Jordan Spieth posted a bogey-free, 5-under-par 65 Thursday to share the first-round lead at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first leg of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs in Memphis.
Five players finished the day at 65, with Spieth joined by Michael Thorbjornsen, Kurt Kitayama, Michael Kim and Jake Knapp. Seven more are just one shot behind at 4-under 66: Tommy Fleetwood of England, Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, Sungjae Im of South Korea, Australia’s Adam Scott, Gary Woodland, Chris Gotterup and Bud Cauley.
Of the 70 players to qualify for the playoffs, Spieth was the only one who managed to do so without a single top-10 in an event. His mediocre year still left him 54th in the points race, but only the top 50 after Sunday move on to the BMW Championship next week.
Spieth would certainly vault into the top 50 with a strong finish, and Thursday’s round put him in fine position for his first win in more than four years. All five of his birdies came in a seven-hole stretch at TPC Southwind, starting at the ninth hole and closing with a 17 1/2-footer at the 15th.
Thorbjornsen is fresh off his first PGA Tour victory two weeks ago at the Rocket Classic. Kitayama is highest of the five co-leaders in the points race entering the week, at No. 33.
Knapp is one of the tour’s fun stories, as someone who broke through with a victory in 2024 a few years after losing Korn Ferry Tour status and working as a nightclub bouncer.
And Kim is in the same position as Spieth, entering the week in the danger zone at No. 61 and needing a strong showing in Memphis to enter the top 50.
The group at 3-under 67 features Xander Schauffele, Sam Burns, Patrick Rodgers and Australian Min Woo Lee.
World No. 1 and FedEx Cup points leader Scottie Scheffler opened with a 2-under 68. And Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy finished his day bogey-bogey-double bogey to plummet from even par to a 4-over 74.
Of the 69 players competing, McIlroy is 68th, ahead of only Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre (12-over 72). Daniel Berger did not enter the event despite qualifying due to injury.
