Clark takes advantage of the second par 5 on the course to break out of a tie at the top with Gary Woodland and grab the lead alone at 12 under. He’ll look for a par or better on the last to take the outright 36-hole lead into the weekend as he pursues his third win of the season. 

Gary Woodland closed out his second round on Thursday with a pair of birdies on Nos. 17 and 18 to become the first tor each 11 under and grab the clubhouse lead by one over J.J. Spaun. Woodland continues to lead the field in strokes gained off the tee and on approach this week, as the big-hitting veteran is enjoying the soft conditions that have made an already long golf course play even longer. 

Woodland’s only weak point this week has been his putting, as he’s given up more than half a stroke to the field on the greens this week, but given he’s hit 29-of-36 greens in regulation (including 17 on Thursday), he’s given himself more than enough opportunities to score and grab the lead. 

Woodland will now wait to see how Wyndham Clark (-10) handles the closing five holes at Bellerive, as he’s the only player on the course within four shots of the lead, making him the only threat to Woodland’s perch as the 36-hole leader. 

Fresh off a T5 in Memphis, Clark is making his presence known again on the first page of the leaderboard at the BMW as he’s gotten it to 10 under to join J.J. Spaun in a share of the lead in St. Louis. Clark shot a 64 on Thursday to grab a share of the overnight lead and is now -4 thru 11 on his second round to reclaim a spot at the top of the leaderboard. 

Clark has had a resurgent 2026, headlined by his second U.S. Open win, and with a victory at Bellerive Country Club he would match Matt Fitzpatrick and Chris Gotterup for the most wins on the PGA Tour this season with three. 

Scheffler got off to another slow start on Friday, backing up to 3 over midway through his front nine, but the world No. 1 found something on the back nine to shoot a 5-under 30 on the back side to post a 65 in the clubhouse and get to 3 under overall. 

Scheffler is currently seven shots off the lead, but he’s proven multiple times this season that a slow start doesn’t preclude him from contending, as he’s made a number of weekend charges into the top 5 in 2026. That may be the case again this weekend in St. Louis, where he’s trying to backup his win last week in Memphis and secure another Player of the Year award. 

The three-time winner on the PGA Tour this season is in contention entering the weekend yet again after an up-and-down Friday ended in a 67 that has Gotterup 9 under and one back of J.J. Spaun’s lead currently. 

Gotterup got off to a slow start with a pair of early birdies and then nearly aced the par-3 6th to jumpstart his round. 

He made a steady climb back up the leaderboard from there and ultimately ended up in second place in the clubhouse at the time he signed his scorecard. Gotterup will wait to see if he’s still in second by the end of Friday’s play or if someone on the course can push the lead out past 10 under, but in any case he will have a great opportunity to break his tie with Matt Fitzpatrick for the most wins on tour in 2026. 

Spaun was able to get back to 10 under for the tournament with a late birdie and get into the clubhouse with the solo lead after a quality 4-under 66 in Friday’s second round. Spaun caught fire in the middle of his front nine with four consecutive birdies to grab control of the tournament, and seemed like he might run away and hide after getting to 11 under on the back nine. 

However, a pair of back-to-back bogeys stymied his progress and he had to settle for a 66 and a lead that is two over Patrick Cantlay and Michael Thorbjornsen in the clubhouse, but just one over Chris Gotterup and Gary Woodland on the golf course currently. 

McIlroy couldn’t maintain the scoring pace that got him into a share of the lead after 18 holes, but he continued his solid play in St. Louis with a 1-under 69 to post 7 under in the clubhouse heading into the weekend. That’s currently two shots behind J.J. Spaun on the course and one back of the clubhouse co-leaders, Michael Thorbjornsen and Patrick Cantlay. 

McIlroy still seems to be battling his swing a bit, but has been able to get himself into contention heading into the weekend. McIlroy hoped it would be him that took control of the tournament going into Saturday, but instead he’ll begin Moving Day as one of the top chasers and hope no one takes it deep this afternoon to open up a more significant advantage. 

Spaun held at one point a four-shot advantage over the field this afternoon, but that has dwindled to just one after back-to-back bogeys on the 14th and 15th holes to fall to 9 under for the tournament and 3 under for his round. Spaun’s latest came by way of a sloppy three-putt after leaving a lag putt woefully short on the 15th and being unable to make a lengthy par putt. Spaun will try to find a way to extend his lead back to multiple shots on the final three holes at Bellerive and see if he can get in the clubhouse as the solo leader, as Patrick Cantlay and Michael Thorbjornsen are currently done for the day at 8 under. 

Cantlay climbed 10 spots on the early Friday leaderboard with a 5-under 65 that sends him into the weekend at 8 under — currently tied for second, two shots behind J.J. Spaun still on the course. 

Cantlay needs a big week to make it to the Tour Championship next week, as he began the week 43rd in the FedEx Cup standings. If he were to notch a T2 finish with the leaderboard as it currently stands, he’d leap into 25th in the standings and advance to East Lake. Given this has been a down year for Cantlay, a strong finish in St. Louis could salvage the season a bit, and he’s given himself a strong opportunity to contend on the weekend at Bellerive. 

After shooting a 2-over 72 on Thursday, Scottie Scheffler hoped for a big bounce back effort in Friday’s second round, but that hasn’t materialized early in his front nine. The world No. 1 is +1 thru 6 with two bogeys and a birdie on his card in the early going, slipping to T47 and just one spot out of last place at 3 over for the tournament. 

A run of four consecutive birdies has given J.J. Spaun a sizable cushion early on Friday afternoon. Spaun made birdies on Nos. 3, 4, 5 and 6 to climb to 10 under, which is currently three clear of Rory McIlroy and Michael Thorbjornsen. 

Spaun began the day tied for the lead and has grabbed the steering wheel alone in St. Louis on his front nine. Spaun is looking for his second win of the season and fifth top 10 finish, as he’s backed up his breakout campaign in 2025 with another very solid 2026 season. A playoff win would further affirm his place as one of the PGA Tour’s best and he could creep inside the top 12 in the FedEx Cup standings heading into East Lake with a victory. 

Michael Thorbjornsen now has company at the top, as J.J. Spaun (who was part of the group with the overnight lead at 6 under) has picked up a pair of early birdies to reach 8 under as well. Spaun began the week in solid position in 21st in the FedEx Cup standings, leaving little stress about reaching the Tour Championship, but he could significantly increase his bonus payout with a strong finish or win this week. 

The hottest player on the course this morning is Michael Thorbjornsen, who began the day two shots back at 4 under, but has grabbed the lead alone at 7 under after going 3 under in his first five holes of the day. Thorbjornsen, who picked up his first win of his career at the Rocket Classic last month, opened his day birdie-birdie and then capitalized on the 5th for his third of the front nine to become the first player to reach the 7 under figure this week. 

Thorbjornsen began the week 41st in the FedEx Cup standings and needed a strong finish to reach his first Tour Championship, and has positioned himself well to do just that with his play over the first two days. 

McIlroy begins the day in a share of the lead and gave himself a great look at birdie on the 1st but couldn’t convert, remaining at 6 under as he gets his second round underway. McIlroy is still searching for his second win of the season, as his only victory this year was a big one as he won the Masters to pick up his second green jacket.