Rory McIlroy improves as Robert MacIntyre takes big lead into weekend at BMW Championship

Robert MacIntyre stormed into a commanding five-stroke advantage at the midway point of the BMW Championship after following up his opening 62 with a brilliant second-round 64 at Caves Valley Golf Club.

The Scottish golfer delivered six birdies in an immaculate second round to reach 14 under par in the second FedEx Cup play-off tournament.

This positioned him five shots clear of world number one Scottie Scheffler, who posted a 65 to sit one stroke ahead of Sweden's Ludvig Aberg.

MacIntyre opened with a birdie at the first following an excellent approach to within five feet, before adding further gains from 14 feet at the fourth and seven feet at the seventh.

He picked up another shot at the 11th after driving the green at the par four, holed from30 feetat the 14th and completed his scoring by reaching the par-five 16th in two and two-putting for birdie as he chases a third PGA Tour title.

"I've always said when I'm comfortable with a putter in my hands, it's a dangerous thing," MacIntyre said in quotes reported on the PGA Tour website.

"The priority is getting that putter face as square as I can at impact, which is not rocket science, but it's difficult to do.

"For me, that's the priority now, just to go and do that. Then when you get in a certain range, it's all pace putting and touch, and my touch is normally pretty good.

"I feel like this week I've really done a good job of getting it underneath the hole to be able to be aggressive with an uphill putt."

England's Tommy Fleetwood, who was in second place overnight, fell into a tie for fifth after a second-round 69 in Maryland.

Fleetwood's fellow countryman Harry Hall positioned himself just within the projected cut-off for the season-ending Tour Championship, with a score of 67 placing him in joint eighth.

Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy improved by four shots from the opening round to the second, with his 66 leaving him on four under par. Shane Lowry is three shots further back on one under after a one under par second round.

Only the top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings will advance to East Lake in Atlanta, with Hall currently predicted to ascend 15 places and secure the last spot in the field.