Tour Championship: Scottie Scheffler stays strong at top of leaderboard, Xander Schauffele makes big move

Scottie Scheffler gave no indication of releasing his grip on the Tour Championship, but Xander Schauffele cut his lead with a brilliant display on a course he adores.

World No. 1 Scheffler arrived at East Lake as the hot favourite by virtue of his outstanding play all season and the fact he started with a two-stroke lead due to the staggered start.

He got to 19-under after a round of 66 for a two-stroke lead, but East Lake specialist Schauffele raised hope of a duel over the weekend after carding a blistering round of 63.

Scheffler’s tee shot on the second suggested he was not likely to back off, as he took dead aim and brought his ball to a standstill four feet from the hole for a simple birdie.

An awful tee shot on the sixth leaked way to the right, but he somehow found a route through the trees and got up and down for a birdie on the par five to extend the lead to seven shots.

Scheffler is a pretty laid-back character and rarely shows emotion on the course, but he cracked a huge smile on the ninth. The flag on the par three had danger written all over it and the sensible play was to run for safety to the left side of the green.

Safety was not on Scheffler’s mind, and the spectators were left in disbelief as his ball clattered into the flag and dropped five feet from the hole.

The only surprise was that he missed the birdie putt. In truth, the putter was colder than the previous day but he got round without a bogey on the card to suggest more is in the locker if he can get the short stick working again.

Second Round Leaderboard

• 1. Scottie Scheffler, 19-under
• 2. Xander Schauffele, 17-under
• 3. Jon Rahm, 13-under
• T4. Patrick Cantlay, 12-under
• T4. Sungjae Im, 12-under
• 6. Joaquin Niemann, 11-under
• 7. Rory McIlroy, 10-under

Schauffele looks certain to make Scheffler work for the title as he fought back from being eight back at one stage to cut the lead to two. His drive, brilliant second shot and putt for eagle on 18 sent out a message that he will be a force at the weekend after getting to 17-under.

Jon Rahm emerged from the pack with a 63 – his lowest round at East Lake – to get to 13-under and suggest he could be a threat at the weekend.

“It was two different nines,” Rahm told Sky Sports. “The front nine I played pretty good golf, hit most of the fairways, and my proximity to the hole was close.

“The back nine I struggled a bit from 12 on. I kept missing fairways and did not put myself in positions where I could give myself chances at birdies.

“I hit good putts for par on 12 and 13 and that gave me confidence to finish strong.”

Rory McIlroy avoided the horror show of a triple bogey on his opening hole, as was the case on Thursday. For the second day in a row he carded a 67, this time it was bogey free, as he got to 10-under.

The sweet-swinging Max Homa was the hottest player on Friday, as he dominated the course with a round of 62. He went out in 30 before stalling a shade on the back nine, but a stunning eagle on the final hole moved him to nine-under at the halfway stage.