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The FedEx St Jude Championship is underway and the 70 players in the field all now have their first rounds in the bag. All 70 are jostling for position in the year-long standings to ensure they remain inside the top 50 heading into the BMW Championship next week and with quadruple points on offer this weekend, there is everything to play for for everyone in the field.
After round one, Jordan Spieth leads the way after the three-time major champions put in one of his best opening rounds of the season to card a seven-under round of 63 around TPC Southwind. With three rounds still to play, though, Spieth will have to keep this level up if he is to pick up his first win of the season.
FedEx St. Jude Championship Leaderboard 2023
Contents
Position/Player | Score | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jordan Spieth (USA) | -7 | 63 | |||
2 | Tom Kim (KOR) | -6 | 64 | |||
T3 | Emliano Grillo (ARG) | -5 | 65 | |||
T3 | Collin Morikawa (USA) | -5 | 65 | |||
T5 | Lucas Glover (USA) | -4 | 66 | |||
T5 | Eric Cole (USA) | -4 | 66 | |||
T5 | Adam Svensson (CAN) | -4 | 66 | |||
T5 | Kurt Kitayama (USA) | -4 | 66 | |||
T9 | Taylor Moore (USA) | -4 | 66 | |||
T9 | Tommy Fleetwood (ENG) | -4 | 66 |
Highlights from round one
Spieth takes the lead
Although the likes of Tom Kim and Emiliano Grillo were impressive on day one in Tennessee, the day certainly belonged to Jordan Spieth who played just about as well as he has done all season. Spieth was 31st in the FedEx Cup standings coming into the week but if he can continue playing like he did on Thursday then he should fly up the rankings ahead of the BMW Championship next week.
The American was faultless from tree to green over the entirety of his 18 holes and had several good looks at Birdie which could have seen him post an even lower score. In the end, he settled for a bogey-free round of 63 which featured five birdies and a stunning eagle at the part-five 16th to take a commanding position into day two.
After his round, Spieth was in a reflective mood. He said:
“I played really well at the British. Tee to green, I played well enough to win. I didn’t feel like I missed many of my lines. I just couldn’t quite get the matching of the line and speed on the greens. Now we come to slopey Bermuda and very fast slopey Bermuda where I feel a little more comfortable picking lines and kind of feeding the ball in using gravity.
“I think that helped, along with quite a bit of work as best I could in Texas right now, which is really from the hours of 7 am to noon before it’s almost unbearable. Just tightened some things up. I tried to play a lot just to shoot scores. I had kind of taken off playing a bunch, and I think that that helped a bit in the last couple of weeks.”
SPIETH EAGLE HOLE-OUT FOR THE LEAD pic.twitter.com/W2Qn6TTnfe
— Fore Play (@ForePlayPod) August 10, 2023
A steady start for Mcilroy
Rory McIlroy, who is looking to become the first man in history to win back-to-back FedEx Cups over the next month has started off quite well at TPC Southwind. The Northern Irishman, who most recently won the Scottish Open last month, carded a round of 67 but will perhaps be a little concerned with how erratic his scoring was.
Like Spieth, McIlroy also found an eagle on the 16th but unlike his American rival, McIlroy dropped plenty of shots along the way. In total, he carded four birdies, three bogeys and an eagle and sits four shots behind Spieth on -3. If he can iron out those dropped shots then he will once again be a contender on Sunday.
Rahm and Rose have days to forget
Two men who look like they aren’t to be contenders this week are Jon Rahm and Justin Rose after both men had miserable days out on the course on Thursday. Rahm, who is ranked number on in the FedEx Cup standings, shot a +3 round of 73 while Rose is three shots worse off on 76. The Englishman shot the highest round of the day and is rock bottom on the leaderboard.
One thing that could save the pair of them this week is the fact that there is no cut line due to the reduced field. It means they will both have 54 more holes to put things right, something that will matter more to Justin Rose considering he is much lower down than Rahm in the FedEx Cup standings.
Updated FedEx St. Jude Championship odds
- Jordan Spieth – 13/2
- Scottie Scheffler – 7/1
- Collin Morikawa – 9/1
- Rory McIlroy – 9/1
- Tom Kim – 11/1
- Xander Schauffele – 12/1
- Tommy Fleetwood – 20/1
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