McIlroy in mix as Scott leads BMW Championship

Adam Scott holds a narrow advantage at the halfway stage of the BMW Championship, where world No 1 Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are both part of the chasing pack.

Scott followed an opening-round 65 with a two-under 69 at Wilmington Country Club, lifting the former Masters champion to eight under and top of a congested leaderboard in Delaware.

The Australian birdied three of his opening six holes and added another at the par-five 12th, but missed a five-foot chance at the next and then reduced his cushion over the chasing pack with a double-bogey on his penultimate hole.

"I felt really in control today," Scott said. "When you're playing that way, it always could be a couple better, and a poor shot on 17 was quite costly. But I'm in great shape going into the weekend. I don't even know when the last time I led a tournament was."

Jordan Spieth briefly joined Scott in a share of the lead until a closing bogey dropped him back into a four-way tie for second, with Scheffler opening with three consecutive birdies and Corey Conners birdieing the last to match the three-time major winner's second-round 67.

"I feel like I'm doing everything good, nothing spectacular, but I feel like in every facet of my game, it's trending and improving," Spieth said. "I know what to do to get it better and better. Coming into the weekend, it's a good opportunity to just have a lot of trust, focus on trying to win this golf tournament, not think about next week."

Cameron Young completes the quartet on seven under, while McIlroy's second successive 68 leaves him within two of the halfway lead alongside reigning FedExCup champion Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Scott Stallings and Cam Davis.

McIlroy missed a 10-foot birdie chance at the