Keith Mitchell chased an opening-round 62 with a Friday 64 and will take a five-shot lead into the weekend at The CJ Cup.

The Tennessee native finished his second day at the Summit Club with one bogey against seven birdies and an eagle to secure the halftime marquee spot on 18-under par.

“I’m definitely excited and pleased,” said Mitchell, who has hit 31 of 36 greens. “I spent a lot of time in the last few days leading up to this tournament working hard on my game and it’s showing.

“I’m very thankful for that. Just shows you that hard work pays off as long as you’re doing the right things. My putter’s definitely been nice and my speed has been a lot better this week. If those two things stay through this weekend, hopefully I can keep hitting in some quality shots and capitalizing.”

Adam Scott (63) and Jordan Spieth (65) were among four tied for second on 13 under, five off the pace of Mitchell.

Scott joined the T2 group with an incredible scoring spree over his final seven holes, going birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie-par-birdie-eagle on hole Nos. 12-18.

“Yeah, look, I’ve been playing well and, you know, you can’t expect a finish like that, but I’m going to take it,” said Scott. “I hit a lot of shots close and that made light work with the putter.

“You know, kind of put myself in contention. I mean, I’m a long way back still, but 36 holes to go, I like where I’m at, moving in the right direction. I’d love to have a nice solid day
tomorrow.”

Spieth, meanwhile, offset three bogeys with eight birdies and an eagle.

“I would say today I feel a little bit better,” said Spieth. “Yesterday I had a three-putt on a par-5 and another bogey from 100 yards in the fairway.

“At least today when I made that big mistake, I mean on 12, making that bogey there, I came back and made up for it the next few.

“You’re looking to kind of play 12 through — you know, 12 through 18 in 3 under, you’re trying to play a few under in the first seven and then 8 through 11 are really the tough stretch of holes out here. I got back to on par for the course I felt like, so I feel a little better about it.”

Harry Higgs (67) and Seonghyeon Kim (63) were the others at 13 under.

Tyrrell Hatton (65) and Rickie Fowler (66) were one further back on 12 under.

Paul Casey (65), Ian Poulter (67), Viktor Hovland (68), and round-one leader Robert Streb (72) were among those rounding out the top-10 at 11-under par.

2021 CJ CUP

Leaderboard: Top 10

Pos-Player-To Par-(Rd 2)
1. Keith Mitchell -18 (-8)
2. Seonghyeon Kim -13 (-9)
2. Adam Scott -13 (-9)
2. Jordan Spieth -13 (-7)
2. Harry Higgs -13 (-5)
6. Tyrrell Hatton -12 (-7)
6. Rickie Fowler -12 (-6)
8. Mackenzie Hughes -11 (-10)
8. Paul Casey -11 (-7)
8. Erik van Rooyen -11 (-6)
8. Cameron Smith -11 (-5)
8. Aaron Wise -11 (-5)
8. Ian Poulter -11 (-5)
8. Viktor Hovland -11 (-4)
8. Robert Streb -11 (E)

Notables

19. Abraham Ancer -9 (-7)
19. Rory McIlroy -9 (-5)
19. Sam Burns -9 (-4)
19. Sergio Garcia -9 (-2)
28. Justin Thomas -8 (-5)
28. Hideki Matsuyama -8 (-2)
35. Scottie Scheffler -7 (-1)
35. Sungjae Im -7 (-3)
35. Collin Morikawa -7 (-2)
35. Max Homa -7 (-2)
35. Patrick Reed -7 (-6)
35. Gary Woodland -7 (-3)
35. Brooks Koepka -7 (-2)
46. Webb Simpson -6 (-3)
46. Xander Schauffele -6 (-3)
49. Tony Finau -5 (-1)
55. Justin Rose -4 (-7)
55. Dustin Johnson -4 (-6)
55. Tommy Fleetwood -4 (E)
63. Louis Oosthuizen -3 (-1)
63. Harris English -3 (-4)
71. Jason Kokrak -1 (-6)
71. Jason Day -1 (-2)
71. Shane Lowry -1 (-2)

Material from PGA Tour Media Communications was used to compile report.