Three of the top five players in the FedExCup standings have found their way to the lead at the halfway point of The Northern Trust as the cream well and truly rose in a stacked leaderboard.

Despite having the comfort of knowing their places at the TOUR Championship in Atlanta are virtually assured, third-seed Jordan Spieth (65), fourth-seed Dustin Johnson (69) and fifth-seed Rickie Fowler (66) have all put the hammer down and sit at 6-under through 36 holes.

They are joined by two-time RBC Canadian Open winner Jhonattan Vegas at the top, while Matt Kuchar (64) and Bubba Watson (68) are just a shot behind.

Second-seed Justin Thomas is one of many within three shots of the lead, as is defending champion Patrick Reed.

Thomas could easily have been part of the lead group, had he not double-bogeyed the 16th and bogeyed the 17th holes late in his round.

While others claw and scratch simply to survive, those with life assured past next week continue to flourish.

As such, the weekend shapes up to be a sensational shootout.

‘That’s what tends to happen in the Playoffs. As less guys make the next tournaments, you start to get players that are playing very well, and to no surprise, those guys are towards the top,’ Spieth said.

‘Rickie has been playing awesome. DJ has been trying to get his groove back, but for him it wasn’t far off. It just needed to click. It’s not a surprise at all. Should be an exciting weekend.’

Kuchar, who carded an incredible eight birdies in an 11-hole run on Friday, expects Glen Oaks to provide great theatre for the rest of the tournament.

‘So you can have huge swings and it’s going to take quality golf to win this thing, and it’s going to take a steady dose of it.’

Louis Oosthuizen dropped 19 places into T25 after a birdie-less 72 on Friday. Charl Schwartzel is the only other South African to make the weekend, with Branden Grace, Tyrone Van Aswegen and Rory Sabbatini all missing the cut and dropping out of the playoff race.

Credit: PGA Tour