Tommy Fleetwood fired a superb seven-under-par 63 on Friday to join Russell Henley at the halfway lead of the Tour Championship at East Lake Country Club in Atlanta.
Fleetwood, three shots back to start the day, produced four birdies in six holes on the back nine and bounced back from a bogey at 16 with consecutive birdies to reach 13-under-par 127.
Henley, who led after the opening round, closed with back-to-back birdies in a four-under 66 to maintain his share of the lead.
Cameron Young surged into contention with a sparkling eight-under 62, making six of his nine birdies on the back nine to sit two strokes behind the leaders.
Robert MacIntyre and Patrick Cantlay shared fourth at 10 under, with world No 1 Scottie Scheffler a further two back in sixth. Cantlay rebounded from a bogey-bogey start with four strokes gained over his final three holes, including birdies at 16 and 17 and an eagle at 18.
Fleetwood said the softened conditions at East Lake created plenty of chances but demanded precision.
“If you start losing it a little off the tee and you’re in the rough, it becomes a lot more difficult to score,” he said after hitting 12 of 14 fairways and 13 of 18 greens.
The Englishman is still chasing a maiden PGA Tour title after near misses at the St Jude Championship and BMW Championship this month.
“I love the buzz when I’m in contention,” Fleetwood added. “I’m just excited for the opportunity again.”
Henley, who drained more than 200 feet of putts in an opening 61, kept the momentum going with a hole-out birdie at the 1st and a 14-footer to close his round.
“I hit a lot of good shots that didn’t quite end up close enough, but I still feel like I putted well and hit a bunch of fairways. That’s what you’ve got to do around here,” he said.
Scheffler, who has five wins in 2025 including the PGA Championship and Open Championship, endured a frustrating round that included three bogeys. But he stretched his streak of sub-par rounds to 19 with a closing birdie at the par-five 18th.
“It just wasn’t as sharp as I needed to be,” Scheffler admitted.
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Photo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Article Link: Fleetwood, Henley share Tour Championship lead