Adam Scott set the course record earlier in the day at the BMW Championship, and young Swedish phenom Ludvig Åberg matched it in the afternoon.
The Ryder Cup star shot a 9-under 63 during the afternoon wave to soar up the leaderboard by more than 20 places. Having carded an even-par 72 on Thursday, Åberg now sits at 9-under at the midway point.
“The course is gettable. Felt like I was hitting it well,” Åberg said.
“I was hitting a lot of fairways, and then you can be quite aggressive into the greens.”
A nearly three-hour rain delay halted play towards the end of Thursday’s opening round, thus setting up a softer golf course on Friday. Åberg, like Scott, took advantage of the benign conditions, making eight birdies and an eagle to vault into contention. But unlike Scott, Åberg made a lone bogey at the par-3 4th.
Still, Åberg had a feeling a low score was out there.
“It was funny, me and [my caddie] Joe [Skovron], walking down one of the first couple of holes. We talked about it yesterday, too, that we could see a low one, and we were just fortunate that it was us today,” Åberg said.
“It’s fun to play good golf. I will keep being aggressive even though I shot even par yesterday. I was still very aggressive, which I like. But I will keep doing that and try to keep up and make a few birdies to catch Adam.”
Åberg sits four shots behind Scott with 36 holes remaining.
“Adam, for me, is an inspiration,” Åberg added.
“He’s been out here for a long time, and what he’s doing with that longevity is amazing. I look up to him a lot. It’ll be fun to try to catch him this weekend.”
Even though Scott leads by four strokes, Åberg has made 15 birdies this week, leading the field. But two double bogies during his opening round on Thursday set him back a bit. Still, the young Swede has a chance. If he keeps the pedal to the metal, he will have as good a chance of catching the Aussie as any.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
