Tommy Fleetwood fires 63 to join Russell Henley atop Tour Championship leaderboard

Starting the day three shots behind at East Lake in Atlanta, the Englishman strung together four birdies in six holes on the back nine and, after dropping a shot at the 16th, immediately recovered with birdies on the final two holes to reach 13-under 127.

Henley, who opened the tournament with a two-shot advantage, signed for a steady four-under 66, finishing with birdies at 17 and 18 to retain a share of the lead.

The leading pair sit two strokes ahead of Cameron Young, who vaulted into contention with a brilliant eight-under 62, sparked by six birdies on the inward nine.

Robert MacIntyre of Scotland and Patrick Cantlay are tied for fourth on 10-under, while world number one Scottie Scheffler holds sixth alone at eight-under.

Both MacIntyre and Cantlay returned 66s. Cantlay overcame a rough opening - back-to-back bogeys - by finishing with a late surge: birdies at 16 and 17 followed by an eagle at the par-five 18th.

Fleetwood noted that the rain-softened course provided opportunities for low scoring but stressed that precision from the tee remained vital.

"I think if you start losing it a little bit off the tee and you're in the rough, it obviously becomes a lot more difficult to score," he said.

"I think I'm playing really good golf. Best possible scenario, put yourself in contention. Play well, put yourself in contention, and go from there," added Fleetwood, who came close to earning his first PGA Tour win at the recent Fedex St. Jude Championship and followed that up with a fourth at last week's BMW Championship.

"I love the buzz when I am in contention. I'm just excited for the opportunity again."

After his dazzling 61 on Thursday, Henley opened Friday with a hole-out birdie at the first, but couldn't convert several short chances, missing three putts from around five feet before finally dropping his longest of the day - a 14-footer at the 18th.

"I hit my driver awesome," Henley said. "I hit a lot of shots today that were really good shots that maybe didn't end up quite close enough or maybe gave myself a little bit of an awkward birdie putt.

"But still feel like I putted it well, hit my lines really well, and just hit a bunch of fairways. That's what you've got to do around here."

While others piled up red numbers, Scheffler found the going tougher. Three bogeys stalled his progress, yet the world No.1 still managed to extend his run of under-par rounds to 19 by rallying to post a 69.

His highlight came at the closing par-five, where, after missing the fairway, he attacked the flag with his third shot and nearly holed out, the ball settling just a foot from the cup for a closing birdie.

"It's just one of those days where it seemed like I wasn't getting rewarded for what I was doing," Scheffler said. "My game definitely doesn't feel off but you look at 18, end up a foot off the fairway.

"Seventeen I have to chip out sideways, 14 I felt like I hit a god shot in there and it kicked right into the bunker ... Just wasn't as sharp as I needed to be."