Reed moves into outright Barclays lead

Reed hit six birdies on the way to a three-under-par 68 and holds a two-stroke lead over Emiliano Grillo and Rickie Fowler at The Barclays after the second round.

Patrick Reed, 26, held the joint overnight lead alongside Martin Laird, but the American shot into the outright position with another commanding performance.

Patrick Reed holds a two-stroke lead at The Barclays after the second round as the FedEx Cup playoffs continued on Friday.

Reed, 26, held the joint overnight lead alongside Martin Laird, but the American shot into the outright position with another commanding performance.  While he did sink his first — then second and third — bogeys of the tournament, Reed hit six birdies on the way to a three-under-par 68. 

Two strokes behind are Emiliano Grillo and Rickie Fowler, who both shot two-under 69s.

Grillo started the day with a double bogey, but the Argentinian recovered with five birdies and could have joined Reed at the top, only to bogey his final hole.

Fowler, meanwhile, went bogey-free around Bethpage State Park's famed Black Course in New York to keep up the pace with Reed. Ryan Moore (68) shot up seven places into outright fourth, while there are five players tied for fifth four strokes off the lead, including Jason Day and Jordan Spieth.

World No. 1 and defending Barclays champion Day (70) had three bogeys and a double bogey along with six birdies in a mixed day out.

Reigning FedEx Cup champion Spieth, just like Grillo, started his round with a double bogey but recovered with an eagle and four birdies to remain in contention.  The two are joined at four under by Sean O'Hair (69), Adam Hadwin (68) and Laird (72), who shot five bogeys in a day to forget.

Meanwhile, major winners Jimmy Walker (73) and Graeme McDowell (76) did not make the cut.