ST. LOUIS — Despite a rocky 27 opening holes at Bellerive, Scottie Scheffler believes he’s still in contention at the BMW Championship.
And that’s almost entirely because of what Scheffler did on the back nine of his second round Friday, which he opened with birdies on four of the first five holes.
He found another circle on the par-5 17th to shoot 5-under 65 — all five strokes gained coming on the final nine holes.
“About the only difference was probably the back nine,” said Scheffler when comparing the 65 to Thursday’s 72, where he bogeyed four of the first seven holes. “I didn’t get off to a good start today either, but did a good job of fighting back. I made a good bogey there on 6, nice birdie on 7, good par on 9, and was able to get some momentum on the back.”
Scheffler said Friday that he wasn’t feeling well during the opening round and that he wasn’t going to further exhaust himself after Round 2.
“I’m still not feeling a hundred percent today,” he admitted, “so I’ll go home, get some rest.”
The top 30 players will qualify for the PGA Tour’s playoff finale. Here’s how those around the cut line are faring at Bellerive.
‘Not out of it by any means’
The 2025 BMW Championship winner teed off Friday morning and said the biggest difference on his final nine holes was better opportunities on the green — and nailing down those easy putts.
“I had a couple nasty lip-outs and the greens were pretty chewed up late in the day,” said Scheffler when asked about his putting on Day 1. “Today get out there a little earlier on fresh greens, see a couple go in early, and things just start to look a little simpler when there’s not a lot of stuff in your way.”
At 3 under the tournament, Scheffler sits T-25 and trails lead Wyndham Clark by nine shots.
“I’m a ways back,” he said, “but I’m not out of it by any means.”
“I’m not where I would like to be. I’ll probably have to have four nines like I did on the back nine today and that will give me a chance to win,” he added. “So hopefully do more what did I on the back over the course of the next 36.”
The golf world’s attention turns to St. Louis as the top 50 players in the FedExCup standings will battle it out over four days.