Texan Scottie Scheffler leading after second round

Scheffler is the fourth golfer on the PGA Tour this season to open up with consecutive rounds of 64 or better. Two of the first three (Jon Rahm, Russell Henley) went on to win. Davis Thompson did it at The American Express, but so did Rahm, who won that week.

However, Scheffler will have to battle to claim his third victory of the season.

In the final pairing with him Saturday will be Mackenzie Hughes, who won the Sanderson Farms Championship in the fall. Si Woo Kim is in the penultimate group, and he won the Sony Open in January.

Scheffler is the top dog, no doubt, in his hometown event, but he knows he can’t take it easy for the final 36 holes.

“I want to win a lot of tournaments,” Scheffler said. “This one being in the hometown, it would definitely be a lot of fun with the crowd behind me this weekend.

“But that’s not stuff that occupies too many of my thoughts. I don’t want to place too much emphasis on one tournament. I just want to go out and do my best and see where that puts me.”

Scheffler’s Friday 64 was much cleaner than Thursday’s. He carded eight birdies to only one bogey, coming on his penultimate hole. However, he bounced back with a birdie at the par-5 ninth to close his round.

“Just solid golf,” he said. “I didn’t really struggle for too many pars out there, and I felt like I putted a little bit better today than yesterday.”