Scottie makes his move

Reigning Olympic champion and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler showed why he is among the favorites this week at Albany during Friday’s second round. Scheffler shot out of the gates, starting the round with four straight birdies en route to a front-nine 7-under-par 29. He remained bogey-free on the back nine and posted a second-round 64 to sit atop the leaderboard at 13-under 131, posting the lowest 36-hole score at Albany in tournament history.

“Front nine just things were going my way, back nine maybe not as much,” Scheffler said after the round. “A couple shots could end up closer to the hole, a couple putts go in, just little things.”

For the defending champion, little things can make a difference. This year marks the fourth time Scheffler has competed in the Hero World Challenge at Albany, and he’s learned how to handle what can be a difficult course at times.

“Around the greens it can get really challenging,” Scheffler said of Albany. “I think I’m a pretty good pitcher of the ball, especially the tough lies that you get [here]. I think over the years here I’ve done a good job of kind of staying patient, waiting to get hot. There’s some opportunities out here on this golf course, but there’s also some severe punishment. For instance, the front nine today was a time where I got hot and was able to take advantage of it.”

Scheffler holds a two-shot lead over Justin Thomas and Akshay Bhatia (11-under 133). The trio are the only players who are double-digits under par. Thomas is playing in his seventh Hero World Challenge while Bhatia is making his tournament debut.

After starting the day in the opening pairing, Tom Kim posted a 7-under 65 to vault up to T-10 (5-under 139) heading into the weekend.

Round three of the 2024 Hero World Challenge tees off at 11:10 a.m. ET on Saturday, December 6. Coverage of the second round can be found on GOLF Channel from 12:30-2:30 p.m. ET and NBC Sports from 2:30-5 p.m.