Scheffler Shoots 59, DJ Leads at Northern Trust

The Northern Trust had some fireworks on Friday that started with Dallas native Scottie Scheffler becoming the 11th player in PGA TOUR history to shoot a sub-60 round when he birdied No. 18 to card a 12-under 59 at TPC Boston.

“Today was obviously a good day on the course,” Scheffler said. “I got off to a really good start. Made a bunch of birdies on the front nine. Had some key up-and-downs at the beginning of the round that kind of got me rolling, freed me up a little bit. Then the momentum just kind of kept going.

“Never really lost momentum which was nice. A lot of times when you’re playing well you can lose that momentum towards the end of the round or have a hiccup here or there. The momentum stayed the whole time and I made a lot of putts.”

Scheffler played in the final group en route to a 4th place finish at the PGA Championship two weeks ago and now the PGA TOUR rookie out of the University of Texas has his sights set on making a run in the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

“I put myself in a good position to play well this weekend and win the tournament, and so I’m just going to continue to try to play well and hit good shots and see where that leaves me,” Scheffler said.

Following Scheffler’s magical morning round, Dustin Johnson threatened to break 60 in the afternoon wave when he was 11-under through 11 holes, but he parred in to shoot 60. While not the 59 or lower that he appeared destined to shoot after his hot start, Johnson still managed to take a two-hot lead into the weekend.

“Everything was going well today. I was striking it really well, just giving myself really good looks and obviously I was rolling the putter nicely,” Johnson said. “Any time you’re that many under through 11 holes you’re putting well. I made some nice putts but also I hit some really good shots.”

The last time two players shot 60 or below was the 2010 John Deere Classic when Paul Goydos shot a 59 and Steve Sticker fired a 60.

The lowest score in PGA TOUR history is 58 by Jim Furyk at the 2016 Travelers Championship.

While Scheffler and Johnson were going low, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy each made the 3-under cut on the number.

“I just didn’t quite have it. I was hitting the ball all over the place, and on a golf course that was certainly giving it up to most of the field. I made it really, really hard on myself, and especially the last two holes, I had wedge in my hand and made bogey there at 17, and 18 is a 3-wood and a 5- or 6-iron there,” Woods said. “I was close to snapping a couple clubs today, but I didn’t, so that’s a positive. Just keep fighting and grinding it out. ”

Woods and McIlroy are paired together for the third round. They will tee off at 7:30 a.m. CT.

Justin Thomas currently sits atop the FedEx Cup Playoffs standings and he is sitting in a tie for 20th at 7-under.

Jordan Spieth missed the cut and his PGA TOUR season is now over as he sits at No. 108 in the FedEx Cup Playoffs standings with only the top 70 qualified for the BMW Championship next week.

Phil Mickelson also missed out on next week’s BMW Championship when he missed the cut and ended up 76th in the standings. Following his round, he announced that he would be making his PGA TOUR Champions debut next week.

PGA Championship winner Collin Morikowa also missed the cut. It is only the second missed cut of his PGA TOUR career.