Hideki Matsuyama and Denny McCarthy showed an excellent putting performance to take the halftime lead at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
Matsuyama recovered from a rocky start – he missed a 4-foot birdie putt on the second hole and hit his tee shot into the water on the par-3 fourth hole – with two long birdie putts and a 3-wood putt to 12 feet on the par-5 16th for one of his easier birdies. He finished with a score of 64 under par.
Known for his smooth putting, McCarthy was able to put that to good use on the smooth greens of TPC Southwind, holing three birdie putts from 25 feet or more to make up for two bogeys in his round of 63.
They were at 11-under 129, one stroke ahead of another great putter, Sam Burns, who managed 29 shots on the first nine holes before slowing down a bit. He shot 63.
Scottie Scheffler came back on track late with three birdies in a row, finishing with a score of 65 and two strokes behind.
The PGA Tour’s first post-season event is the most important. Points are quadrupled and the top 50 players from the FedEx Cup qualify for next week’s BMW Championship and are assured of playing in all of the US$20 million (A$30 million) signature events next year.
Third seed Rory McIlroy delivered a lackluster performance, playing the two par 5s at three over par with a score of 73 strokes, which secured him a joint 58th place.
This is a big week for McCarthy, who has never won on the PGA Tour and is ranked 45th. A win would put him in the top five in the standings and earn him a top-30 spot in the Tour Championship.
The same goes for Justin Rose, who missed the magic number with 55th place. He had another 66 and was in fifth place with Nick Dunlap (65).
Amazingly, McCarthy does this with what he described as a torn labrum without going into too much detail.
“I don’t want to give too much away. It’s bothering me and I’ve been able to do enough in the last few days to get through it,” he said. “The heat is helping. Yes, I’m looking forward to a challenge at the weekend.”
Matsuyama summed up his round: “I missed a short putt there on 2 and hit the ball into the water on 4, but from then on I played really well and putted well.”
Matsuyama was in good spirits about his game. He is coming to terms with the fact that last week a bag containing his wallet and the passports of his caddie and coach was stolen in a restaurant in London. They are in Japan trying to get new passports. He is tied with the leader in Memphis.
Players will leave both sides in groups of three on Saturday to cope with thunderstorms expected in the morning.
Adam Scott (68) and Min Woo Lee (68) are the best Australians in the tournament with two strokes under par. They are one stroke ahead of Jason Day (67).
With only the top 50 advancing next week, Day is currently 30th overall, with Scott (50th), Cam Davis (53rd) and Lee (62nd).
