CASTLE ROCK — Adam Scott made Castle Pines Golf Club’s attempt to pro-proof its course look laughable on Friday.
The Australian surged into a three-shot lead at the BMW Championship heading into the weekend after firing a 9-under par 63 that set a new record at the recently overhauled course and topped Keegan Bradley’s 66 on Thursday.
A few hours later, Sweden’s Ludvig Åberg matched Scott’s feat, also carding 63 a day after shooting even par to make for two record-breaking performances.
For Scott’s part, he dominated the course to move to 13-under after two days during a morning round that featured well-crafted drives, precision irons and stellar putting.
“Leaving the range, I just kind of wanted to keep moving in the right direction (off the momentum from a 4-under round on Thursday), grind it out and shoot under par and keep going that way,” Scott said. “Then by the middle of the round, I was thinking of how many birdies can I make.
“I feel like I really don’t have anything to lose this week. I can’t go out of the top 50. I’m going to have a good schedule in the (PGA Tour’s) signature events next year. Of course, I’d love to make it to East Lake (with the top 30 for next week’s Tour Championship), but now I’d love to win this event.”
Scott entered the tournament at No. 41 in the FedExCup rankings, but he was projected to move up to No. 4 after Friday. His second-round card tied the FedExCup Playoffs scoring record in relation to par as he racked up four birdies on the front nine and five on the back. And he’s made just one bogey through two rounds, on Thursday’s par-4 third hole.
“I played within myself today and I picked fairly conservative targets,” Scott said. “But it was a good day to be aggressive when you had the right number. … There were a couple of other holes where I had wedges or shorter clubs where I brought it in close because the greens were soft and receiving.
“I didn’t play overly aggressive, but I think I executed well, and I putted very well today.”
Indeed: Scott’s unconventional broomstick putting style, in which he uses an elongated putter with his left hand up by his chest and his right hand down around his thighs, looked unstoppable on Friday. He ranked first in putting strokes gained (4.574) and second in feet of putts made at 125.
That included a 10-foot birdie putt on the first hole, an 11-foot birdie putt on the fifth, a 15-foot birdie putt on the sixth, an 11-foot birdie putt on the 12th, a 26-foot birdie putt on the 13th and a 15-foot birdie putt on the 14th.
He also made some outstanding iron shots, including one to help save par on the par-3 fourth when he hit it into the intermediate cut off the tee and another good shot on the par-3 16th to set up a short birdie putt.
“I hit it into a pretty average spot off the tee (on the fourth hole) but flopped one up there and made a putt,” Scott said. “That was nice. And I think the six-iron into 16 was my best shot of the day. It was a good number for me, but I hit a really nice shot. That’s one of the ones that came out pretty much how you drew it up in your head. That was a nice way to close out the round.”
Scott, whose PGA Tour debut in America came at The International at Castle Pines in 2000, has 14 career wins. He won The Masters in 2013, his lone major title, and had a brief stint as the world’s No. 1-ranked golfer in 2014. But he hasn’t won on the Tour since claiming The Genesis Invitational in February 2020.
In that way, the twilight of his career has been a tough go, although the 44-year-old took runner-up at the Genesis Scottish Open last month. He lost by one stroke to Robert MacIntyre, who birdied the final hole to win.
“The Scottish was great (for my confidence),” Scott said. “I think just playing in contention that last day really and playing well, especially down the stretch, felt good that I had some kind of memory of how to do that. I’ve done it a fair bit over the years, but it’s been a little while since I was really in contention, and feeling comfortable in that position was what I took out of that, and the reminder that somewhere down the stretch to win a tournament you’ve got to hole a putt. Bob did and I didn’t.”
Bradley, the leader after the opening day, is on Scott’s heels at 10-under after posting a 68 on Friday. Åberg is also right in the mix as well at 9-under in his BMW Championship debut. Åberg (No. 7 in the rankings entering the tournament) birdied his first two holes, overcame a bogey on the par-4 third, then had six more birdies in addition to an eagle on the par-5 14th.
“(I) was just a little bit more efficient,” Åberg said. “The misses that I had were a bit tighter. I had a couple of misses (Thursday) that were quite big. I just didn’t make those two double (bogeys) that I made (Thursday), and I made a few more putts. Overall, really pleased with how I played today.”
Åberg, who is 20 years Scott’s junior, called the Australian an inspiration for his own budding career. Åberg has just one PGA Tour win so far, last year at The RSM Classic, but he has seven top-five finishes.
“(Scott) has been there (on the PGA Tour) for a long time, and what he’s doing with that longevity is amazing,” Åberg said. “I look up to him a lot. It’ll be fun to try to catch him this weekend.”
Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama — last weekend’s FedEx St. Jude Championship winner who was in contention after Thursday at 5-under — withdrew before Friday’s round due to lower back pain, taking one potential challenger out of the mix.
Åberg’s fellow Swede, Alex Noren, is in fourth at 8-under. The Canadian duo of Taylor Pendrith (fifth at 7-under) and Corey Conners (tied for sixth at 6 under) are right behind them, as is the South Korean duo of Si Woo Kim (tied for sixth at 6-under) and Sungjae Im (tied for eighth with Patrick Cantlay at 5-under).
“(I’m) not comfortable yet,” Scott said. “We’ll see after tomorrow. … It feels good to go low, that I’ve still got that in me. Hopefully, there’s one more in there this week.”
Scott’s most recent 36-hole lead came at the BMW Championship two years ago, when he finished tied for fifth. He is vying to become only the second player in his 40s with a victory this season (Brice Garnett was the other at the Puerto Rico Open), and the fifth Australian to win the BMW Championship.
Saturday’s tee times
7:20 a.m.: Max Greyserman
7:30 a.m.: Max Homa and Davis Thompson
7:40 a.m.: Jason Day and Justin Thomas
7:50 a.m.: Cameron Young and Christiaan Bezuidenhout
8 a.m.: Matthieu Pavon and Matt Fitzpatrick
8:10 a.m.: Denny McCarthy and Billy Horschel
8:20 a.m.: Eric Cole and Stephan Jaeger
8:35 a.m.: Austin Eckroat and Sahith Theegala
8:45 a.m.: J.T. Poston and Aaron Rai
8:55 a.m.: Scottie Scheffler and Adam Hadwin
9:05 a.m.: Robert MacIntyre and Tony Finau
9:15 a.m.: Xander Schauffele and Cam Davis
9:25 a.m.: Sepp Straka and Viktor Hovland
9:40 a.m.: Shane Lowry and Thomas Detry
9:50 a.m.: Chris Kirk and Byeong Hun An
10 a.m.: Nick Dunlap and Tommy Fleetwood
10:10 a.m.: Sam Burns and Rory McIlroy
10:20 a.m.: Brian Harman and Russell Henley
10:30 a.m.: Will Zalatoris and Tom Hoge
10:45 a.m.: Collin Morikawa and Akshay Bhatia
10:55 a.m.: Patrick Cantlay and Wyndham Clark
11:05 a.m.: Sungjae Im and Si Woo Kim
11:15 a.m.: Taylor Pendrith and Corey Conners
11:25 a.m.: Ludvig Åberg and Alex Noren
11:35 a.m.: Adam Scott and Keegan Bradley
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Originally Published: August 23, 2024 at 6:46 p.m.
