The German finished with two birdies, including a brilliant bunker shot at the 18th hole to reach 10 under.

Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti shot 65 for the lowest score of the round. Sweden’s Christian Nilsson had a 68 to join Zanatti a shot behind the leader.

Standing two shots back are Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez Castano (67), India’s Shiv Kapur (70) and Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts (70).

American Todd Hamilton, the 2004 British Open winner, shot 70 to trail by another stroke.
 
Kuchar, Wi share lead

In Lemont,   Illinois, Matt Kuchar was feeling terrible and playing even worse. He managed to keep it together Friday in the BMW Championship to tie for the lead with Charlie Wi.

Kuchar made four bogeys through eight holes as he battled an infection that made it difficult to stand up. He rallied with four birdies on the back nine for a 1-over 72 and goes into the weekend atop the leaderboard.

Wi wrote a reminder to himself to stay patient, and it paid off in a round of 69.

They were at 6-under 136, one shot ahead of Marc Leishman, a runner-up at Cog Hill last year, whose 65 was the best score of the day.

Tiger Woods made another double bogey and shot 72, leaving him nine shots behind in a tie for 40th. He needs to finish around fifth to qualify for the FedEx Cup finale at the Tour Championship.