Tour Championship – spherical two
-10 R Gerard (US), V Hovland (Nor); -9 C Morikawa (US), C Gotterup (US); -8 S Scheffler (US), C Younger (US)
Chosen others: -7 M Fitzpatrick (Eng), J Rose (Eng), A Scott (Aus), L Aberg (Swe); R -6 Fox (NZ); -4 T Fleetwood (Eng), A Fitzpatrick (Eng), W Clark (US); -3 R McIlroy (NI); +3 R MacIntyre (Sco)
Norway’s Viktor Hovland and American Ryan Gerard are tied for the lead at 10 underneath, heading into the weekend on the Tour Championship in Atlanta.
Hovland, who was topped the Fedex Cup champion in 2023, made a birdie on the ultimate gap to card a four-under 66, after Gerard had set the clubhouse tempo with a five-under 65.
Whereas Hovland’s placing once more got here to the fore, Gerard was to not be outdone and memorably rolled in a shocking 78-foot birdie putt that travelled the size of the seventh inexperienced.
Collin Morikawa and Chris Gotterup are joint-second on 9 underneath, whereas world primary Scottie Scheffler shrugged off two early bogeys to fireside a 67, leaving him simply two pictures again within the PGA Tour’s season-ending occasion.
Cameron Younger, who received the Gamers Championship in March, can be at eight underneath after a scintillating spherical of 62 that contained seven birdies and an eagle on the par-five 18th.
England’s Justin Rose and Matt Fitzpatrick are additionally firmly in rivalry to take dwelling the $10m (£7.4m) prize on Sunday night and are three strokes adrift at seven underneath total.
Rose appeared in excellent type as he delivered a bogey-free 65, nonetheless, it was one other day of combined fortunes for Rory McIlroy who opened with a birdie however discovered himself two-over par after 4 holes.
The Northern Irishman’s frustration was evident on the third gap, when he missed the inexperienced along with his method after which twice didn’t chip his ball on to the placing floor from the identical spot on his option to a double bogey.
And whereas he made two birdies within the remaining three holes, the Masters champion might want to make important headway on Saturday, from his present place – tied for twenty third on three underneath.
Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre additionally had a forgettable day, notably after the flip.
The 30-year-old adopted three consecutive bogeys with a double bogey on the par-three fifteenth gap after discovering the water off the tee.
He ultimately signed for a six-over 76 and alongside Min Woo Lee and Xander Schauffele, was one in every of solely three gamers to conclude his second spherical over par.
Nonetheless, his path to a bogey on the 18th was removed from as uncommon because the one taken by Jacob Bridgeman, whose stray tee shot landed inside a stall promoting pizza.
