Hideki Matsuyama sank a 66-yard birdie putt on the last hole of his first lap at the BMW Championship on Thursday to take the direct lead at 3, giving him the edge over a populous leadership that is struggling – mostly without success – to hang around for nothing on the challenging track at Olympia Fields. Matsuyama is one of only three golfers on the field to enter Round 2 in the red, with the rest of the field on par or above par.
Chasing him on the rankings are Tyler Duncan (-2), Mackenzie Hughes (-1) and a handful of golfers on equal par led by Rory McIlroy and Tony Finau. Dustin Johnson, who ranks first in the FedEx Cup playoff rankings, sits at 1 over.
Meanwhile, Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas, playing partners in an upcoming charity match, both scored 73-over-par 73s to stay in the mix entering Friday. Thomas is second in the FedEx Cup playoff standings, while Woods fights his wall with his playoffs. He probably needs at least a top 10 finish this week to qualify for next week’s Tour Championship. That makes what he potentially needs to television Friday, otherwise his season will come to an end.
Below are the full tea times and run of round 1 for Friday.
Time of BMW Championship, pairs for Friday
All times Eastern | Featured groups are in italics
Hole no. 1
12:30 pm – Joel Dahmen, Danny Lee, Tom Hoge
12:41 pm – Byeong Hun An, Mackenzie Hughes, Patrick Cantlay
12:52 pm – Kevin Kisner, Viktor Hovland, Cameron Champ
1:03 pm – Tyrrell Hatton, Hideki Matsuyama, Abraham Ancer
1:14 pm – Andrew Landry, Corey Conners, Matt Kuchar
1:25 pm – Alex Noren, Harry Higgs, Adam Hadwin
1:36 pm – Tony Finau, Billy Horschel, Joaquin Niemann
1:47 p.m. – Sungjae Im, Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed
13.58 – Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Daniel Berger
2:09 pm – Carlos Ortiz, Tiger Woods, Bubba Watson
2:20 pm – JT Poston, Jason Kokrak, Maverick McNealy
Hole no. 10
12:30 pm – Adam Scott, Gary Woodland, Nick Taylor
12:41 pm – Tyler Duncan, Matthew Wolff, Mark Hubbard
12:52 pm – Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy
1:03 pm – Collin Morikawa, Harris English, Bryson DeChambeau
1:14 pm – Jason Day, Michael Thompson, Talor Gooch
1:25 pm – Max Homa, Charles Howell III, Louis Oosthuizen
1:36 pm – Richy Werenski, Brendan Steele, Brian Harman
1:47 p.m. – Cameron Smith, Adam Long, Kevin Streelman
13.58 hrs – Marc Leishman, Kevin Na, Ryan Palmer
2:09 pm – Scottie Scheffler, Lanto Griffin, Sebastian Munoz
2.20pm – Dylan Frittelli, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Russell Henley
2.31pm – Robby Shelton, Jim Herman, Paul Casey
