Washington (United States) (AFP) – World number one Scottie Scheffler matched the course record with a nine-under par 61 to grab a three-stroke lead after Friday’s second round of the PGA St. Jude Championship. The 30-year-old American sank 11 birdies against two bogeys to stand on 11-under 129 after 36 holes in the PGA FedEx Cup playoff opener at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee.
“I felt like I did a lot of stuff well,” Scheffler said. “I gave myself a lot of looks, hit some nice iron shots and was able to make some birdies.” Four others have also fired 61s at the layout, the most recent being England’s Justin Rose in 2023. South Korean Im Sung-jae fired a 66 to stand second on 132 with Norway’s Viktor Hovland. Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg was another stroke adrift, while Colombian Nico Echavarria, Americans Brian Harman and Jordan Spieth, and England’s Tommy Fleetwood, the reigning playoff champion, are on 134.
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Im and Spieth are among the players outside the top 50 in season points needing to gain positions to qualify for next week’s playoff event in St. Louis. Scheffler, a four-time major winner, won his season opener in January in the California desert for his 20th career PGA title, but he has settled for five runner-up finishes this year without another victory.
Im seized the lead early in the second round, making birdies on the first three holes and five birdies on the front nine, which he opened and closed with 16-foot birdie putts. Scheffler birdied the first five holes, sinking putts from 12 and 19 feet on one and two, just outside two feet on the par-five third, and five feet on the fourth and fifth.
“I got off to a good start, those first couple of putts, and then kept the momentum going,” Scheffler said. He birdied seven to share the lead but missed the green at the par-three eighth and made bogey. Again, he grabbed a share of the lead with a seven-foot birdie putt at 10 but found water off the tee at 12 and made bogey to fall back. “When you are in the fairway out here you feel like you can attack some of these pins and when you’re not you feel like you can bogey any hole,” Scheffler said.
Scheffler seized a share of the lead again on 13 when he blasted out of a fairway bunker to inside of five feet and sank the birdie putt. “Hit a poor shot at 13 but was able to get out of the bunker there, hit a nice shot and give myself a look,” Scheffler said.
Scheffler swiped the solo lead with a birdie on 15 when he landed his approach just outside 10 feet and sank the putt. He then added a tap-in birdie at the par-five 16th to reach 10-under. “I struck the ball nicely today,” Scheffler said. “Hopefully I’ll do more of that the next couple days.” A 15-foot birdie putt at 17 made it three consecutive birdies for Scheffler, who missed a 16-foot birdie putt before parring to miss breaking the course record and matching his low round of the year. “Was an underrated putt on 17. It was a really tough read,” Scheffler said. “Sometimes when they are so straight from that distance you want to find a break.”
Second-ranked Rory McIlroy, last through 18 holes after Scotsman Robert MacIntyre withdrew due to a knee injury, fired a 70 to stand on 144. Germany’s Matti Schmid aced the par-three fourth hole, the ball bouncing once and rolling in.
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