JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Jon Rahm is young enough at 26 that the FedEx Cup has been a big part of the PGA Tour as long as he has been chasing his dreams, and winning the trophy would mean a lot to him.
He just doesn’t like the way it works, and building a one-shot lead Friday in The Northern Trust was only a reminder that great golf doesn’t really mean much without a great finish in the final playoff event.
“I don’t like it. I don’t think it’s fair,” Rahm said Friday after another bogey-free round at Liberty National, this one a 4-under 67 for a one-shot lead over Tony Finau.
What doesn’t make sense to him is that someone can win the first two postseason tournaments and then finish with a dud at the Tour Championship and “you can end up with a really bad finish.”
For now, Rahm can only worry about the tournament at hand, and while he has produced a mixture of great shots and great saves to reach 12-under 130, he still has his hands full.
“Believe it or not, hit my fair share of bad shots today,” Rahm said. “Much like yesterday, I was able to save a couple of good ones. … Coming into the weekend, I’m definitely going to have to clean a couple of those mistakes up.”
Finau had a 64 with a bogey on the final hole as he tries to secure a spot among the 30 who make it to the season-ending Tour Championship, along with boosting his bid to play his way onto another Ryder Cup team.
Olympic gold medalist Xander Schauffele tied his personal best on the PGA Tour and the course record at Liberty National with a 62 and was in the group at 10-under 132, along with Justin Thomas (69) and Keith Mitchell (64).
Jordan Spieth got back into contention with consecutive eagles – he holed out from the fairway on the par-4 fifth and holed a chip from the edge of the water on the par-5 sixth – and tied the course record with at 62. That left him four behind, along with Brooks Koepka (64).
LPGA: Nelly Korda could barely raise a smile after tapping in for the first birdie of her second round at the Women’s British Open.
On a day when her putter turned cold, it had taken 14 holes for the world’s top-ranked player to pick up a shot at Carnoustie.
“Just a little punch of reality that I’m human,” Korda said.
Some of her big rivals had no such problems Friday.
Georgia Hall, the 2018 champion, overcame a double-bogey at the 15th hole – the start of a brutal finish at the storied Scottish links course – to shoot 3-under 69 and take a share of the 36-hole lead with Mina Harigae of the United States (67) at 7 under.
One stroke back were No. 4 Sei Young Kim (71), a major champion from last year, and Lizette Salas (69), who finished second to Korda at the PGA Championship in June.
Lexi Thompson, looking to add to her sole major win in 2014, shot 70 and was part of a group of seven players at 5 under.
Then came Korda, who was with five others – including 2019 champion Hinako Shibuno and last month’s Evian Championship winner Minjee Lee – at 4 under. Korda, the new superstar of women’s golf and the recently crowned Olympic champion, shot 1-over 73 and was one of only two players in the top 17 on the leaderboard to shoot over par on another benign day when the wind held off and it felt almost balmy at times near the east coast of Scotland.
Hall was hoping that wouldn’t last.
“I think it’s about time it got windy,” Hall said, looking ahead to conditions at the weekend which are forecast to turn much more challenging. “It’s proper links golf and that’s what people want to see and I think it makes golf much more interesting when there’s a lot of wind. So I’m quite excited to play in it.”
EUROPEAN TOUR: Sebastian Söderberg birdied the final hole to shoot an 8-under 64 and take a one-stroke lead after the rain-hit second round of the Czech Masters in Vysoky Ujezd, Czech Republic.
The Swede recorded the lowest score of the day – including an eagle on No. 12 and seven birdies – to equal the course record at the Albatross Golf Resort near Prague for a total of 10-under 134.
Sean Crocker of the United States and Adrian Meronk of Poland shot 67s to share second place.
Former British Open champion Henrik Stenson of Sweden, who shared the overnight lead with Maverick Antcliff of Australia, was another shot back after his second straight bogey-free round (69) with three birdies.
CHAMPIONS TOUR: Ernie Els made a 50-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th for a 6-under 66 and a share of the Boeing Classic lead with Woody Austin and Billy Mayfair in Snoqualmie, Washington.
Davis Love III closed with a bogey to drop into a tie for fourth at 67 with 2018 winner Scott Parel, 2017 champion Jerry Kelly and Steven Alker.
Jim Furyk and Colin Montgomerie topped the group at 68.