On a day when few could tame Firestone South, the world’s No. 1-ranked player, Jason Day, came out of the rubble on top of a now-crowded leaderboard after the second round of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.
Day fired a 1-under-par 69 to move him to 4 under for the tournament and into first place by 1 stroke. He momentarily held a 2-stroke lead after birdies at the monster 667-yard 16th and the par-4 17th but followed it up with a bogey on No. 18.
The leaderboard at various points on Friday had four different leaders or co-leaders and by as many as 4 strokes when William McGirt got to 7 under. The field became tightened throughout the day, no player being able to take two steps forward without taking one back.
Day’s 4 under matches the highest leading score through 36 holes in tournament history, when Tiger Woods and Luke Donald were each 4 under par in 2005. After a day of shuffling and scrambling, Day, who has never finished higher than fourth in this tournament, holds the top spot.
“By the end of the week, I’m just going to keep grinding it out and see where it goes,” Day said. “I really want to win this tournament. It’s one of those tournaments that’s been on my radar for a very long time, and I’m hoping I’m there by Sunday.”
It’s an opportunity for Day, already a three-time winner on the PGA Tour this year, to start to create the type of aura Woods enjoyed as the world’s No. 1 player and on a course that Woods for so long dominated.
“I’d love to do that. The only way to do that is to win,” Day said. “If I can keep winning and win more, maybe that will happen over time, and that’s what Tiger did so well and he won a lot. … You do it enough, people start seeing it and believing it, and then you’re going, ‘Oh, there he goes again.’ ”
McGirt began the day with a 3-stroke lead and then birdied the par-5 second hole, creating even more separation. It was mostly bad news from there. McGirt didn’t make another birdie, bogeyed three holes and double-bogeyed the 18th.
McGirt’s 4-over-par 74 turned a tournament of the field chasing one clear leader with a sizable lead into a mad dash to Saturday’s third round, in which only nine players are under par but 21 are within 5 strokes of Day.
“Well, yeah, it’s bunched up, and like pretty much everyone that’s even, 1 or 2 over par, they’ve definitely got a shot,” Day said. “As long as you’re giving yourself the opportunities tomorrow and the next day, you’ve definitely got a shot to get back in the tournament because we’re going to have great weather Saturday and Sunday. … So there’s a lot of people that can win this tournament.”
David Lingmerth fired a 3-under 67, tied for the best round of the day, to put him alone in second place at 3 under for the tournament. Lingmerth carded four birdies on the front-9, momentarily putting him in a tie for the lead, but like so many others on the leaderboard, a bogey on No. 18 soured an otherwise positive round.
“Yeah, today was a scrambling sort of day for me,” Lingmerth said. “I putted really well. I chipped well around the greens. I wasn’t able to strike the ball as well as I have been the last few months, really. I’m going to go to the range and work on that a little bit, but I’m really glad I scored the way I did.”
McGirt, Emiliano Grillo (1-over 71) and Scott Piercy (1-under 69) are in a three-way tie for third at 2-under. Day and Piercy are the only players in the field with two consecutive under-par rounds.
World No. 2 Jordan Spieth, World No. 8 Adam Scott, Justin Thomas and Kevin Kisner enter Saturday in a four-way tie for sixth at 1 under for the tournament, well within striking distance.
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RyanLewisABJ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RyanLewisABJ