Adam Scott hits front at BMW halfway stage as Shane Lowry rallies

Adam Scott surged into the halfway lead at the BMW Championship after carding a superb second-round 63.

The Australian hit nine birdies in his bogey-free round to finish three shots clear of first-round leader Keegan Bradley at Castle Pines, near Denver.

Scott, the 2020 Masters champion, found five of his birdies in the closing seven holes to put distance between himself and the chasing pack heading into the weekend.

"It's been a long time. I can’t remember the last time I shot a 63 out here," Scott told pgatour.com.

"But it feels good to go low, that I’ve still got that in me. Hopefully, there’s one more this week."

Leaderboard

Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg matched Scott’s 63 to put himself in contention, four shots back from the leader, with Sweden’s Alex Noren a shot further back.

Rory McIlroy is 10 shots behind Scott on three under par after a 71 and Shane Lowry is one behind his fellow Irishman in a share of 23rd place after following up his opening 75 with a five-under 67.

World number one Scottie Scheffler, who leads the FedEx Cup standings ahead of the Tour Championship finale at East Lake next week, cut a frustrated figure as he could only shoot an even-par 72 and head into the weekend tied for 29th.

Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, who won the FedEx St Jude last week to move third in the FedEx Cup standings, was forced to withdraw ahead of the second round due to lower back pain.