Jason Day has put a downpayment on the lucrative FedEx Cup, carving apart Conway Farms to lead the BMW Championship in Chicago.
Already the playoff series points leader and with a $10million payday in the offing at next week’s Tour Championship, Day fired nine birdies, an eagle and a bogey to be 10 under before bad weather suspended play in Chicago.
Day began brilliantly on the 10th hole, but had cooled slightly around the turn before playing one of the great shots in a year filled with four PGA Tour victories and his first major championship.
From 72m out in a fairway bunker, Day nipped his approach perfectly to land it just long and left of the hole, then gave a fist pump as it gripped and spun back into the hole for an eagle.
The shot kickstarted another great run as the Queenslander raced to 10 under and a four-stroke lead when play was postponed after his drive on the 9th and final hole.
Playing partner and nearest rival for the FedEx Cup riches Jordan Spieth had his own highlight moment when he rifled a 7-iron into the cup on the 179m second hole to ignite a front-nine charge that left him on five under when play was abandoned.
And on a day of incredible highlights, Daniel Berger jarred his own 63m pitch shot on the ninth hole for a one-bounce eagle to put him in outright second at six under par.
But the day, as it has for much of the past two months, belonged to Day.
The 27-year-old Aussie, who won the US PGA Championship before rocketing to the FedEx lead with victory in The Barclays three weeks ago, was four under through his first six holes to set the early pace.
A bogey on the par-three 17th was a rare blip, but was followed by a run of birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie to explode away from the pack.
The reigning World Cup individual champion then made two more birdies on the seventh and eighth holes to stand on the verge of his lowest career round on the PGA Tour.
Of the other Aussies still alive in the FedEx Cup, newly minted Presidents Cup player Steve Bowditch is even par and tied 36th through 13 holes, while Matt Jones is four over through 14 to be T65.