Scottie Scheffler stays within pace of Si Woo Kim with 63 at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson

MCKINNEY, Texas — A lot of players with a lot of chops asserted themselves Friday on a vulnerable golf course at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson.

One of them was the defending champion, Dallas resident Scottie Scheffler, who regaled a rooting crowd with enough flourish and finesse to position himself for a weekend to remember. Playing alongside a scalding-hot Si Woo Kim, Scheffler recorded an 8-under-par 63 to finish at 13-under par through two rounds, five shots behind Kim and tied with three other players for second. His next bogey will be his first on the 7,385-yard TPC Craig Ranch.

The start was sluggish but sufficient. Scheffler parred the first four holes as Kim and others separated themselves. It looked briefly like Scheffler might have to scramble to make the cut.

Then he birdied the fifth and sixth. Then he birdied the ninth. Then he played the 11th through the 14th in 5 under.

Then he was where everyone expects to see Scheffler in every golf tournament he plays: nipping at the lead.

Through 36 holes, Scheffler ranks first in greens in regulation (32 of 36, or 89%). Only one other player has made more feet of putts. Strokes Gained: Approach the Green? Sixth place. SG: Putting? Scheffler ranks 11th. Scheffler hasn’t been perfect this week – he’s missed 35% of the generous fairways and has lost shots around the green – but he said he found a mental capacity on the course, one that makes him dangerous with two rounds to play.

Scheffler watched Kim make 12 birdies Friday. Every approach Kim hit seemed to settle inside his. Every putt Kim hit seemed to go in.

Scheffler was experiencing something unusually rare.

The world No. 1 was getting lapped.

Scheffler bore down. The stretch on the back – birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie – kept Kim within reach.

“I feel like, when you're watching somebody like Si Woo, especially when you're paired with him, just watching somebody birdie every hole and you feel like the tournament is getting further and further away from you, I think I did a good job of staying patient and not forcing things,” Scheffler said.

“I told Teddy (his caddie Ted Scott) when we were walking down 10, I'm like, ‘Dude, I feel like I hit it to 20 feet on every hole and I'm just not making anything,’” he said. “Sure enough, got a roll in there with birdie on 11 and rolled a long one in on 12. Nice to see the ball go in there and gave me some good momentum for the rest of the day.”