Live leaderboard: Open Championship, Round 2

• COURSE: TPC Deere Run, 7,268 yards, par 71. Built on rolling landscape alongside the Rock River, D.A. Weibring’s 1999 design deftly mixes scenic views and risk/reward challenge on a site that once housed a long-ago tribal village and later an Arabian horse-breeding operation. Weibring used dramatic elevation changes to frame several holes, notably the downhill 14th that measures 361 yards and tempts long hitters to drive a green that offers punishment for shots either long or left. Typically a place that yields low scores, Deere Run carved its place in the record book seven years ago when Paul Goydos carded just the fourth 59 recorded on the PGA TOUR. Eventual winner Steve Stricker shot 60 that day. • FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 points. • CHARITY: The John Deere Classic has raised more than $70 million for Quad Cities charities since its 1971 inception, most of it generated by its “Birdies for Charity� program. The tournament annually ranks No.1 in charity donations per capita on the PGA TOUR. • FIELD WATCH: 2012 champion and JDC board member Zach Johnson tops the roster, joined FedEx St. Jude Classic winner Daniel Berger and Dean & Deluca Invitational champ Kevin Kisner. … In all, six of this season’s tournament winners and seven of the FedExCup top 30 will tee it up at Deere Run. … Stricker, whose three-peat from 2009-11 still stands as the last time anyone has captured the same PGA TOUR event three straight years, returns for his 16th appearance. … Two of the top four players in the world amateur rankings are set to play on sponsor invites. Maverick McNealy, whose 11 tournament wins at Stanford matched that of Tiger Woods and Patrick Rodgers, holds the No.2 ranking and former Illinois standout Dylan Meyer stands fourth. • 72-HOLE RECORD: 258, Steve Stricker (2010). • 18-HOLE RECORD: 59, Paul Goydos (1st round, 2010). • LAST YEAR: Ryan Moore collected his fifth PGA TOUR victory, playing bogey-free over his final 46 holes to finish off a two-stroke win over Ben Martin. Three birdies on Deere Run’s front nine pushed Moore to a five-shot advantage on the final day, throttling back with pars after the turn while Martin used a three-birdie run to pull within two. That was the closest anyone got, though, as Moore left no opening down the stretch in a closing 67. Moore carded just one bogey over the entire week, notching his first win since 2014 in Malaysia. The performance began a run of four top-10 finishes in six starts for Moore – three in the FedExCup playoffs – to place seventh in the final FedExCup standings. It also earned the former UNLV standout a captain’s selection to the U.S. Ryder Cup team, where he helped the Americans celebrate their first win since 2008. • STORYLINES: Johnson, a Cedar Rapids native, owns six top-three finishes in his past eight visits, with three runner-up finishes go to with his 2012 win. He’s a combined 133-under par in that stretch; last year’s second-day 71 ended a run of 29 consecutive rounds in the 60s. … Stricker, who owns three top-16 finishes this season in just eight starts, seeks again to become the Classic’s first four-time winner. He also has four top-10 finishes in five starts on the PGA TOUR Champions. … The final Open Championship berth next week awaits the highest top-5 finisher who hasn’t already punched his ticket to Royal Birkdale. • SHORT CHIPS: A total of 15 entrants at Deere Run already have qualified for next week’s Open lineup, including Moore and 2015 champion golfer Johnson. A charter flight awaits them Sunday night, provided by Deere Classic officials each year to fly them across the Atlantic. … The University of Illinois again is well-represented with five entrants – Stricker, Meyer, D.A. Points, Brian Campbell and current Illini golfer Nick Hardy. Friday traditionally is designated as Illini Day at Deere Run. • TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 4-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1-2:30 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (CBS). • PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. (featured groups), 4-7 p.m. (featured holes). • RADIO: Thursday-Friday, 1-7 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com). For more on all the courses in the TPC network, visit TPC.com.  Play where the pros play. To book your tee time at TPC Deere Run, visit TeeOff.com.

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FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – A long row of open palms awaits players as they make the long walk from the 14th green, down the grassy hill, across Round Swamp Road, and onto the 15th tee. Fans reach over the rope and hope for the best, and many players steer clear. Brooks Koepka touched seemingly every one as he cut through Bethpage Black in round two of the 101st PGA Championship. The defending champ, who shot a 5-under 65 to build a seven-shot lead over Adam Scott (64) and Jordan Spieth (66), is not one to worry about hand sanitizer or anything else. He is bidding to win his fourth major in his last eight starts, which is Tiger stuff, and he’s off to a dominating start while enjoying himself every step of the way. “The thing about Brooks is you know he cares,â€� said Paul Casey (71, 1 over), “but he plays like he just doesn’t give a s___, which is a brilliant place to be. And he’s very, very talented.â€� Koepka is turning this PGA into a walk in the (Bethpage State) park, and he didn’t even flinch at the guy who yelled “Shank it!â€� all the way up the 18th hole. Not even close. “I felt pretty confident I wasn’t going to shank the driver (laughter),â€� he said. “I mean, that happens every time you play with Tiger; New York. It’s fun. It’s just something to laugh at.â€� Ah, yes. Tiger. He shot 73 to miss the cut at 5 over, which means Koepka beat him by, ahem, 17 shots. One journalist even wondered aloud if it wasn’t a “passing of the torch.â€� Koepka didn’t go there. Like vintage Woods, though, he stomped on the accelerator and kept it down all the way. And like vintage Woods, he still wasn’t totally satisfied, heading to the range after the round. “This probably sounds bad, but today was a battle,â€� he said with a straight face before going out to work on his swing. “I didn’t strike it that good. I was leakin’ a few to the right.â€� Although he made his first two bogeys of the tournament at the 10th and 17th holes, Koepka hit 10 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens. He’s 12th in Strokes Gained: Putting, first in Scrambling, and now has the 18-, 36- and 72-hole scoring records at the PGA. Oh, and by the way, he also broke the old record for low 36-hole score (130) in a major, by two. Which begs the question: What about everyone else? “I know he’s won three majors,â€� said Scott, who finished third behind Koepka and Woods at last year’s PGA in St. Louis. “I know he seems impenetrable at the moment in this position, but at some point, he’s got to think about it. It has to come to an end eventually, that good front-running (laughing). Let’s hope it’s not 12 years, like Tiger’s front-running lasted.â€� This marks the largest 36-hole lead in PGA Championship history. Martin Kaymer at the 2014 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, Rory McIlroy at the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional, and Woods at the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach all had six-shot leads through 36 holes. Greg Norman was ahead by six going into the last round at the 1996 Masters, but lost. With three wins and a runner-up in his last seven major starts, Koepka is plenty confident. “I’d like to see that lead grow as large as it possibly can,â€� he said. “I still have to go out there and do what I’m supposed to do, keep putting the ball in the right spot and make sure that you don’t make any double-bogeys, and I should have a good chance of winning the championship.â€� Five players are at 4 under, eight back, including Dustin Johnson (67), while Justin Rose (67) is nine back. But unless Koepka comes back to the field, they would seem to be too far back. Even Koepka’s closest pursuers may be doomed. Scott is a tee-to-green specialist whose putting can turn against him (he’s a tidy 11th in SG: Putting here). Spieth leads the field in SG: Putting, but was T88 (15 of 28 fairways) of 156 players in Driving Accuracy in rounds one and two. “You don’t expect Brooks to fall at all,â€� said Spieth, chasing his first win in nearly two years, “so I thought I needed to be within five or six or seven to feel like I had a chance on the weekend.â€� Rickie Fowler (69, 1 under) said earlier this week that Bethpage is so dangerous, no lead is safe. Scott seconded that Friday. “I think there’s doubles left and right out there once you get out of position,â€� he said. “Hey, if the guy can just keep doing that for another two days, then there’s not much you can do. But I think someone, hopefully me, will chip away tomorrow and sneak up in the right direction.â€� The only position Koepka has been in so far is the driver’s seat.

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