Watson leads, Johnson and Stenson make moves at The Barclays

Bubba Watson took the outright lead at The Barclays on Friday, while Henrik Stenson, Zach Johnson and Jason Bohn all made charges up the leaderboard.

One of four overnight leaders, Watson mixed four birdies with two bogeys to sign off on a two-under 68 and sit at seven-under overall - the big-hitter one clear at Plainfield Country Club in New Jersey.

Watson, who started the week in third place in the FedEx Cup race, is now projected to lead the standings if he holds his form, with incumbent leader Jordan Spieth (73) missing the cut by five shots.

US PGA Championship winner Jason Day - second in the FedEx Cup - went 68-68 to head into the weekend tied for eighth, but those to impress most on Friday were Johnson, Stenson and Bohn.

Johnson went bogey-free in shooting a 65 to climb into a share of second with Stenson (66) and Tony Finau (69).

Stenson was five under through 12 before his only blemish of the day at 13, but he still climbed 16 spots to be among those closest to Watson.

Bohn, however, trumped the pair - three birdies on each nine seeing him walk off with a blistering 64, the American bouncing back from his over-par first round.

Jason Dufner (68) is among the quartet tied for second on six-under overall, his form likely to see him make the field for the Deutsche Bank Championship having started the week in 103rd in the FedEx Cup standings – with only the top 100 advancing in the play-offs.

Bohn is at five under with Camilo Villegas (70), the Colombian joining Dufner in significantly boosting his chances of prolonging his season - he is projected to climb from 123rd to 60th.

Sean O’Hair, Robert Streb and Hudson Swafford all mimicked Day’s 68-68 start to be among the group tied at four under, level with Ryan Palmer (67), Bae Sang-moon (67) and Spencer Levin (71).

Levin, among the leading quartet after round one, got off to a flying start with three birdies in his first six holes on Friday, but shot four bogeys thereafter to fall off the pace.

Joining Spieth in missing the cut were Adam Scott (73), Charl Schwartzel (72), 2014 FedEx Cup runner-up Chris Kirk (68), Brooks Koepka (73) and last year’s The Barclays winner Hunter Mahan (71).