Injury ends Matsuyama’s Tour Championship run as Homa takes the lead

Hideki Matsuyama saw his excellent record at the FedEx Cup Playoffs come to an unfortunate end thanks to a hurting back on day two of the BMW Championship even as Byeong Hun An of Korea kept alive his hopes of qualifying for the finale in Atlanta, the Tour Championship, for the first time.

Matsuyama, who shot an opening 71 on Thursday, withdrew before the start of the second round at the Olympia Fields Country Club with a back injury, marking his third pullout of the season. He entered the BMW Championship in 47th place on the FedEx Cup standings needing a top five finish to get into next week’s showpiece at East Lake in Atlanta.

At the top, California golfer Max Homa moved into pole position at the halfway stage with a scorching 8 under par 62 even as overnight co-leaders Brian Harman and Rory McIlroy fell away to tied third and Tied fifth respectively. Homa (68-62) now leads at 10-under 130 with fellow-American Chris Kirk (66-66) second two shots behind.

Indian-American Sahith Theegala could only add a 72 to his first round 68 and dropped from a tied for third place to shared 21st and denting his chances of advancing to the playoffs finale at Atlanta.

It was an abrupt and disappointing conclusion to the 2022-23 PGA Tour season for the Japanese superstar who was playing in his fifth successive week and battling to qualify for the Tour Championship which he has done in each of the last nine seasons for the longest active streak of any player.

An eight-time PGA Tour winner, Matsuyama earlier withdrew from the Houston Open in November and then from the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in March where he conceded his final group match to Homa, who was in top form on Friday with a course-record 62.

An, who has two top-3 finishes in his last four starts, fired a 67 that included three birdies over his last six holes to move up to tied 13th on 3-under, seven shots behind Homa. Ranked 38th entering the week, the 31-year-old Korean needs to finish inside the top-10 to have any chance of reaching the Tour Championship which will crown the FedEx Cup champion.

Countryman Sungjae Im carded a second straight 68 to be tied 10th on 4-under as he strengthened his bid to make it to Atlanta for the fifth successive year after finishing runner-up in the FedEx Cup last season for Asia’s best ever finish. Im is projected to move up 10 rungs to 18th position on the standings.

Fellow-Koreans Si Woo Kim and Joohyung ‘Tom’ Kim carded a 69 and a 72 for T29 and T43 respectively in the 50-man field after starting the week in 17th and 18th places. Si Woo Kim looks good to go through to Atlanta for the second time in his career while Tom Kim is 26th with 36 holes remaining.

Homa, a six-time Tour winner, produced 10 birdies to tie his career low round and most birdies in a single round that also improved on Vijay Singh’s course record 63 at the Olympia Field Country Club recorded at the 2003 US Open. Homa’s 10-under 130 total was also the best opening 36-hole score of his career.

“Obviously I holed a lot of putts but I was very proud of how I drove it. I felt like I was able to attack kind of all day,” said the 32-year-old. “After 14 or 15, I just was thinking to myself, I've birdied most of the holes on the back nine, and that was quite a nice feeling.”

After tying the first round lead with a 65, reigning FedEx Cup champion McIlroy’s charge slowed down with a second round 70 and he trails Homa by five shots with two rounds to go. “Pretty mediocre. One birdie, one bogey. Gave myself tons of chances. I felt like I hit good putts, just hit a lot of edges, and the ball just sort of slid by,” said the Northern Irishman.

World no. 1 Scottie Scheffler shot a 69 for tied fifth place alongside McIlroy on 5-under while current FedEx Cup no. 1 Jon Rahm brought in a 74 for equal 35th place. Rahm’s 4-over on Friday was the third time at a non-major where he has failed to make at least one birdie or better.