Writing from Town and Country, Missouri
Friday, August 21, 2026
Psst. Here comes Scottie Scheffler.
Remember him? Big Texan with the big swing and big resume.
And the big score – a whopping 2-over 72 – on Thursday.
That’s the guy. Friday, on a Bellerive Country Club course that was close to defenseless with no wind on a moderately humid day, Scheffler went ’round the grounds in 5-under 65, moving him from a tie for 44th at daybreak to 25th in the BMW Championship at nightfall.
He’s still nine strokes in arrears of leader Wyndham Clark, but he’s moving forward.
It turns out Scheffler was under the weather on Thursday, and still wasn’t 100 percent on Friday, but well enough to speckle his scorecard with seven birdies, including five after the turn for an inward 5-under 30.
“Yesterday I didn't get off to the start I wanted to,” Scheffler said. “I played better today on the back. Today I didn't get off to that great of a start either, but played better on the back nine. 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.”
Scheffler birdied the 10th, 11th, 13th, 14th and 17th holes, the feature a 30-footer for a deuce on the par-3 13th.
Up ahead, overnight co-leader Clark crafted a second straight sparkling 6-under 64 for 12-under 128 to take command by two strokes over fellow overnighter Gary Woodland. The two U.S. Open champions – Clark is the holder of the title – will be off last on Saturday around 12:45 p.m.
Clark hasn’t made a bogey in 36 holes, the only player in the 50-man field with that boast, and with a diet of six birdies a day, could fatten his wallet considerably if he keeps that up. He was almost embarrassed by his feat.
“It's a little unfair to Bellerive, just simply because of the time of year, it's so soft, it's hard to make the greens firm,” Clark said. “Then, any time we get to play in Zoysia, we're all so good and able to control our distances and kind of do whatever we want with the golf ball. So those two things make it look … easy, but it's not. Yeah, make it look comfortable. It's not an easy course by any means. You see guys making bogeys left and right. It is challenging. It's a great golf course. I just think it's because of the soft conditions.”
Woodland, in adding a 5-under 65 to his original 64 for 11-under 129, didn’t see his game as perfect, but it was good enough.
“I lost it a little bit on the back nine, lost some shots to the right, and I was able to adjust, kind of take a step back,” Woodland said.
He went back to the most basic thing possible.
“I checked my grip, which is a key from (instructor) Randy Smith,” Woodland said. “I checked my grip and hit four really great shots coming in on 17, 18, so proud of the adjustment I made there.”
Woodland, who amazingly has not played in the season-ending Tour Championship, made another adjustment this week, switching golf balls but staying within the same brand. He went to the new Titleist Pro V1x Double Dot, placing aside the regular Pro V1. Woodland likes to spin the ball, and this one spins just right to his eyes.
“I know it’s going to be good for me down the road, but it’s been amazing for me right now,” Woodland said. “This type of (Zoysia) grass adds spin, so being able to control my distances, the ball’s helped me a ton this week.”
The top 30 in points advance to the Tour Championship at East Lake Country Club in Atlanta. Woodland came into the week 31st and currently projects as 17th.
Meanwhile, birthday boy J.J. Spaun, spry at 36, was briefly the lead thanks to a 67 added to an opening 64. The aggregate of 10-under 130 places him solo third at the halfway point of this no-cut fandango, with $20 million on offer and $3.6 million earmarked for the winner.
With low scores in profusion, it was hard to move up, but, surpassing Scheffler’s feat, Viktor Hovland did courtesy of a 7-under 63, which moved him from a tie for 37th to joint 12th.
Around Bellerive
The St. Louis golf fan is a hardy species. They came out in force again Friday, with around 35,000 on hand according to a Bellerive person in the know. That’s on top of 28,400 for Thursday’s opening round and a decent gathering, perhaps 8,000, for Wednesday’s pro-am. With both Saturday and Sunday sold out – about 40,000 a day – the four-day total will be over 14,000. WGA tournament VP Vince Pellegrino told a St. Louis TV station they could have sold 10,000 more tickets but wanted to guarantee a premier fan experience by not overcrowding the galleries. … The second-round scoring average of 68.117 was the fourth-lowest for a single round in Western Open history, trailing only two rounds at soggy Aronimink in 2018 and a similar round at Conway Farms in 2015.
– Tim Cronin