Leishman out to surpass Tiger experience at BMW Championship

High-flying Australian Marc Leishman is trying to exceed past experiences at the BMW Championship, where he leads at the halfway stage.

Leishman, 33, is the player to beat at the third and penultimate FedEx Cup play-off event after extending his advantage to three strokes ahead of Jason Day and Rickie Fowler during Friday's second round.

The BMW Championship brings back memories for Leishman, who was paired with golf icon and 14-time major winner Tiger Woods at the tournament in 2009 and it something he remembers fondly as he looks to add a third PGA Tour title to his name.

"I remember being really, really nervous on the first tee, which I'm not generally a nervous person but that was a new thing for me," Leishman said after carding a seven-under-par 64 in Lake Forest, Illinois.

"Actually quite a lot that day, probably three, four holes which is not normal for me. I don't tend to remember rounds of golf too often.

"I've got a lot of good memories here, and the crowds are great. Hoping I can continue to make birdies, give them something to cheer about and come back next year as a crowd favourite."

Leishman came into the BMW Championship ranked seventh in the FedEx Cup standings after finishing third at the Dell Technologies Championship.

He threatened to upstage Jordan Spieth and eventual winner Justin Thomas before settling for third.

"The course was playing tough and I didn't play as well as I would have liked. So the combination of those two things on a PGA Tour course is not a very good one," Leishman said.

"Generally doesn't lead to too many good things. So I try to take all the positives out of that, learn from the bad stuff I did and hopefully use that, not just this week but the rest of my career."