All three South Africans made the weekend but it was the nation’s top-ranked player, Louis Oosthuizen, who leads the charge at The Northern Trust, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
The world’s best are putting on a show under the watchful gaze of the New York skyline. Dustin Johnson, displaced at the top of the rankings but nevertheless a prolific winner with 20 tour wins to his name, leads.
Jordan Spieth found some of his best to sit a single shot back. A Friday 64 will do that.
Patrick Reed – the former Masters champion – is in the group sharing third along with Presidents Cup hopeful Abraham Ancer. Jon Rahm, winner of the Irish Open, is also there.
Four players share seventh, sitting three back of DJ’s tally. Two of them are Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy. Wyndham Clark is the third of four and looks to be playing his way into the second playoff event.
The fourth is Oosthuizen (65). He missed just three fairways and two greens on Friday. It wasn’t a perfect day, though, as he needed to shake off a short-range birdie miss on the second. On the second hole of his inward nine he three-putted from distance for his day’s only blemish.
After his early miss, he made up ground with birdies at 5, 6 and 8. His only bogey of the day saw him race into the clubhouse with birdies at 12, 13, 15 and 17. The first and last of his back-nine red numbers were courtesy of 23-foot putts.
Oosthuizen’s FedExCup ranking moved to 33 – up 18 places and just three off a place at the finale at East Lake.
Unlikely to be progressing to East Lake, or the BMW in fact, is Branden Grace. He made the cut on the number after a 73. The one-time PGA TOUR winner started the week ranked 88th and is now down to 94 in the standings; only the top 70 advance to Medinah.
Dylan Frittelli will be there. He moved up 31 places on Friday after a 67 that included just one bogey.
Photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
