Scheffler fires 63 despite long delay to lead Byron Nelson, Power awaits cut fate
The two-time Masters champion stood on 18-under 124 after completing his second bogey-free round at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas, near Dallas.
'Feeling good. I had two nice days. We'll see how the scores shake out as more guys come in,' Scheffler said. 'Overall, very pleased with how I played. Yeah, pretty good. Go home, get a little bit of rest, and get ready for tomorrow.'
Séamus Power, meanwhile, is awaiting his fate, currently three-under after his second round with the projected cut of four-under.
The Waterford man is tied for 80th, with 79 players still to complete their second rounds.
Power carded a 71 on Friday after his opening 68. He started on the back nine, dropping shots on the 10th and 12th before a birdie on the 14th. More bogeys followed on holes 18 and eight, but he birdied holes one, five and nine.
You can follow the leaderboard here>
Advertisement
In his final tuneup for the PGA Championship in two weeks, Scheffler delivered the best 36-hole start of his PGA Tour career and set a 36-hole course record.
'We're on a golf course where you've got to make some birdies and the conditions were changing a good amount,' the 28-year-old American said.
'With the huge rain delay, that was a challenge as well. Getting back out and playing in some wind and some pretty wet fairways, but overall, it's great to be playing at home.
'This tournament means a lot to me, and it's nice to be playing good golf as well. I feel like my game is trending in the right direction.'
Scheffler said he passed time during the delay of six hours and 15 minutes by sharing stories with other players and taking advantage of the player dining area, then handled the wet conditions.
'The golf course was pretty wet, but overall I think it recovered nicely,' Scheffler said. 'I thought the golf course held up nice. The greens were pretty good still.'
American Sam Stevens birdied four of the last six holes to shoot 65 and stood second on 130. American Ricky Castillo was 11-under after 14 holes. Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas was 10-under after a 69, but Scheffler was the man to beat.
'I've had some good experiences playing with the lead, and I'll definitely lean on those as the weekend shapes up,' Scheffler said.
'There's a lot of golf left to be played. I had two solid days. Two more of those, and I should be in a good spot.'
Scheffler, seeking his first victory of the year after winning nine times last year, fired a season-low 61 in Thursday's first round for a two-stroke lead.
Scheffler, who started early Friday on the back nine, dropped his second shot at the par-five 18th hole just inside 10 feet from the flagstick and sank the eagle putt to seize a two-stroke lead at 12-under par.
Moments later, the storm struck and lightning stopped play before Scheffler could begin his second nine with half the field yet to start round two. Some won't tee off until Saturday.
Nearly an inch of rain fell before play resumed, bringing a total of about four inches over the past three days.
- 'Stay focused, execute' -
Scheffler showed no signs of trouble after the delay, sinking a birdie putt from just under 14 feet at the first hole and another from just inside nine feet at the second.
At the par-five fifth and par-four sixth, Scheffler dropped his approaches inches from the hole and tapped in each time for birdie to reach 16-under and stretch his lead to six strokes.
Scheffler followed with a 12-foot birdie putt at the par-three seventh and concluded his marathon day by blasting out of a bunker at the par-five ninth and sinking a birdie putt from just inside seven feet.
'Going into the weekend, I'm just going to do my best to stay focused, execute,' Scheffler said. 'I put myself in good position the last two days.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Daily Mirror
3 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Rory McIlroy's loophole he's exploited could be banned as punishment threatened
Golf icon Rory McIlroy has been cautioned he might not be permitted to bypass the FedEx Cup's opening play-off for much longer. The defending Masters champion is the only member of the 70-man field who has opted not to compete in this weekend's £15million tournament at TPC Southwind. Peter Malnati, a player director on the PGA Tour Policy Board, confessed he was "very" troubled that a star as prominent as McIlroy would be absent from competition. Having claimed three victories this season, the Northern Irishman has already positioned himself second behind world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and doesn't necessarily need to participate in the first of three FedEx Cup legs. He has already guaranteed his spot in the second play-off tournament, the BMW Championship, although he remains at risk of slipping in the season-long rankings. When questioned whether players might face sanctions in future for skipping play-off tournaments, Malnati warned: "I think there is stuff in the works, and I'll leave it at that." But the Daily Express reported Webb Simpson, a fellow player-director on the Tour board, seemed unconcerned by McIlroy's choice: "I think it's too hard of a thing to make guys have to play. We're still a sport where you can play when you want to play. "I knew I couldn't fall more than one spot, and I thought losing one stroke at East Lake was worth a week of rest because I was toast. I don't know Rory's reason, but I totally get it. It's a hard to thing to fix." From the PGA perspective, the organisation clearly wants its best and brightest athletes competing as often as possible. But with McIlroy not lacking in finances and largely competing just for prizes at this stage of his career, they also can't force such a household name to play when he isn't motivated to do so. Peter Malnati has suggested steps are being taken to make players commit to certain competitions (Image: Getty) McIlroy, who described this year's Open as an event he'll "never forget" despite missing out on the title, is hardly the first golfer to give such a tournament a miss. Tiger Woods did precisely that in both 2007 and 2019, blaming exhaustion and an oblique injury on those respective occasions. It was 18 years ago that Woods pulled out of the maiden FedEx Cup tournament. However, he then proceeded to triumph in the concluding two play-off competitions and secure the inaugural cup. McIlroy, who recently moved into a new dream home in Surrey, will hope to repeat those heroics after swerving the opening event of this year's series. And it can't be ruled out considering he has won three FedEx Cups to date. The Holywood-born legend's choice shouldn't shock Tour officials, though, having indicated his plans to withdraw nine months prior in November 2024: "I finished, basically, dead last there [last] year, and only moved down one spot in the playoff standings." McIlroy has opted for rest this weekend rather than the first FedEx Cup play-off event (Image: Getty) Sanctions could be imposed on golfers who mirror McIlroy's actions going forward. But Jordan Spieth, a former Tour player policy director, believes such withdrawals will remain rare. "You might have one or two guys do that for an event," said Spieth. "But I don't think it will become a thing, because they are still huge events against the best players in the world. "I think they're trying to figure out how to make sure you don't skip both of them and ideally neither of them."
Irish Independent
6 hours ago
- Irish Independent
US college football game in Dublin expected to generate €130m for Irish economy
The Aer Lingus College Football Classic game between Kansas and Iowa State University will be held on Saturday, August 23, and has been described as the most competitive to take place on Irish soil. It is expecting to bring in 24,000 international visitors, mostly from the US. Grant Thornton's figures show three previous games held in Ireland brought €382m into the economy. The 2025 game will bring that figure up to €512m, it said. The game – which is expecting to attract viewership figures of 4.5 million when broadcast live on ESPN – is described as a high-profile opportunity to promote Irish culture by the Government. Tourism Minister Peter Burke said it will boost Ireland's tourism profile. 'Not only will the event generate significant revenue in August, the extensive coverage of the game in the USA will also put Ireland's vibrant tourism offering in the shop window for those planning a trip in the future,' he said. This series also delivers trade, tourism, business, community engagement and economic benefits A week-long run of business and political events are scheduled to take place, including an Irish-US CEO Club, where up to 450 senior executives will attend. In previous years, golf resorts around the country were among the big winners, as groups of visiting fans opted to extend their stays well beyond the day of the game. The match and the associated events are being supported by Tourism Ireland, Fáilte Ireland and Enterprise Ireland as part of a strategy to leverage international sporting events. 'The series has strongly positioned Ireland as a key overseas home for American football in Europe. Importantly, this series also delivers trade, tourism, business, community engagement and economic benefits,' junior culture minister Charlie McConalogue said. The title sponsor, Aer Lingus, says it is a valuable opportunity to increase transatlantic relations. 'The classic is a special event that celebrates sport, tradition, and transatlantic connection. We're proud to play a role in making these moments possible – connecting people, places, and possibilities through the power of sport,' Aer Lingus chief customer officer Susanne Carberry said.
Irish Examiner
10 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
When Shamrock Rovers moved lock stock to Boston
I think it is fair to say that football has finally taken off in the United States. With a World Cup on the horizon and steadily increasing attendances, the sport that always eluded the adoration of the US sporting community has begun to embed itself in the culture of young sports fans across the Atlantic. A lot of effort and some strange ideas have gone into the countless attempts by different individuals to get the world's most popular sport into the heart of the US public. There has always been a very American approach to the philosophy around growing the sport in the US. Get the big stars in and surround them with pageantry and hype and the celeb-crazed American public will lap it up. In 2025 it is Lionel Messi, in 2007 it was David Beckham. Some people of a certain vintage will remember in the 70s when it was Pele. However, in the 1960s it was Shamrock Rovers. Well, not quite, but stay with me. Following the fanfare around England's 1966 World Cup triumph, there was a growing interest in the US around building a professional football league in a country where the sport barely registered with the general public. Two rival football associations emerged - The National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and the United Soccer Association(USA). The United Soccer Association, otherwise known as The USA (confusing, I know) took an audacious shortcut to build up their league and their credibility. Instead of spending years registering teams, building squads and recruiting players they decided to import entire clubs from Europe and South America and gave them new identities in order to kickstart their new league. Some recognisable names set sail to the United States for the inaugural USA League in 1967 including Wolverhampton Wanderers, Aberdeen, Cagliari and Shamrock Rovers. Teams were renamed and placed in a city relevant to them which led to Shamrock Rovers being stationed in Boston due to Boston's large Irish community. They were renamed 'Boston Rovers'. Boston Rovers pin badge. 'Going to the States in the sixties was fantastic,' according to Mick Leech, the Shamrock Rovers legend who was just 20 when he boarded that transatlantic flight. 'Dublin and Ireland at the time was a dreary, gloomy place. The whole trip was Disneyworld.' Rovers played their home games in the Manning Bowl in Lynn, a suburb 10 miles out of downtown Boston. It was a baseball stadium that was not necessarily decked out for soccer due to its square playing surface. Around 7,000 spectators went to see Rovers nab a 1-1 draw in their opening game on May 28 against the Detroit Cougars, better known to you and I as Glentoran FC from Belfast. The following week saw a 3-1 victory over the Houston Stars but things quickly went downhill after that and positive results on the pitch were few and far between. Rovers suffered a heavy 5–0 defeat to the Chicago Mustangs and a 4-1 loss to Dallas Tornados. The glamour of a trip abroad to America would not have been complete without a few celebrity encounters. Leech talks about an encounter with a young musician in an elevator in Toronto who turned out to be a 17-year-old Stevie Wonder. The squad also met with Maureen O'Hara, the Irish film icon from Dublin who was a diehard Rovers fan her entire life. Boston Rovers finished dead last in the league with two wins, three draws and seven losses. At the same time the whole project was failing quite spectacularly. 'They were interested in promoting soccer, but it was a business situation,' Leech says. 'The crowds were poor, there was no money to be made.' The players began to notice the quality of their food and accommodation diminishing as well as their spending money being reduced. The league received modest coverage in the American press but was basically not reported on at all back home in Ireland. The plug was pulled and the project was over only a couple of months after it had begun. Of the 12 teams who competed in the league, only the Dallas Tornados (Dundee United) would exist to see the beginning of the next decade. In 1968, the USA and NPSL merged into the North American Soccer League which would later use the same guiding principals to draw in global stars such as Pele, Cryuff and Beckenbauer. The Rovers squad returned home to Dublin and the Boston Rovers renamed themselves the Boston Beacons before folding one year later. In hindsight, it was always unlikely that a country with no interest in football was going to have its passion for the sport ignited and set ablaze by the likes of Shamrock Rovers and Stoke City, but the efforts of the USA league was the first attempts of a tactic that would remain as a means to increasing the sports popularity for decades to come and one which has ultimately worked. In other words, Shamrock Rovers walked so that Inter Miami could run. Though there were few great on-field moments or iconic games to talk about, it was an opportunity for young Dublin footballers such as Mick Leech to travel to America and see the world at a time when this was unaffordable to most. It also gave somewhat of an international reputation to clubs like Shamrock Rovers and, who knows, maybe there's a few fifth generation Irish Americans who retained their interest in the hoops long after Boston Rovers were gone.
