Clark adds second bogey-free round to take solo BMW Championship lead

[p]One of five overnight leaders, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/clark-wyndham/x4NXN7qb/"]Clark[/a] edged clear of the field with a birdie on the 17th after narrowly missing a long uphill eagle putt at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, Missouri.[/p][p]A comfortable par from a fairway bunker on the last hole completed the 32-year-old's first-ever bogey-free opening 36 holes at a PGA Tour event.[/p][p][b]"Even though I missed some more fairways today, the misses were in good spots," said Clark.[/b][/p][p][b]"I feel like my putter still hasn't gotten hot yet, so it would be nice if it does on the weekend. But I played really good, solid golf."[/b][/p][embed guid="4c88fd27-cce1-405f-9e6a-54dacb66e3ae" url="https://x.com/PGATOUR/status/2090930622491480320?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Clark did roll in a 21-foot putt on the 14th, having birdied the fourth, sixth, eighth and 10th holes with pinpoint approach play.[/p][p]The American, who won his second US Open title in June, hit the midway point at 12-under par, one stroke clear of former US Open winner [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/woodland-gary/lQRqur2j/"]Gary Woodland[/a], who finished with back-to-back birdies after some wayward tee shots.[/p][p]"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," said Woodland.[/p][p][b]"I checked my grip and hit four really great shots coming in on 17, 18, so proud of the adjustment I made there."[/b][/p][p]Another overnight co-leader, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/spaun-j-j/6oUJlkde/"]JJ Spaun[/a], had earlier built a substantial advantage with four straight birdies on a blistering front nine.[/p][p][b]"Wasn't really thinking much. Was kind of in a nice flow mentally and technically with my game," [/b]he said.[/p][p]Three bogeys after the turn gave hope to the chasing pack, before Spaun finished with a birdie for a round of 66 and third place, two shots behind Clark.[/p][embed guid="3e088a7f-f0cb-4ab5-87ff-b0a17e345999" url="https://x.com/PGATOUR/status/2090943662586777694?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]"That was a nice way to end the day. Kind of hit a little rough patch on 14, 15 with a poor 3-putt and a poor second shot on 14. But that's golf, it happens."[/b][/p][p][b]"I've always thought really tough courses fit my game... When fairways and greens in (regulation) are a premium, that's kind of where I do well, like a US Open," [/b]added Spaun, who won that major last year.[/p][h2]'Squirrely' McIlroy[/h2][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gotterup-christopher/nVwVk9Kf/"]Chris Gotterup[/a] was a further shot back alongside South Korean Im Sung-jae, followed by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/thorbjornsen-michael/l4vvpI4A/"]Michael Thorbjornsen[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cantlay-patrick/bwQM8qSt/"]Patrick Cantlay[/a] on 8-under par.[/p][p]And fellow overnight co-leader [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mcilroy-rory/djwanksN/"]McIlroy[/a] remained in the hunt, tied for eighth and five strokes back with a round of 69.[/p][p]The Northern Irishman is trying to rebuild his form after an alarming 66th-place finish last week at the St. Jude Championship in Memphis.[/p][p]He survived a precarious approach shot on the second hole, struck while teetering on lakeside rocks, to save one of 15 pars.[/p][p][b]"Today I hit some decent iron shots but was a little more squirrely off the tee," [/b]said the six-time major winner.[/p][embed guid="4278ccc7-1855-4afe-a4c3-6dd819523551" url="https://x.com/PGATOUR/status/2090951148010172468?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Meanwhile, world number one [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/scheffler-scottie/bXfIuBYu/"]Scottie Scheffler[/a], who marched to a dominant victory in Memphis last week, battled through a bout of sickness to bounce back from a disastrous opening round with an excellent 65.[/p][p]His second round featured five birdies on the back nine, to leave him three-under for the tournament.[/p][p][b]"I'm a ways back, but I'm not out of it by any means,"[/b] said Scheffler, who admitted he had been struggling with an unspecified illness.[/p][p][b]"I wasn't feeling 100% yesterday. I'm still not feeling 100 per cent today. So I'll go home, get some rest."[/b][/p]