FedEx St. Jude Classic 2015: Leaderboard Scores and Highlights from Friday

The final warm-up act before next week's U.S. Open is halfway over, as the PGA Tour converged on TPC Southwind in Tennessee for the annual FedEx St. Jude Classic.

It's not a star-studded field, with most of the top players preparing for the big event, but the players on the course are all trying to build momentum heading into the year's second major tournament. Brooks Koepka holds the 36-hole lead at nine under par, thanks to a three-under 67 on Friday. 

Koepka can't get too comfortable in his perch yet, as nine players are within three shots of the 25-year-old American star. Here's the full leaderboard following Friday's second round:

Koepka is having a breakout season. He got his first career PGA Tour win in January at the Phoenix Open and has two other top-10 finishes, but he has struggled to follow up on that victory in the subsequent five months.

There's still plenty of time for other players to catch Koepka, yet he's been in a good groove all tournament after starting with a 64 on Thursday and Friday's three under 67. 

Right behind Koepka is Austin Cook, who had a terrific day with a 64 to get his score to eight-under par. The 24-year-old has been slowly building up his resume in 2015, entering the final round of the Shell Houston Open in April tied for second place before falling off the pace over the last 18 holes. 

In third place, Steven Alker will be kicking himself for the way he finished the round because there was an opportunity for him to take a 36-hole lead. The 43-year-old, who started on the back nine, was at 10 under after his 16th hole. 

Unfortunately, as noted by Peter Fleischer of Fox 13 in Memphis, Alker couldn't end on a strong note with a double bogey and bogey:

One of the biggest stars playing this event is Phil Mickelson, who continues to play solid golf without being in contention. He's at three under par heading into the weekend, and it's a stark turnaround after closing last week's Memorial Tournament with a 78-75 over the last 36 holes. 

Lefty told Agence France-Presse (via Yahoo Sports) that he felt his game was moving in the right direction before the Memorial:

"

I thought I was ready. I had a good couple of days trying to work on my game and I'm curious to see how that pays off because I really like the golf course here. After playing well and coming close at Augusta and playing well at Charlotte, I felt like I was about to turn the corner.

"

Even though Mickelson hasn't found the extra gear he had at Augusta in April, this is certainly an encouraging start as he looks to build confidence heading into the one major event he's been the runner-up at on six separate occasions. 

Another veteran who is playing well without being directly in the mix for a win is Ben Crane. He backed up his opening-round 66 with an even-par 70, highlighted by back-to-back birdies on No. 16 and No. 17 (via PGA Tour):

Crane's last PGA Tour win came at this event in 2014, when he was 12 under par through 36 holes. A win this year doesn't seem likely, though at least he has the resume to suggest a low score could be in the cards with two rounds to play. 

The low round of the day was a four-way tie between Cook, Russell Knox, Kevin Chappell and Colt Knost with a 64. Knox is closest to the lead at six under par, while Chappell's day started brilliantly with seven birdies on the front nine. 

In fact, per Golf Channel's Jay Coffin, Chappell's front-nine score of 29 wasn't far off from Andrey Pavlov's first hole on the European Tour:

Chappell was unable to maintain his pace, though there is nothing wrong with an even-par 35 when you get off to such a fast start. He's in search of his second top-10 finish this season and first since October. The 28-year-old has now made four straight cuts after a stretch of six missed cuts in seven events from February through May. 

Everyone is looking up at Koepka, who has been fighting his own consistency while playing much better overall 2015. He's got a long way to go before getting that second PGA Tour win, but the field helped him out on Friday. 

Low scores have been plentiful through 36 holes at the St. Jude Classic and there's no reason to think things will be different on Saturday. With a jumbled field already, expect a lot of movement on the leaderboard over the weekend.