FedEx St. Jude Championship 2024: 3 Instant Reactions to Thursday Leaderboard Scores
Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele are right where they've been all season after one round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
The top two men's golfers in the world each shot four-under 66s to be within striking distance of leader Chris Kirk going into Friday's second round.
Scheffler and Schauffele did not do anything out of the ordinary on Thursday at TPC Southwind. They just turned in a pair of solid rounds.
Kirk had the most spectacular round on course on Thursday, a 64 that was highlighted by a hole-in-one.
The ace on the 14th hole ended up being the difference between Kirk and the rest of the challengers for the 18-hole lead.
Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele Start Strong Again
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The top two golfers in the field once again flexed their consistency on course through Thursday's first round.
Scheffler rolled in four birdies on the front nine and gave a single shot back to the course on the 13th hole. He gained that one shot back with a birdie on the 16th hole.
Schauffele began his round with three consecutive birdies and then he rolled in 11 straight pairs before a birdie on the 16th.
Both players finished their rounds at four-under and are in tremendous shape to contend for the win at TPC Southwind.
Neither player needs to win to advance to next week's BMW Championship, where the field will be cut from 70 to 50, but do not tell the two intense competitors that.
Both players want to win as many tournaments as possible, and in their current form no one would doubt if they are in Sunday's final pairing.
Olympic Medalists Hideki Matsuyama, Tommy Fleetwood Close to Top
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Hideki Matsuyama and Tommy Fleetwood, the two medalists behind Scheffler in Paris, opened with strong rounds of their own.
Matsuyama placed himself one shot out of Kirk's lead with a five-under 65, while Fleetwood got on top of the leaderboard early with a four-under 66 from the morning wave of tee times.
Fleetwood, who is typically a strong first-round player, showed no rust from any Olympic silver medal celebrations over the last two weeks.
As for Matsuyama, the opening-round 65 showcased a solid bounce back after he missed the cut at last week's Wyndham Championship.
Like Scheffler and Schauffele, neither golfer needs to win to advance to next week, but they have eyes on as high of a finish as possible because of the rewards that come in the staggered start at the Tour Championship in two weeks where the top-ranked golfer in the FedEx Cup standings starts at 10-under.
Hole in One Aids Chris Kirk's Leading 64
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Kirk's shot of the day at the 14th hole ended up as the difference between a sole 18-hole lead and a grouping of players at the top.
Kirk was already putting together a solid round through 13 holes, but he surged in front of the field with his ace on the par-three 14th.
Kirk did give a shot back to the course with a bogey on the 18th hole, but his six-under 64 still held up from the morning wave of tee times.
A win, or a high finish in Memphis, could drastically alter Kirk's prospects of winning the FedEx Cup.
If the tournament ended now, Kirk would move up 25 places from 28th to third in the FedEx Cup standings.
A win comes with 2,000 FedEx Cup points and a second-place finish gives a golfer 1,200 points.
Even a top-five finish would help Kirk move into the top 20 and give him some breathing room from the top-30 FedEx Cup cut after the BMW Championship.
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