Tommy Fleetwood eyes breakthrough win at Tour Championship

Now that Tommy Fleetwood has gotten rid of his beard, perhaps he can go about ridding himself of the stigma of being the best player without a win on the PGA Tour.

The Englishman, who shaved most of the scraggle after Thursday’s opening round, took a big step in that direction Friday by shooting a 7-under 63 to take a share of the 36-hole lead at the Tour Championship, where the winner takes home $10 million.

After all, if you’re going to win, you might as well win big.

“That would be cool, yeah,” Fleetwood acknowledged. “I probably never thought about it. The change in format means I could end up winning the FedEx Cup. I always sort of feel like I imagine winning every tournament, and this is just another one of those.”

Fleetwood, currently ranked No. 10 in the world, stands at 13-under 127, tied with first-round leader Russell Henley, a former Georgia Bulldog. Henley birdied the final two holes for the second consecutive day to shoot 66.

Cam Young, whose 8-under 62 was the low round of the day, is alone in third place at 11 under. Robert MacIntyre and 2021 FedEx Cup champion Patrick Cantlay both shot 66 and are tied for fourth at 10 under. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler shot 69 and is alone in sixth place at 8 under.

Only five players in the 30-man field failed to shoot in the 60s. Only J.J. Spaun, Brian Harman and Viktor Hovland failed to break par — and they shot 71. The entire field is under par for the two rounds.

“The scoring is amazing,” Fleetwood said. “Everyone is under par, right? If you hit it well off the tee, especially the way it’s playing now where we’re playing preferred lies, you’re going to have a lot of chances for birdies because you’ve got a lot of approach shots from not that far.”

Fleetwood has 13 international victories, just none on the PGA Tour. He has been outstanding in the two FedEx Cup playoff events, tying for third at the FedEx St. Jude Championship and tying for fourth at the BMW Championship. He’s patiently waiting for the breakthrough.

“You just keep gaining experience,” Fleetwood said. “The more you’re there, the more comfortable you are in those situations and comfortable in that scenario. I’m just really excited to go again.”

Henley, a Macon native and Columbus resident, continues to build on his career year. He won the Arnold Palmer Invitational and has earned a place on the U.S. Ryder Cup team. He chipped in from 27 feet for a birdie on the first hole and didn’t suffer his first bogey of the week until the fourth hole following an inferior bunker shot.

Unlike Thursday, when he made 207 feet worth of putts, he made only 60 feet and 8 inches worth in the second round. He drained a 14-footer after escaping from the bunker on the 18th hole for his fifth birdie of the day.

“I’m driving it really well these last two weeks and just feel like from the fairway you can attack a lot of these holes,” Henley said. “I hit a lot of shots today that were really good shots that didn’t end up quite close enough or maybe gave myself a little bit of an awkward birdie putt, but I still feel like I putted it well, hit my lines well and hit a bunch of fairways. That’s what you’ve got to do around here.”

Young can empathize with Fleetwood. He picked up his first career victory less than a month ago when he won for the first time in 93 starts. Young had finished second in seven tournaments before his breakthrough at the Wyndham Championship.

“I think it’s nice to check the box, but I’m three weeks removed from it now,” Young said. “I’ve got another task in front of me over the next two days. That’s really what I’m concerned about.”

Scheffler had four birdies Friday, but also an uncharacteristic three bogeys. His poor effort out of the bunker on the 14th hole caused him to slam his club into the sand and led to a bogey. Still, he’s not worried.

“I think if I continue to strike it the way I did today, it’s just one of those days where it seemed like I wasn’t getting rewarded for the stuff I was doing,” Scheffler said. “Just a touch off all day.”