BMW Championship 2021: Bryson DeChambeau Holds Lead Before Round 2 Suspended

Have a day, Bryson DeChambeau.

DeChambeau was unstoppable during the second round of the 2021 BMW Championship at Owings Mills, Maryland, on Friday and finished with a 12-under 60 to stake himself to a one-stroke lead through the opening two days of the tournament.

Patrick Cantlay is right behind the leader after dazzling in his own right with a nine-under 63, and Jon Rahm may be in the best position of all at one back of the lead. After all, he was on the 16th hole and putting for birdie when the second round was called for darkness.

Here is a look at the top of the leaderboard, which can be found in full at PGATour.com.

1. Bryson DeChambeau, -16

T2. Patrick Cantlay, -15

T2. Jon Rahm, -15

T4. Sergio Garcia, -12

T4. Sungjae Im, -12

The second round of PGA tournaments are typically centered around avoiding the cut line and positioning for a weekend charge.

That wasn't the case in Maryland, though, as there is no cut at this year's BMW Championship. That is because it is the second leg of the three-tournament FedExCup playoffs that trimmed the top 125 golfers in the point standings to just 70 after the Northern Trust.

The top 30 golfers in points will advance to the season-ending TOUR Championship and battle for the $15 million first-place prize after this weekend's tournament.

With no battle at the cut line, the biggest storyline was DeChambeau's dominance.

He wasted little time setting the tone with back-to-back birdies on the opening two holes and then notched his first of what would be two eagles on the fourth hole. He also eagled the 16th and didn't drop a single stroke in a bogey-less round that included eight birdies.

DeChambeau's round could have been even better, but he missed a birdie putt from 6'3" away on the final hole, ending his perfect mark of 13-of-13 from inside 10 feet on the round. Had he made it, he would have finished with his first career sub-60 round on tour.

"I misread the putt, so, one of those things," DeChambeau told reporters. "It was an awesome opportunity. I had a couple shots, a couple birdie opportunities at 17 and 18, and didn't happen but still really proud of the way I handled myself, and it's great to feel some pressure again which is awesome."

Typically a round like that would propel someone to a commanding lead, but that was not the case for DeChambeau thanks to the performances of Cantlay and Rahm.

Cantlay started off in impressive fashion with five birdies and zero bogeys on the front nine and continued that momentum with four straight birdies during a head-turning stretch on Nos. 11-14. Another birdie on No. 16 put him in position to share the lead with DeChambeau, but he dropped a shot with his only bogey on the 17th.

As for Rahm, he caught fire following a weather delay and eagled the 12th hole before drilling long birdie putts on Nos. 13 and 15. He was the co-leader after the first round and is playing incredible golf this year, so it would be anything but a surprise if he wins this tournament.

While DeChambeau, Rahm and Cantlay are ahead of the field heading into the weekend, there are a number of notable players still in contention.

Sergio Garcia (-12), Rory McIlroy (-10), Abraham Ancer (-10) and Xander Schauffele (-9) are all in the top 10, and Hideki Matsuyama (-8) and Dustin Johnson (-7) are well within striking distance.

It might not take two more stunning rounds like Friday's, but DeChambeau will need to play at a high level to hold off such a daunting group of challengers.