Jason Day leads by five at BMW Championship after eagle at the last
Sunday 20 September 2015 16:22, UK
Jason Day extended his lead to five shots at the halfway stage of the BMW Championship thanks to an eagle at his last hole on Friday.
Day finished off a round of 61 early on Friday morning and later completed a second round 63 with tee-times having been brought forward because of the threat of bad weather in Illinois.
The Australian, who recently won the 97th PGA Championship to claim his first major victory, had a chance at a 59 with one hole left to play in his opening round, but he made a hash of his short approach shot and failed to convert for birdie.
But his incredible run of scoring continued later in the morning and throughout the afternoon with early birdies coming at the second and third holes before a frustrating run of pars ended by a third birdie at eight.
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Four more would follow in the first six holes of his back-nine, with his only dropped shot of the day coming at the 13th when he three-putted.
After a couple of pars, Day smashed two huge shots down the par-five closing hole and managed to hole a putt of more than 40 feet to finish his round in style with a sublime eagle, reaching an tournament record 18 under after 36 holes.
American pair Daniel Berger and Brendon Todd are Day's closest challengers after taking similar advantage of benign scoring conditions.
Berger had eight birdies and one dropped shot in his seven-under 64, while Todd went one better with a round of 63 that included eight birdies, an eagle and two bogeys.
Two strokes further back on 11 under lies Masters and US Open champion Jordan Spieth who, like Day, finished his round with an eagle after some earlier struggles.
Spieth was three under for the day through 11 holes but dropped shots at the 12th and 13th and he had to dig deep to make it round in 66, albeit seven shots behind the red-hot Day.
The third man in the intriguing race for the world's No 1 ranking, current incumbent Rory McIlroy, is two strokes further behind on nine under after an improved second round 65.
McIlroy wasted a couple of decent chances but managed a blemish-free round, carding four birdies and an eagle to sit in a tie for ninth place at halfway alongside Dustin Johnson, who carded the best round of the day.
Johnson struggled badly on Thursday, carding a level par 71, but he went nine shots better on Friday with seven birdies and an eagle.
Watch the third round of the BMW Championship live on Sky Sports 4 HD on Saturday from 8.00pm.
