Dustin Johnson and Roberto Castro are tied for the lead at 14 under par through two rounds at the rainy BMW Championship. Here’s where things stand heading into the weekend at Crooked Stick, where all are looking to advance to the season-ending Tour Championship and a handful are trying to impress U.S. Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III.
Leaderboard: Castro (-14), Johnson (-14), Paul Casey (-11), J.B. Holmes (-10), Chris Kirk (-9), Ryan Palmer (-7), Matt Kuchar (-7), Kevin Na (-7), Sergio Garcia (-7)
What it means: A recent putter switch has paid serious dividends for Johnson, who’s now in pursuit of his third win this season and the Player of the Year award. He’ll play Saturday with first-round leader Roberto Castro, who remains in search of his first PGA Tour win after losing a playoff to James Hahn at the Wells Fargo Championship in May. Those two will be chased by Casey, who’s back after failing to close last week at TPC Boston, and by potential U.S. Ryder Cup captain’s picks in Holmes, Kuchar (-7), Na (-7), Daniel Berger (-6) and Bubba Watson (-6).
Round of the day: Johnson fired a spotless 9-under 63 with five birdies and two eagles. Two under through his first eight holes, DJ holed out from the greenside bunker at the par-5 ninth and added two more birdies and another eagle-3 across his final nine holes. His 36-hole total of 14 under marks his lowest career score to par in a PGA Tour event.
Best of the rest: Ryan Palmer was a bogey-free 8 under par. He made two birdies on his front nine before pouring in six on the back and marked his scorecard with four straight circles on Nos. 9-12. His 64 has him up to a tie for sixth at 7 under for the week after an opening 73.
Biggest disappointment: In his quest to get to Hazeltine, Rickie Fowler may not make it to East Lake. Fowler followed an opening-round 75 with a 1-under 71 Friday and currently sits 2 over for the week, in a tie for 62nd. Fowler, who started the week 22nd on the FedEx Cup points list, is currently projected 30th. The top 30 players in the standings will play the Tour Championship in two weeks.
Shot of the day: As hot as Johnson has been with the putter this week, he was able to leave it in the bag at No. 9 when his play from the bunker ran down the hill and found the bottom of the cup.
