind of where I do well, like a US Open.”

McIlroy Remains in Contention

[Chris Gotterup] was another shot further back alongside South Korea’s [Im Sung-jae], while [Michael Thorbjornsen] and [Patrick Cantlay] both reached eight-under par.

[Rory McIlroy], meanwhile, remains firmly in the hunt after carding a two-under-par 69 to sit tied for eighth, five shots behind Clark.

The Northern Irishman is looking to rediscover his best form after a disappointing 66th-place finish at last week’s St. Jude Championship in Memphis.

McIlroy survived a difficult approach at the second hole after striking his shot while standing precariously on lakeside rocks, but managed to save par.

“Today I hit some decent iron shots but was a little more squirrely off the tee,” said the six-time major champion.

Scheffler Responds with Excellent 65

World number one [Scottie Scheffler] bounced back from a difficult opening round with an impressive 65 after battling through illness.

The reigning world number one, who dominated last week’s event in Memphis, produced five birdies on the back nine to move to three-under par for the tournament.

“I’m a ways back, but I’m not out of it by any means,” Scheffler said.

Scheffler admitted he was still struggling with an unspecified illness after feeling unwell during his opening round.

“I wasn’t feeling 100% yesterday. I’m still not feeling 100 per cent today. So I’ll go home, get some rest.”

With two rounds remaining, Clark holds the advantage at the top, while a strong chasing group—including McIlroy and Scheffler—will look to close the gap over the weekend.