If you looked at last week’s Northern Trust at TPC Boston, where there were two 59 watches on the same day and 30 under was the final winning score, the first round of the BMW championship was pretty much the exact opposite of that.
Only three players played below par at Olympia Fields Thursday in Round 1, and if you had been on 2 of 18 holes, you are earning shots on the course. This is good news for a lot of big names at this event as there were a lot of 2 overs (and worse!) On Thursday. Let’s take a look at Friday’s second round standings.
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1. Hideki Matsuyama (-3) – He was first on the pitch from tee to green and first in the standings after Round 1. It shouldn’t come as a surprise. Olympia Fields will almost certainly identify the best striker on the pitch this week, and it could end up being Matsuyama. It certainly has what it takes to stay at the top. Normally it is true that a course identifies the best striker in a given week, but it will be even more true this week, given the speed and firmness of this field.
2. Tyler Duncan (-2) – To give you an idea of how good a 68 was on Thursday, consider the fact that it was nearly five shots better than average on the court in Round 1. A score equivalent last week at TPC Boston in Round 1 it would have been a 64. Duncan needs it too, as he started this week with the bubble of making it to next week’s Tour Championship (which would take him to several mass events in 2021). There’s always a lot at stake when so much money is involved, but for someone like Duncan, who isn’t in the top 10 since winning last fall, he changes lives more than most. Also, don’t expect it to last as Duncan led the course in putting, which isn’t a super sustainable way to win a tournament like this.
3. Mackenzie Hughes (-1) – Good round for Hughes, who is a solid player but barely got shots off the tee and with his irons. If it’s below average at the end of the day on Friday, I’d be shocked.
T4. Tony Finau, Harry Higgs, Billy Horschel, Lanto Griffin, Sebastian Munoz, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Carlos Ortiz, Mark Hubbard, Rory McIlroy, Abraham Ancer (E) – McIlroy should probably be the new favorite given how he hit him on Thursday. He turned 70 but was in the top five in both driving and iron game, and missed three (!) Putts from 4 foot and inside. He went home last week after TPC Boston was looking for a driver who was feeling lost, and got completely blistered in Round 1. Good sign for the rest of the week.
T14. Dustin Johnson, Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland (+1) – Hovland hit a driver from the bridge Thursday gave me weak knees. Think how jarring it is for DJs to pass 60-64-63 in the last three rounds at TPC Boston and then come to this track and post a 71 which is actually a really solid score! He needs to fix the rider a bit before Friday as he only hit six fairways and missed out on the pitch with his most dangerous team.
T21. Alex Noren, Adam Scott, Matthew Wolff (+2) – I’m only talking about this group because Noren was my sleeper coming in the week. He broke his irons and put it on well (which he normally does), but will have to hit more than six fairways in each of the next three rounds to be considered a factor.
T35. Tiger Woods, Justin Thomas (+3) – Last week, 3 overs were completely out after Round 1. This week? It is very much at stake until Friday. Woods is the biggest name among those who shot 73 on Thursday, and he came to that number late by bogeying the last three holes of his round. He had a right hand mistake that went off the tee for most of the day, and that was the one that bit him in two of the last three holes and led to those bogeys. You don’t have to drive it perfectly at Olympia Fields, but with the speed and firmness of the greens in Round 1, it becomes very, very difficult to stop your ball in any kind of scoring position from some of the longer stuff, even with short irons. Woods has hit the ball well and used his creativity on and around the interesting greens of Olympia Fields, but he will have to be cleaner overall (and especially with the driver) for the past three days if he is to be truly on the hunt.
CBS Sports has been with you the whole time updating this story with the latest results, updates and highlights below. Check out the live scores at the start of this story, a more detailed leaderboard, and our comprehensive viewer guide.
