Tiger Woods manages just a par as Scottie Scheffler shoots 59 and Dustin Johnson gets 60

There was a 59 from Scottie Scheffler and there was 60 from Dustin Johnson, which could have been even lower, in the second round of the Northern Trust, the opening event of the FedExCup play-offs on the PGA Tour. Johnson’s 60 still gave him a two-shot lead over Scheffler in Norton, Massachusetts.

Scheffler holed a dozen birdies for his 59 and became the 11th player to go below 60. The score of 60 has been broken 12 times with Furyk having shot a 58 (in 2016) and a 59 (in 2013).

Johnson was at 15-under 127, two shots ahead of Scheffler and Cameron Davis (66). Scheffler finished with two putts from across the 18th green for his 12th birdie, knocking in his last putt from 4 feet.

While two players were shooting 60 and below, two of the biggest names in the game, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, just about managed to squeeze into the week on the cutline, which fell at three-under with 70 players teeing up for the third round. Woods and McIlroy have been paired together for the third round.

Woods managed just 71 with many make-able putts not dropping. It just about allowed him to make the cut. He was understandably annoyed and said, "I just didn't quite have it. I was close to snapping a couple clubs today, but I didn't, so that's a positive."

Woods started the day at 3-under and he was still there 12 holes later when he bogeyed the 13th to fall outside the cut. Birdies at 14 and 15 put him at 4-under but Woods bogeyed the par-4 17th after missing the green with a wedge from 125 yards. He came into the week at 49th and regardless of where he finishes on Sunday, he is locked in for next week’s BMW Championship.

Rory McIlroy, playing a group behind Johnson, bogeyed four times on his outward nine and was 1-under through 12 holes. The two birdies he needed to make the cut at 3-under 139 were secured at the par-4 13th and par-3 16th.

If Scheffler closed the day with four birdies over the last five holes in his 59, Johnson did not have a single one on the last seven and yet shot 60 that began with a dream sequence - Birdie. Eagle. Birdie. Eagle. Birdie, which translated to seven-under through five holes. Johnson’s 9-under 27 for the front nine matched the lowest 9-hole score in relation to par on the PGA Tour.

After a blazing front nine, when he hit every shot perfectly, Johnson had birdie chances only two or three times in the last seven holes. On par-5 18th, the best chance, Johnson hit the driver into a slope of thick and grungy grass. A 3-wood may have helped set up a mid-iron to reach the green. He had to lay up and then hit a wedge to 25 feet for two putts and a par.

"I wanted to shoot 59. I've never done it," said Johnson. That will have to wait.

The 24-year-old rookie from Texas, Scheffler, kept holing them. A 6-foot par putt on the 17th hole set up the birdie he needed for a 59. His tee shot on 18th went into the first cut from where he was 215 yards out. He went for the left section of the green with his 5-iron, which was a little short, but two-putted from 85 feet for a 59 after the first putt brought him four feet to the pin.

The lowest round in a tournament is 58 by Jim Furyk at the Travelers Championship in 2016, but 59 still has a magic feeling about it.

The FedExCup Playoffs ended for some of the stars, and that group included Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose, Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka, who withdrew before the tournament began.